Reuters — The Biden administration on Wednesday increased the amount of biofuels that oil refiners must blend into the United States’ fuel mix over the next three years, but the plan has angered the biofuel industry, which says mandates for corn-based ethanol and biodiesel are not high enough. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has finalized […] Read more
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U.S. to boost biofuel mandates over next three years
Biofuel groups still feel shortchanged
U.S. EPA recommends lowering 2020 biofuel mandates retroactively
Agency not confirming or denying sources' statements
Reuters — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has recommended retroactively lowering biofuel blending mandates for 2020, two sources familiar with the matter said, after the agency on Thursday sent a proposal on the mandates to the White House for review. The move could provide immediate relief to oil refiners that have to comply with the […] Read more
U.S. EPA waives fuel requirements, extends biofuels deadline
Deadline extended to help refineries
Reuters — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Friday unveiled measures to help oil refineries cope with fallout from the coronavirus outbreak, including waiving anti-smog requirements for gasoline and extending the deadline for small facilities to show compliance with the nation’s biofuels law. The outbreak has touched off a massive global decline in demand for […] Read more
White House to stick with 2020 biofuel plan, despite farmer objections
New York | Reuters — The Trump administration plans to stick with its proposed 2020 biofuel blending requirements, the White House said on Wednesday, despite anger among farmers that the plan does too little for corn growers. The decision could undermine President Donald Trump’s support among farmers, an important constituency in the November 2020 election. […] Read more
Trump’s EPA promises biofuel boost, angers Big Oil
Washington/New York | Reuters — The Trump administration on Friday unveiled a plan to boost U.S. biofuels consumption starting next year to help struggling farmers, a move that cheered the agriculture industry but triggered a backlash from Big Oil. The plan would require an unspecified increase in the amount of ethanol that oil refiners must […] Read more
Trump promises ethanol-related ‘giant package’ to please farmers
Washington/South Sioux City | Reuters — President Donald Trump said on Thursday his administration is planning a “giant package” related to ethanol that would please U.S. farmers angry that many more oil refiners have been freed from obligations to use the corn-based fuel. Clashes between farmers and the oil industry over biofuel policy have posed […] Read more
Ag-state senator says Trump EPA ‘screwed us’ with biofuel waivers
Washington | Reuters — Iowa’s Republican Senator Chuck Grassley said the Trump administration’s Environmental Protection Agency has “screwed” the U.S. ethanol industry and farmers by granting waivers to 31 small petroleum refineries, effectively exempting them from an obligation to use more ethanol in their products. The powerful senator, who represents the largest ethanol-producing state in […] Read more
U.S. refiners urge EPA to keep biofuel waiver requests secret from USDA
Washington | Reuters — A law firm representing small U.S. refineries has urged the Environmental Protection Agency to keep refiners’ applications for waivers from the nation’s biofuel policy secret from the Department of Agriculture, arguing that the petitions include confidential business information. The request, made by Perkins Coie in a letter to the EPA dated […] Read more
Trump’s EPA unveils plan to pump up ethanol as Big Oil cries foul
Reuters — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday released its proposed rule lifting a summer ban on higher-ethanol blends of gasoline to help farmers, putting the agency on a collision course with Big Oil which has called the move illegal. The proposal to broaden sales of the so-called E15 rule marks the latest flashpoint […] Read more
U.S. EPA changed rules to help refiners get biofuel waivers, suit alleges
Reuters — U.S. environmental regulators quietly changed the way they assess applications from refineries for waivers from the nation’s biofuels law, making it possible for highly profitable plants to secure lucrative exemptions, according to court documents filed by a biofuels trade group on Thursday. The new documents, part of a lawsuit that began last year, […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
