Iowa politicians condemn new renewable fuel standards.
[Iowa Capital Dispatch] The Environmental Protection Agency has released a long-awaited update to the Renewable Fuel Standard, revising requirements for 2020 and releasing goals for 2021 and 2022. But politicians in Iowa, the country’s top producer of ethanol and biodiesel, are objecting vehemently to the proposal.In a Wednesday call with Iowa reporters, Sen. Chuck Grassley criticized President Joe Biden for “inconsistency” on biofuels, arguing that retroactively changing the 2020 standards creates uncertainty.
“We don’t really know where we stand, so you’ve still got uncertainty,” Grassley said. “At least you didn’t have much uncertainty in the Trump administration.”
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The original rule for 2020 would have required oil refiners to blend 20.09 billion gallons of biofuels into their fuels. The EPA proposed lowering that to 17.13 billion gallons, due to lower demand for gas during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Iowa Republicans were united in opposition to the changes to the 2020 standards and to the 2021 standards, which they viewed as too low. Gov. Kim Reynolds called the announcement “a slap in the face to Iowa farmers and renewable fuel producers,” and Sen. Joni Ernst said it was an about-face by President Biden who campaigned on his supposed support for renewable fuels.
Rep. Cindy Axne, a Democrat, said the 2022 benchmark — 20.77 billion gallons — would put the biofuels industry “on the right path.” But she and several other House Democrats in biofuel-producing states also criticized the decision to lower the 2020 standard.
“(T)he proposed decision to retroactively lower the 2020 RVO target does not reflect a sufficient commitment to renewable funds and family farmers,” they wrote.
The representatives said they anticipate conversations about changing that 2020 number “to better reflect the role biofuels must have in our clean energy economy.”
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Iowa politicians condemn new renewable-fuel standards, DECEMBER 8, 2021
