While this rule still relies on a flawed methodology that sets renewable fuel volumes below the statutory levels enacted by Congress, it is an important improvement from the proposed rule, and moves us closer to getting America’s most effective climate policy back on track and providing certainty for biofuels in the marketplace.
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Janet McCabe, the acting assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation, said the renewable fuels industry is “an incredible American success story” and the 2016 targets are a signal that it is growing.
The Environmental Protection Agency said Monday that 18.11 billion gallons of renewable fuels must be blended into the nation’s gasoline supply in 2016, significantly above the 17.4 billion gallons initially proposed in May.
The new standards come as President Barack Obama and other world leaders are meeting in Paris to finalize an agreement to cut carbon emissions worldwide, and the administration says this will help achieve that goal. “Unfortunately, these levels still fall far short of what Congress set out”, she said. “The EPA’s failure demonstrates the need for Congress – who created this mess – to quickly pass legislation to eliminate the corn ethanol mandate and take the RFS off the menu”.
Renewable Fuel Association president and CEO Bob Dinneen says that the EPA’s decision leaves the industry with uncertainty. “We will fight to protect the rights of farmers and consumers and hold the EPA accountable”.
The oil industry has voiced concerns that the 2016 standard could push the amount of biofuel in the nation’s fuel supply past the “blend wall”, since the Renewable Fuel Standard requires a certain amount of biofuel, rather than a percentage, be added to the nation’s gasoline supply. The higher demand for gasoline would increase the amount of fuel being used and keep the amount of biofuel going into gasoline from breaking the blend wall, according to the agency.
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Still, any meaningful change in the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) – the 2007 law requiring increasing amounts of alternative fuels to be blended into cars, trucks and other vehicles – could have a sweeping impact in Iowa, where farmers, ethanol producers and rural economies are tied to the mandate. “I think when people look at the numbers they will see that this really is very good for the industry”.
