IARN — Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig released the following statement today after the Biden Administration released the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) volumes for 2023, 2024, and 2025 via a final rule:
“The EPA’s final RFS volumes fail to meaningfully expand access to homegrown, domestic sources of energy like ethanol and biodiesel. While the increased blend levels for biodiesel and renewable diesel in this final rule are a slight improvement, the targets are still below production and usage levels. Additionally, the Biden Administration chose to do so at the expense of ethanol, therefore pitting one biofuel against another. Biofuels reduce costs at the pump for consumers, are cleaner burning for our environment, support our rural communities and move our country closer to energy independence. It’s unfortunate that the Biden administration fails to fully support these significant and widespread benefits for both farmers and consumers.”
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), one of the Senate’s only corn farmers, today criticized the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) final rule setting minimum biofuels blending levels for the next three years below current production capabilities. While the plan makes modest increases to blend levels for certain biodiesel products, the overall biofuels volume remains unchanged and ethanol volumes were reduced from proposed rule levels.
“For an administration obsessed with reducing carbon emissions, this rule makes absolutely no sense. The EPA’s proposed rule signaled an increase in biofuels products for the next three years, and the industry is more than capable of meeting those production levels. Today’s RFS rule waters down the earlier proposal. It’s an insulting bait-and-switch for the American biofuels industry, and totally inconsistent with this administration’s climate agenda.
“American biofuels producers are leading the way in cleaner, cheaper, homegrown fuel. Rather than partnering with the biofuels industry, the Biden administration is turning its back on an opportunity to reduce emissions, consumer costs and reliance on foreign oil,” Grassley said.
Today, U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) released the following statement after the Biden administration’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released new Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) volumes impacting Iowa’s biofuel industry.
“The Biden administration continues its climate crusade, which has turned into a race to energy dependence, and intentionally failed to expand opportunities for ethanol and biodiesel. On one hand, the Biden administration says they want cleaner fuel options, but then they refuse to recognize the domestic, homegrown solution readily available today. Iowa farmers and biofuel producers simply need the green light to charge forward. Despite biofuel reducing costs at the pump for consumers, providing markets for our farmers, and being a cleaner solution today and in the future, the Biden EPA is failing to protect our energy security,” said Senator Ernst.
Story courtesy of the Iowa Agribusiness Radio Network.
