WASHINGTON – Tom Buis, CEO of Growth Energy, responded to an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) peer review study of the proposed international land use change provision in the Renewable Fuel Standard rule released today.
According to Buis, the study underscores Growth Energy’s position that there is no universally-accepted scientific model for measuring indirect land use changes. He further called on Congress to fix the flawed provision in the 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act.
“We need to stop this nonsense. This is the most bizarre concept I have ever seen. EPA’s peer review proves that too much uncertainty about the economic modeling, data and science exists to allow this to ever become regulation. Even the peer review committee could not agree. That’s why we need Congress to act today to pass legislation either repealing this flawed concept, or adopting the provision recently passed by the House of Representatives to require a thorough review by the National Academy of Science,” Buis said.
“The disappointing fact is that EPA should have completed the peer review before proposing the rule. They’ve rushed this peer review out in an attempt to validate their earlier positions. Furthermore, EPA repeatedly states that these decisions should be based on science, yet the peer review committee was not just made up of scientists, but included a lawyer with an activist agenda,” Buis said.
“It is time for Congress to weigh in immediately,” Buis said. “Just as this provision was stuck into the law in the middle of the night without public debate, now EPA is releasing its flawed review when Congress is headed home for the month of August.”
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About Growth Energy
Growth Energy is a group committed to the promise of agriculture and growing America’s economy through cleaner, greener energy. Growth Energy members recognize America needs a new ethanol approach. Through smart policy reform and a proactive grassroots campaign, Growth Energy promotes reducing greenhouse gas emissions, expanding the use of ethanol in gasoline, decreasing our dependence on foreign oil, and creating American jobs at home. More information can be found at GrowthEnergy.org.