In the September issue of Ethanol Producer Magazine, Growth Energy CEO Emily Skor discussed the pain being felt by ethanol producers and farmers across the nation as a result of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s mismanagement of small refinery exemptions. In her column, she wrote:
“Many have already shut their doors or idled production as a result of historically low margins, driven lower by EPA mismanagement. Others have sold off assets or warned farmers they can no longer take deliveries. Recent estimates suggest that hundreds of millions of gallons of production remain offline, with plants impacted in Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota, Florida, Virginia, Texas, Missouri and Nebraska.
“Each time a plant idles production, farmers across the region lose a competitive market for their crops. The impact can be felt across the entire rural economy. That’s why rural champions applauded the president’s ongoing commitment “to support our ethanol industry and to fight for the American farmer like no president has ever fought before.”
Read Skor’s Full Column on the Ethanol Producer Magazine Website Here
Note: This column was submitted prior to EPA’s announcement that it had granted 31 more refinery exemptions on Aug. 9, 2019 and does not reflect the 4 billion gallons lost to these exemptions.