No. 181 July 1, 2021
TOP STORY What SCOTUS's Ruling Means for Biofuels As you may have seen, the Supreme Court last week overturned the 10th Circuit's January 2020 SRE decision, which held that a refinery must have received an SRE in all prior years in order to be eligible for additional SREs.
While the decision is disappointing, it does not necessarily open the floodgates for SREs going forward. Rather, it means that the hammer of prior-year eligibility is no longer in our toolbox to challenge SREs outright. At most, a loss in the Supreme Court just means that challenges to future SREs will continue to need to be made on the merits of SRE approvals or on the basis of EPA's failure to "make-up" lost gallons, rather than solely on a procedural bar to eligibility.
Hear from Joe Kakash, Growth Energy's General Counsel, directly on the case and what it means for biofuels going forward: While not the outcome we expected, our work to uphold the integrity of the RFS is not done. We look forward to working with the Biden administration to keep a lid on exemptions, further strengthen the RFS, and fast-track our progress toward decarbonization. Engine smart and earth kind biofuels are vital to achieving the nation's climate goals.
WORKING FOR YOU IN GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS Growth Energy Hails Klobuchar Bills Promoting Biofuels
Growth Energy Thanks Senate Republicans for Pushing to Protect the RFS IN REGULATORY AFFAIRS Minnesota Approves $6 Million for Biofuels Infrastructure IN GLOBAL Growth Energy Participates in USTR Roundtable Discussion on Ethanol IN OUR ASSOCIATION Jim Leiting: Support Wisconsin Farmers, Support the RFS IN COMMUNICATIONS CEO Emily Skor Joins AgriTalk Radio UPCOMING EVENTS
July 13 - 15 (Des Moines, Iowa)
2021 Corn Congress July 12 - 15
Growth Energy Biofuels Summit September 20 - 23 (Washington, DC)
IN GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS Growth Energy Hails Klobuchar Bills Promoting Biofuels Yesterday, CEO Emily Skor applauded the introduction of three new pieces of legislation introduced by Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) that would fast-track consumer access to lower-cost, lower-carbon motor fuel blends.
The Low Carbon Biofuel Credit Act, introduced by Sen. Klobuchar, along with Sen. John Thune (R-SD), would provide retailers and fuel blenders a direct incentive to offer higher ethanol blends, including a 5-cent tax credit for each gallon of E15 sold, and 10 cents for each gallon containing more than 15 percent of lower-carbon ethanol.
The Clean Fuels Vehicle Act, also introduced by Sens. Klobuchar and Ernst, would provide an automotive incentive for every flex-fuel vehicle (FFV) manufactured. FFVs are needed as more gas stations around the nation are providing greater access to higher blends of ethanol like E85, a low-carbon and low-cost fuel.
Growth Energy Thanks Senate Republicans for Pushing to Protect the RFS Following reports that the Biden Administration is considering bailouts for oil refineries, Iowa Senators Joni Ernst and Chuck Grassley led a strong coalition of Senate Republicans in a letter to the president urging him to uphold the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). In their letter, the Senators referenced President Biden’s campaign promise to “promote and advance renewable energy, ethanol and other biofuel.”
CEO Emily Skor thanked Senators Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), as well as Senators Thune (R-SD), Mike Rounds (R-SD), Ben Sasse (R-Neb.), and Deb Fischer (R-Neb.) for holding the Biden Administration accountable to honoring the president’s commitments on the RFS:
“We’re grateful to our Senate champions for urging President Biden’s Administration to not enact decisions that would reverse course on his commitments to support biofuels,” said Skor. “Biofuels have repeatedly proven to be a solution that can be used today to reduce emissions and help our nation achieve our climate goals. Lowering, waiving, capping, or any backtracking on the RFS damages our ability to decarbonize our vehicle fleet, threatens large agricultural markets, and jeopardizes hundreds of thousands of good paying jobs supported by the biofuel industry. We certainly hope Biden Administration officials, especially at the Environmental Protection Agency, heed this letter, support the RFS, and keep annual conventional biofuels blending targets at 15 billion gallons.” For more information, please contact Vice President of Government Affairs John Fuher.
IN REGULATORY AFFAIRS Minnesota Approves $6 Million for Biofuels Infrastructure On June 26th, Governor Tim Walz of Minnesota signed into law the Agriculture Omnibus Bill, which includes $6 million over two years in grants for biofuels infrastructure, allowing more retailers to upgrade with storage and dispensing systems and switch over to E15. Fuel retailers will be eligible for the grants if they have 10 or fewer stations located in Minnesota and their equipment is unable to handle E25. The grants can be used to upgrade dispensers, fuel storage tanks, and other dispensing system equipment. For more information, please contact Senior Vice President of Regulatory Affairs Chris Bliley.
IN GLOBAL Growth Energy Participates in USTR Roundtable Discussion on Ethanol On Wednesday, staff at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) held a roundtable discussion with stakeholders from the biofuels industry, including Growth Energy, and academia on the environmental benefits of blending ethanol into gasoline. This was an important opportunity to highlight ethanol’s greenhouse gas advantages and update staff among various federal agencies.
It is our mission to make sure the biofuels industry is part of the Biden Administration's trade agenda. We will continue to work with USTR specifically to address trade barriers to ethanol exports around the globe. For more information, please contact Senior Director of Market Development Mike Lorenz. IN OUR ASSOCIATION Jim Leiting: Support Wisconsin Farmers, Support the RFS On Tuesday, President Joe Biden visited La Crosse, Wisconsin, to promote the pending infrastructure legislation in Washington, D.C. Ahead of his visit, Growth Energy board member and Big River Resources CEO Jim Leiting sent a letter to the editor of the Eau Claire Leader-Telegram calling on President Biden to address biofuels issues during his visit to Wisconsin.
"Given the role of biofuels in our state's agricultural economy, we can hope to hear directly from the president about his plans to uphold the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), promote farm-based biofuels, and keep the rural recovery moving forward," wrote Leiting.
"The Big River Resources biofuel plant in Boyceville, Wisconsin is just one of nine ethanol plants statewide. Harnessing the renewable energy harvested by Wisconsin farmers, we’re leading the charge on climate change. In fact, homegrown ethanol slashes carb emissions by 46 percent or more according to the latest studies." For more information, please contact Vice President of Membership Kelly Manning.
IN COMMUNICATIONS CEO Emily Skor Joins AgriTalk Radio CEO Emily Skor joined Chip Flory on AgriTalk radio to discuss the Supreme Court's recent opinion on SREs, Growth Energy's newest study on the economic impact of moving to nationwide E15, and what's going on in Washington when it comes to infrastructure legislation. Tune in!
The Weekly Rundown is the weekly newsletter for Growth Energy's members. It is published weekly by the communications staff at Growth Energy. For more information, email team@growthenergy.org or visit our website GrowthEnergy.org. You're receiving this newsletter because you've subscribed to Growth Energy's The Weekly Rundown. Not interested anymore? Unsubscribe instantly. Copyright © 2020 Growth Energy. |