WASHINGTON, D.C.—Growth Energy, the nation’s largest biofuel trade association, criticized a recent request by oil state governors to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to exempt their states from compliance with the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), a decades-old energy program that determines how much homegrown renewable fuel refineries must blend into the nation’s fuel supply each year.
“The request asks EPA to undo the historic work the Trump Administration has done to drive growth in American biofuels and rural communities across the U.S.,” said Growth Energy CEO Emily Skor. “If EPA were to grant these states the special treatment they’re asking for, it would increase fuel prices—not lower them—by reducing the amount of ethanol being blended into America’s fuel supply. As any driver can see when they drive past a station that offers E15 or E85, the more ethanol in a fuel, the more affordable it is.”
The RFS benefits consumers by supporting lower fuel prices and creates U.S. markets for farmers by providing a reliable market for their crops, which are used to produce renewable fuels like ethanol. American farmers are facing yet another year of financial challenges, and undermining RFS volumes now would make an already difficult economic situation even worse.
“The President should not grant this request and should not break the promises he’s made to rural America in order to further line the pockets of refiners that are already reporting record profits, made off the backs of American consumers and farmers,” Skor added.