No. 55, Oct. 25, 2018 
ON THE HILL President Trump to Attend FFA National Convention in Indiana
President Donald Trump is expected to be in Indianapolis, Indiana, this week to speak at the Future Farmers of America (FFA) 2018 National Convention, a Growth Energy sponsored event. This visit follows the president's recent announcement on allowing year-round sales of E15 fuel. With only weeks until the midterm elections, President Trump has sought to engage with rural America and the nation's farmers. Growth Energy has recently been running a number of advertisements to thank the president and our congressional leaders. These included televisions ads, print ads, and critical letters and post-cards from our members and farmers sharing their story. More information can be found below on how you can share you story below. If you would like to view our print and television ads, visit Growth Energy's youtube page, here, or view an example of our one of our print ads to the right.
For more details, contact Vice President of Government Affairs, John Fuher.
WORKING FOR YOU IN REGULATIONS EPA SAFE Vehicle Rule Comment Period Closes SoonOMB Releases Fall 2018 Unified Agenda
IN COMMUNICATIONS Send Your Elected Official a 'Thank You' Post-card TodayAT THE PUMP Ensuring A Competitive Return by Offering E15AROUND THE GLOBE Growth Energy Sponosored 2018 Export Exchange to Tout Benefits of Biofuels IN OUR ASSOCIATION Growth Energy Staff Attend FFA National ConventionUPCOMING EVENTS
FFA National Convention
Oct. 24-27 EPA CAFE/GHG Comments Due
Oct. 26 IN REGULATIONS EPA SAFE Vehicle Rule Comment Period Closes Soon
Friday is the deadline to submit comments on the joint proposed rule from EPA and NHTSA setting the fuel economy and greenhouse gas standards for vehicles model years 2022-2025. The proposal largely discusses setting standards that rise until 2020 and then remain constant through 2025 adjusted from the more stringent fuel economy/GHG standards originally set during the Obama administration. For the ethanol industry, the proposal has a significant discussion about the use of high octane fuels. We will be submitting comments supporting the use of a high octane, midlevel ethanol blend to meet the future standards regardless of where they are set. Chris Bliley testified at the public hearing on this proposal in Dearborn, Michigan on September 25, 2018. For more information on Growth Energy’s work on high octane, midlevel ethanol blends, please see the latest Bliley Report.To submit your own comments, please visit the EPA website.
OMB Releases Fall 2018 Unified Agenda
Last week, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released their fall 2018 unified agenda outlining the bulk of their regulatory agenda for the upcoming year. For our industry, there are several notable rules to keep an eye on. First, the final 2019 Renewable Volume Obligations (RVO) will be completed by November 30, 2018. Additionally, EPA will propose the announced RVP relief for E15 regulation in February intending to have it in place and finalized by June 1, 2019. EPA also plans to issue its proposal for the 2020 RVO and RFS Reset rule sometime in February intending to finalize the regulation by December 2019. Finally, EPA will issue its proposal on fuels streamlining in February intending to finalize by the end of 2019. It is also notable that the unified agenda did not include the proposed REGS rule that was proposed by the Obama EPA. Growth Energy will remain actively engaged on all rulemaking and keep you up to date on our progress.
For more details, contact Vice President of Regulatory Affairs, Chris Bliley.
IN COMMUNICATIONS Send Your Elected Official a 'Thank You' Post-card Today
Your photo will replace the example photo used here on your own postcard As a way to further engage agriculture and ethanol supporters, we developed a page on the E15Now website that gives folks an easy way to tell their story and share how year-round E15 will have a positive impact on their lives.
The form is easy to fill out and it only takes three minutes. Write a brief message, fill out your contact information and add a photo – that is it! We will then use these photos and stories to share on Growth Energy social media accounts. Additionally, we will send your stories as postcards to President Trump, Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue, and lawmakers from your state to show the groundswell of support for year-round E15.
We all have great stories to tell and we encourage you to share this link with your colleagues, families and community members. Visit www.E15Now.com/share-your-story today! For more details, contact Director of Communications, Leigh Claffey.
AT THE PUMP Ensuring A Competitive Return by Offering E15
How do Retailers differentiate themselves from their competitors? Retailers want to offer consumers the products that they are looking for and that they will buy. E15 is no exception to the product that consumers are seeking out and that retailers can gain a competitive advantage from. From a retailer standpoint, offering E15 is an opportunity to jump ahead of the competition by responding to consumer demand for this fuel, but is also positions c-stores for the long term by laying the infrastructure for higher biofuel blends now.
E15 appeals to consumers for a handful of reasons. E15 fuel is sold at a lower cost than standard fuel, and with cost savings at the top of mind for many consumers, it’s easy to see why the lower price would entice them to purchase E15. E15 is a smart choice for engines because it burns cleaner and cooler. Throughout Growth Energy’s extensive consumer research, they found that consumers are wanting to use a cleaner burning fuel since it helps their engines to perform better while also reducing tail pipe emissions.Growth Energy strives to enable retailers in promoting E15 fuel and has written articles for retailers to do so. To view the Growth Energy article on E15's competitiveness, visit the CSP website. For more details, contact Vice President of Market Development, Mike O'Brien.
AROUND THE GLOBE Growth Energy Sponosored 2018 Export Exchange to Tout Benefits of Biofuels 
This week, Growth Energy' staff attended the 2018 Export Exchange where we hosted a booth for attendees and where Senior Vice President of Global Markets Craig Willis hosted a panel on the global outlook of ethanol and its co-products. The Growth Energy booth, pictured above, offered attendees the chance to see our many accomplishments over the past 10 years and connect with staff on the latest for our industry on the global market. In addition to promoting the growing popularity of biofuels internationally, those who stopped by were also able to learn about ethanol's co-products, like distillers dried grains, and the benefits they offer.
During the panel hosted by Willis, he was able to update the audience on the state of biofuels internationally and celebrate the highest 12 month period for fuel ethanol exports in history in his opening statement. The panel was focused on transportation and trade and featured many industry experts including Dan Pearson, the former Chairman of the U.S. International Trade Commission; Florentino Lopez, United Sorghum Checkoff Program; Market Slupek, USDA; Ken Eriksen, Informa; Kelle Horn, Pacific Rim Shipbrokers; Stephen Northdurft, Hyundai; and closing remarks from Thomas Sleight, USGC. The panel featured a wide range of industry experts and Willis was able to highlight the growing importance of biofuels for the global transportation sector.
For more information on the event, visit the Export Exchange website. For more details, contact Senior Vice President of Global Markets, Craig Willis.
IN OUR ASSOCIATION Growth Energy Staff Attends FFA National Convention, CEO Emily Skor to Speak Today 
This week, Growth Energy staff converged on the Future Farmers of America (FFA) National Convention, an event sponsored by Growth Energy. Yesterday, Vice President of Development Kelly Manning, and other staff, met with educational stakeholders to champion biofuels like ethanol and encourage biofuels curricula for students and agriculture educators. To that effect, staff spoke with FFA ambassadors to discuss the benefits of biofuels for our farmers and rural America and help answer their questions about biofuels education. They also helped judge national FFA competitions for FFA finalists across a range of topics.
Today, Growth Energy's CEO Emily Skor will speak on two panels to discuss the importance of advocacy in education and the importance of agriculture education generally. Skor has spoken at a number of FFA events over the past year, including their Washington Leadership Conference, as part of Growth Energy's ongoing effort to improve biofuels education and advocacy in the next generation of farmers and rural leaders.
To stay up to date on the latest from the FFA National Convention, check out our twitter, where we will be posting photos and updates from the event. For more details, contact Vice President of Development, Kelly Manning.
The Weekly Rundown is the weekly newsletter for Growth Energy's members. It is published 51 times a year by the communications staff at Growth Energy. For more information, email team@growthenergy.org. You're receiving this newsletter because you've subscribed to Growth Energy's The Weekly Rundown. Not interested anymore? Unsubscribe instantly. Copyright © 2018 Growth Energy. |
