No. 161 February 4, 2021 ![]() TOP STORY Biden EPA and USDA Nominees Answer Questions on Biofuels This week, the nominees to lead the Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) appeared before the U.S. Senate for their respective confirmation hearings. Tom Vilsack, nominee for Secretary of Agriculture, appeared before the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry and Michael Regan, nominee for Administrator of EPA, appeared before the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works.
As climate change continues to be at the forefront of the Biden Administration's agenda, Vilsack and Regan were questioned on how they will handle climate issues. In particular, each nominee was asked his thoughts on biofuels and how biofuels will factor in to our nation's climate solutions. Take a look at some of the biofuels questions and answers from the confirmation hearings:
Tom Vilsack Confirmation Hearing
Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.): "Could you talk about what your plans are in a little more detail when it comes to biofuels?"
Tom Vilsack: "New research would indicate it's an industry that is providing environmental benefits, cleaner air....Making sure that as they make decisions relative to the Renewable Fuel Standard, they are consistent. Consistent with the rule, the law. The waiver system was designed for small refineries that were having trouble and difficulty. It was not designed for large-scale refineries owned by Exxon and Chevron to receive a waiver...Biofuels continue to play a role in reducing emissions and providing job opportunities in all parts of the country."
Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa): "What is the way you would handle [electric vehicles] as Secretary of Agriculture?"
Tom Vilsack: "The reality is we are going to need both -- we are going to need a biofuel industry that promotes the greenhouse gas emissions savings over gasoline. We will promote biofuels because of the octane capacity. We are interested in expanding mileage over time. One way to do that is by having biofuels, higher blend biofuels, that will expand mileage with other engines."
Sen. John Thune (R-S.D): "We believe biofuels, ethanol, biodiesel, can have significant greenhouse gas reductions using the existing fleet and fuel infrastructure. There was a recent study that found the average greenhouse gas reductions of ethanol over gasoline was 46%."
Tom Vilsack: "We will make the case that there is a role for biofuels in climate, in reduction of emissions...There are a lot of reasons why this Administration and future Administrations will continue to be investing in the biofuel industry."
Michael Regan Confirmation Hearing
Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill): "A critical pillar of the [climate change] effort should be the biofuels industry."
Michael Regan: "President Biden as not been shy that agriculture will have a seat at the table as we tackle climate, as he's been specifically focused on biofuels and advanced biofuels...You have my commitment that we will take a look at the RFS program and we will introduce some transparency into the program. We will let science lead us and we will follow the letter of the law as it was intended for that program."
Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill): "Will you commit to prioritizing this [advanced biofuels] backlog so that new climate-friendly biofuels can enter into the market as soon as possible?"
Michael Regan: "I will spend some time with our staff taking a look at this backlog and working on processes of efficiency so that we can make up for lost time."
Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa): "Can you commit to a strong and growing role for corn ethanol and the RFS?"
Michael Regan: "Yes. I can commit to the fact that the President has indicated that agriculture will have a seat at the table in this Administration, especially when it comes to climate change. There is a commitment that, again, following the science and following the letter of the law, the intentions of the RFS, will be a top priority for us."
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WORKING FOR YOU IN GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS Growth Energy Supports Bill to Update Greenhouse Gas Modeling IN REGULATORY AFFAIRS Growth Energy Submits Comments on United Refining Consent Decree IN MARKET DEVELOPMENT Sinclair to offer E15 in Central U.S. IN GLOBAL MARKETS U.S. Ethanol Wins Appeal in Peru IN LEGAL Growth Energy Battles in Court to Reverse Demand Destruction IN OUR ASSOCIATION Webinar Highlights UAI's Message on Low Carbon Fuels
AEM Releases "Environmental Benefits of Precision Agriculture" Study IN COMMUNICATIONS Skor Talks State of the Biofuels Industry on Agri-Pulse's Open Mic UPCOMING EVENTS
IN GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS Growth Energy Supports Bill to Update Greenhouse Gas Modeling U.S. Senator John Thune (R-SD) and U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) introduced the Adopt Greenhouse Gas and Regulated Emissions and Energy Use in Transportation (GREET) Act, which would require the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to update its greenhouse gas (GHG) modeling for ethanol and biodiesel to accurately reflect the GHG reductions achieved by biofuels.
Following the introduction, CEO Emily Skor released a statement in support of the Adopt GREET Act:
"Biofuels continue to prove their environmental benefits and significance in our nation’s climate change efforts. Just last week, a study was released that found that greenhouse gas emissions from corn ethanol are 46% lower than gasoline, up from a previous report of 39%. As the science on biofuels and innovative farming techniques continue to improve, updating the modeling at EPA is long overdue and necessary to fully reflect biofuels’ potential to decarbonize the transportation sector and provide Americans with immediate cleaner options at the pump.
“We thank Senators Thune and Klobuchar for introducing the Adopt GREET Act and for their tireless efforts on behalf of biofuels.” For more information, please contact Vice President of Government Affairs John Fuher.
IN REGULATORY AFFAIRS Growth Energy Submits Comments on United Refining Consent Decree Yesterday, Growth Energy filed comments on EPA's proposed Consent Decree for the United Refining Co. v. Wheeler case in which United Refining challenged EPA's failure to act in a timely manner on its petition for a small refinery exemption from its 2019 Renewable Fuel Standard Obligation. The Consent Decree would set a deadline of February 19, 2021, by which the EPA must act on United Refining's exemption petition.
In the comments, Growth Energy reminded EPA of our strong objections to its misuse of small refinery exemptions at the expense of biofuel producers and supporters in American agriculture. “The Renewable Fuel Standard was meant to blend increasing amounts of renewable fuel into our nation’s transportation fuel supply. It was not meant to simply blend 10 percent ethanol and stop.”
Our comments also reinforced many of our federal priorities to be considered by the Agency. For more information, please contact Vice President of Regulatory Affairs Chris Bliley.
IN MARKET DEVELOPMENT Sinclair to Offer E15 in Central U.S. ![]() Last week, Growth Energy confirmed that Sinclair is now offering E15 to unbranded and Sinclair branded retail locations in the central United States, stretching from Minnesota to Oklahoma. Sinclair branded retailers can now offer E15 as a competitive response to Prime the Pump retailers like Kwik Trump/Kwik Star, Casey's, Minnoco, and Kum & Go, who are already offering E15 in this region. Growth Energy has provided Sinclair with technical assistance on the mis-fueling regulations for offering E15 and has offered to help train their branded retailers with best practices for offering E15 to consumers. For more information, please contact Vice President of Market Development Mike O'Brien. IN GLOBAL MARKETS U.S. Ethanol Wins Appeal in Peru The Peruvian National Institute for the Defense of Free Competition and the Protection of Intellectual Property (INDECOPI) Tribunal announced on January 29, 2021 that the U.S. ethanol industry and the U.S. government won an appeal on a countervailing duty case brought against U.S. ethanol in Peru, reversing a previous decision handed down by Peruvian authorities that applied a 15-cent per gallon duty on U.S. ethanol and resulted in loss of market access in the country.
Growth Energy, the U.S. Grains Council (USGC), and the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) participated extensively in this case, arguing at hearings in both the initial investigation and the appeal in Peru on behalf of the U.S. ethanol industry.
“We appreciate the thoroughness of the Competition Tribunal’s analysis, and the careful review process followed in Peru. This is a welcome development for our U.S. ethanol producers and our valued customers in Peru.
“We are pleased that Peruvian authorities reached the right result, and we look forward to continuing our close work with Peru to further enhance our mutually beneficial trade relationship development efforts, including urging them to increase their blend rate beyond 7.8 percent. Doing so would also help Peru to meet its Paris Agreement commitments and lead to opening more global trade of ethanol.
“The U.S. ethanol industry remains focused on expanding the global use of low-carbon ethanol, reducing barriers to trade, and elevating the energy discussion, and we favor continued collaboration and cooperation with Peru and other nations that share the vision of a free and open global ethanol market.”
IN LEGAL Growth Energy Battles in Court to Reverse Demand Destruction On Friday, January 29th, Growth Energy, along with others in the biofuels industry, filed an opening brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (Case No. 20-1046) challenging the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) failure to properly establish 2020 biofuel blending targets under the Renewable Fuel Standard.
In their brief, the parties seek to ensure that the annual biofuel targets, or Renewable Volume Obligations (RVOs), account for small refinery exemptions (SREs) the agency issued for past years. EPA’s current regulations factor in only future SREs, while ignoring biofuel demand destroyed by past SREs granted retroactively, totaling more than four billion gallons in recent years.
“The Trump EPA’s 2020 biofuel targets failed to account for the billions of gallons of demand lost to the agency’s mismanagement of the Renewable Fuel Standard,” said CEO Emily Skor. “Regulators took one step forward by recognizing the future impact of oil industry handouts, but they never attempted to repair the damage that continues to weigh down hopes for a swift rural recovery. As President Biden has said, EPA waivers ‘severely cut ethanol production, costing farmers income and ethanol plant workers their jobs.’ We couldn’t agree more, and we are going to fight to restore every gallon.”
Growth and others also challenge EPA’s abuse of its waiver authority for cellulosic biofuel targets. Under the 2020 RVOs, the agency set cellulosic targets that did not account for 50 million credits carried over from past years. As a result, cellulosic targets were set at a mere 590 million gallons.
“Farmers and biofuel producers are working hard to harness clean energy from agricultural residue and corn fiber,” Skor added. “These fuels are a powerful weapon in the battle against climate change. We cannot allow our nation’s investments in low-carbon energy to be derailed by regulatory abuse.” For more information, please contact General Counsel Joe Kakesh.
IN OUR ASSOCIATION Webinar Highlights UAI's Message on Low Carbon Fuels The Urban Air Initiative (UAI) recently spoke about the low carbon benefits of ethanol blends on a webinar hosted by the Metropolitan Energy Center and Clean Cities Kansas City. The webinar focused on the importance of having access to ethanol blends like E15 so drivers can choose a lower carbon fuel to reduce emissions and improve air quality.
UAI is a non-profit organization whose mission is to improve air quality and protect public health by reducing vehicle emissions. During the webinar, UAI shared with its listeners why making one simple change to your fuel can make a world of a difference for the air we breathe.
AEM Releases "Environmental Benefits of Precision Agriculture" Study The Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM), in partnership with the American Soybean Association, CropLife America, and the National Corn Growers Association released a study quantifying how widely available precision agriculture technology improves environmental stewardship while providing economic return for farmers.
"We are living in a new age of agriculture, and today's precision technology on equipment can have an enormous positive impact on farmers and the environment," said Curt Blades, Senior Vice President of Agriculture at AEM. "One of our goals at AEM is to encourage the adoption of these technologies by more farmers, so they can all reap the benefits as we continue to focus on sustainability."
The study found that as precision agriculture technologies become more widely adopted, fossil fuel use has decreased an estimated 6% with the potential to further decrease by 16%. For more information, please contact Vice President of Development Kelly Manning.
IN COMMUNICATIONS Skor Talks State of the Biofuels Industry on Agri-Pulse's Open Mic From last minute small refinery exemptions from the Trump Administration to a climate change Executive Order from the Biden Administration, 2021 is shaping up to be a busy year for the biofuels industry. CEO Emily Skor joined Agri-Pulse's Open Mic podcast to discuss all of this and more.
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