The biofuels industry is looking hard to make a strong comeback in the coming year. We have already seen the Biden EPA decline to further contest the 10th Circuit Court ruling to uphold the Renewable Fuels Standard, and stop some of the Small Refinery Exemptions which were handed out. Now, there is a push from the biofuels caucus in the United States House of Representatives to help them get back on track. Iowa Congresswoman Cindy Axne (D-IA 3rd) is sponsoring new legislation and backing another bill aimed at this effort.
The one nice thing about agriculture is that it has always had bipartisan support. Food and fuel are something that is needed across the political spectrum. Cindy Axne chairs the biofuels caucus in the U.S. House and talks about her introduction of the Renewable Fuels Infrastructure Investment and Market Expansion Act, which would expand access to higher blends of biofuels. She co-sponsored the bill with Representative Rodney Davis (R-IL13th)
With Iowa looking to upgrade their standards for biofuel availability at the pump and the concern by some retailers about the cost, this legislation helps to infuse more dollars into the improvements necessary in Iowa and across the country.
Another bill that was introduced was the Adopt GREET Act, which will direct the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to update its greenhouse gas modeling for ethanol and biodiesel. It was introduced by South Dakota Representative Dusty Johnson (R-At Large). Axne tells us a little more about what that bill will do to help the EPA look at the most recent data available on biofuels and their impact on the environment.
Axne says that by boosting the data available and upgrading the infrastructure, we can go a long way to showing the benefits of biofuels to the country and to the environment. Environmental policy has been one of the main focuses of the Biden Administration in these first weeks in office. The biofuels industry has said that they stand ready to help show what they can do to help reach these goals.
