President Donald Trump met with oil-patch and corn-state senators to discuss potential changes to the nation?s biofuels policy. However, Tuesday’s meeting ended without a newly reached agreement.
Corn-state senators, or biofuel supporters, reminded the President of his commitment to the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS), biofuels, agriculture and rural America. Oil-patch senators, on the other hand, talked about Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs) impact on oil refineries.
The oil industry continued to push for capped RINs which the ethanol industry strongly opposes.
?We made it clear all along, a waiver credit for these certificates would not be a win-win. It would undercut demand for ethanol and undermine the integrity of the RFS. Farm jobs and blue collar energy production jobs would be lost as a result,? Senator Chuck Grassley said.
Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) says he has suggested specific policy changes, along with Senator Joni Ernst. He believes each change would be a ?win-win? for biofuels and oil.
?One suggestion that I?ve been making for a long time is that transparency could be taken a step further,? Grassley said. ?Senator Cruz has talked a lot about Wall Street speculators driving up these certificate prices. The EPA has the authority to ban speculators from the RFS. Doing so wouldn?t hurt ethanol or oil. A true win-win would be to make E-15 available year-round. I?ve also suggested re-upping the USDA program to incentivize installing E-85 pumps at gas stations.?
Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA) remains optimistic about finding common ground. She notes policy discussion will continue Thursday as President Trump hears from the biofuels industry.
?We?re hopeful we?ll be able to secure this meeting on Thursday and have a number of folks representing biofuels and renewable energy visit with the President, state their case and show why capping RINs would be devastating to the renewable industry,? Ernst said.
