After the D.C. Circuit Court decided to overturn the sale of E15, year-round, Growth Energy appealed their case all the way to the Supreme Court of the United States. On Monday, the highest court in the land declined to hear the appeal, leaving the Circuit Court decision as the law of the land. Thus, negating years of effort to establish year-round availability of the higher ethanol blend, and scoring a victory for big oil.
Audio: Full interview with Growth Energy General Counsel Joe Kakesh
Joe Kakesh is General Counsel for Growth Energy. He talks about the disappointment in the denial of the Supreme Court to hear their petition. Kakesh reminds us to not read into it as any kind of political statement. Getting before the bench is tough. The Court receives over a thousand petitions, but only hears less than 100 per year. So, this was probably just a numbers game.
This does not mean that the fight is over, and biofuels have lost. There are still options available in the Federal and State governments. Kakesh says they are pushing through on all other avenues.
Kakesh says ultimately the question that will go unanswered is what the D.C. Circuit Court has against offering choices to consumers at the pump. This was never about mandating what customers had to use.
If Congress can not push through a bill that allows for year-round sales of E15, the gas pumps will have to go back to a pre-2019 set of rules.
