Fuel Policy

During a recent visit to Iowa — smack in the middle of corn country — the President announced a policy change that would direct the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to waive Clean Air Act rules and permit the year-round sale of E15 (gasoline with 15-percent ethanol).

WASHINGTON, D.C. – “The President’s proposal to waive the rules for E15 is unlawful and could actually make the problems of the Renewable Fuel Standard worse.

Twenty senators delivered a letter to President Trump yesterday firmly stating their opposition to rumored regulatory action to expand the sale of E15 fuel.

As biofuel producers know very well, ethanol is a highly valued octane booster that can depend on market demand, not mandated consumption, for its competitive edge.

There is a fundamental flaw in the system designed to ensure compliance with the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS): The assumption that refiners would not blend ethanol into their fuel were it not for the policy and its threat of crippling costs being imposed on obligated parties who do not blend.

Since the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) was enacted, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has had the difficult responsibility of implementing a broken and unworkable biofuel blending program. 

Much of the focus within the Renewable Fuel Standard is on corn ethanol and the 15-billion-gallon conventional biofuel mandate. But less critically examined in this policy administered by the Environmental Protection Agency is the mandate for advanced biofuels, including biodiesel.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Statement from Chet Thompson, President and CEO of the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM), in response to the letter sent by 21 senators to Acting Administrator Wheeler of the Environmental Protection Agency.

The biofuel lobby has made a number of claims to muddy the waters around the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) and halt progress on better aligning vehicle and transportation fuel policies.