The Trump administration moved Friday to quell complaints from farmers — a key voting constituency — by increasing federal mandates for production of corn-based ethanol and biodiesel.
President Trump has sought for weeks to broker a compromise between ethanol supporters and the oil industry over the Renewable Fuel Standard.
“President Trump’s leadership has led to an agreement that continues to promote domestic ethanol and biodiesel production, supporting our Nation’s farmers and providing greater energy security,” Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler said in a press release. “Today’s agreement is the latest in a series of steps we have taken to expand domestic energy production and improve the RFS program that will result in sustained biofuel production to help American farmers.”
Farmers have criticized the administration’s policy of exempting some small oil refineries from RFS requirements to blend billions of gallons of corn ethanol into gasoline, which they argue are eroding the market for ethanol and the corn used to make it.
The Trump administration has approved waivers almost four times as often as the Obama administration. Farmers’ anger peaked when the EPA announced in August that it exempted 31 oil refineries from 2018 requirements to use renewable fuel.
In a series of proposed changes to the RFS, EPA says it will issue a notice for public comment on expanding biofuel requirements so that more than 15 billion gallons of conventional ethanol be blended into the nation’s fuel supply beginning in 2020.
EPA said it will also propose a rule to streamline labeling and remove other barriers to the sale of E15, a gasoline fuel blend that is 15% ethanol.
EPA will continue to give economic exception waivers to small refiners, but will also force large refiners to blend more biofuels to make up the difference.
Farm state senators from the Midwest cheered the administration’s action.
“President Trump has made clear that he is an ally of corn and soybean farmers as well as ethanol and biodiesel producers,” said Sen. Chuck Grassley, an Iowa Republican. “He is fighting for the farmer.”
However, the oil industry and its allies in Congress had warned Trump not to move forward with boosting demand for ethanol, saying the proposed changes would constitute favoritism and risk closing refineries and killing thousands of jobs in blue-collar swing states like Pennsylvania and Ohio.
“We are deeply concerned about the Administration’s decision to, once again, play politics with our fuel system by increasing an already onerous biofuel mandate, placing greater strain on the U.S. manufacturers he promised to protect and threatening higher costs for consumers,” said American Petroleum Institute CEO Mike Sommers and American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers CEO Chet Thompson in a joint statement.
