(WASHINGTON D.C.) – On Friday, final comments on the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) were due to the Environmental Protection Agency for 2023-2025. Below are quotes from various farm and biofuel groups that were submitted to the EPA.
Comment excerpt from Tom Haag, President of the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA):
“As producers of the primary feedstock for low carbon ethanol, corn farmers contribute to the success of the RFS through higher corn yields and enhanced sustainability. By producing more corn with less land and fewer resources, famers cut the carbon intensity of ethanol while we meet food, feed, export and fuel needs. As EPA opens a new phase of the RFS, NCGA supports EPA’s proposal of annual increases in volumes, including an implied conventional biofuel volume of 15.25 billion gallons, recognition that ethanol plays a critical role in cutting GHG emissions and our energy security. With continued pressure on energy security and costs, and the need to accelerate GHG emission reductions, however, biofuels can contribute even more. We ask EPA to continue working with us on complementary policies to advance higher ethanol blends, enabling ethanol to do more to cut emissions and costs.” (Link to NCGA newsroom)
Quote from Emily Skor, CEO of Growth Energy:
“A stronger RFS will move America closer to a net-zero future, deliver savings at the pump for working families, strengthen U.S. energy security, and drive investment in rural communities. We support the agency’s commitment to expanding the role of biofuels, and we urge EPA to leverage this opportunity to update the science that will guide federal climate efforts moving forward. We cannot allow old, inaccurate information to hold back progress or delay important decisions on programs like the RFS. The path ahead is clear, and EPA must remain firmly on track to meet its June 14 deadline for a final rule.” (Link to full Growth Energy news release)
Comment excerpt from Geoff Cooper, President and CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA):
“Moving forward, expanding the use of low-carbon renewable fuels like ethanol is the most immediate and effective strategy for meeting the Administration’s carbon reduction goals. Once finalized, the 2023-2025 RVOs will further enhance the energy security, carbon reduction, and economic benefits that have already been realized under the RFS program. … The RFS has been a tremendous success. It has bolstered energy security by reducing demand for petroleum imports; it has reduced greenhouse gas emissions by replacing petroleum with low-carbon, renewable alternatives; it has lowered fuel prices for American consumers; and it has created jobs and spurred economic development across the country.” (Link to full RFA news release)
Quote from Kurt Kovarik, Vice President of federal affairs for Clean Fuels Alliance America (formerly NBB):
“The clean fuels industry today meets a significant portion of the nation’s demand for heavy duty on-road fuels, helping to lower diesel fuel prices that impact the costs of all consumer goods. The industry is investing to double production, based on signals from the administration in the SAF Grand Challenge and pledge to cut carbon emissions in half. Flatlined volumes for the RFS threaten to undermine our industry’s investments as well as derail the administration’s goals for domestic energy security, jobs, economic opportunities, and environmental gains. In finalizing the overdue rules for 2021 and 2022, Administrator Regan committed to increase availability of homegrown fuels, put the RFS program back on track, and deliver certainty and stability. December’s proposed volumes for biomass-based diesel and advanced biofuels contradict this sentiment.” (Link to full Clean Fuels Alliance America news release)
Comment excerpt from Dustin Marquis, Director of Government Relations, Marquis Management (Hennepin, IL):
“Marquis has a long history of driving innovation in biofuel production with a diverse portfolio of multi-generational, family-run companies focused on continual innovation in creating a sustainable world. Our goal is to become a carbon-neutral industrial complex, and we are currently developing an on-site carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) project. … Accordingly, we encourage the EPA to take into consideration, and account for, a fuel producer’s efforts to reduce the carbon intensity of their fuel, including CCS and conservation programs targeted at soil sequestration of carbon. An important step in recognizing the benefits of these measures is for the EPA to use the best available science to calculate ethanol’s lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions.” (Link to Marquis Energy)
Comment excerpt from Ray Curry, President, International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW):
“The UAW supports the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program as it is vital for our nation’s farmers and helps address the climate crisis by reducing carbon emissions. … Roughly 16,000 UAW members work in the agricultural implement manufacturing sector, many of whom proudly build farm equipment used to plant, cultivate, and harvest crops that become biofuels and bio-products. Our members manufacture combines, tractors, and the products needed by the emerging biofuel industry as well as hay harvesting and baling equipment, cotton pickers, sprayers, tillage and planters. … These jobs enable workers to provide for their families and contribute to a healthy local economy. We respectfully urge EPA to not put high-skilled and specialized agricultural manufacturing jobs at risk.” (Link to UAW newsroom)
Comment excerpt from Brooke Coleman, Executive Director of the Advanced Biofuels Business Council (ABBC):
“We commend EPA staff for their perseverance and for getting the RFS back on track via the recently finalized (2020-2022) and proposed multiyear proposals that could stabilize the program through 2025. … The U.S. biofuels industry is one of the largest renewable energy sectors in the country, employing hundreds of thousands of workers in biofuel production, transport and supplier industries. A recent report found that that the U.S. biofuel industry supports at least 30,000 union jobs, primarily in agriculture, manufacturing, transportation and utilities, construction, and professional and business services. … A strong RFS will accelerate the administration’s economic and national security goals and bring back clean fuel investments lost over the last decade.” (Link to ABBC)
