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Peterson Leads Call for Increased Renewable Fuels

WASHINGTON – Congressman Collin C. Peterson today led members of the Congressional Biofuels Caucus in a letter calling on the EPA to increase the renewable fuel blending targets in the final rule for the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS).

In their letter to Administrator McCarthy, the lawmakers wrote of the RFS, “The policy has created a dynamic market that is fully capable of producing and consuming the statutory volume of conventional biofuels and increasing amounts of advanced biofuels such as biodiesel. America’s crop farmers, biofuel producers and rural communities have made significant investments to get to this point, and we urge the EPA to finalize a rule and methodology that fully appreciates this progress.”

The EPA is currently in the process of finalizing the 2017 RFS fuel blending targets. The agency has fallen behind in setting blend targets that meet Congress’s original intent. While the proposed rule is closer to the volume requirements specified by Congress, it still falls short in meeting the statute.

Full text of the letter is below.

Dear Administrator McCarthy:

As you finalize the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) rule setting renewable fuel blending targets for 2017, we urge you to complete this rulemaking in a manner consistent with the Congressional intent to aggressively expand the production of renewable fuels and provide more choices at the pump in the United States.

The domestic renewable fuel industry has made significant progress since Congress first adopted the RFS in 2005 and expanded the law in 2007. The policy has created a dynamic market that is fully capable of producing and consuming the statutory volume of conventional biofuels and increasing amounts of advanced biofuels such as biodiesel. America’s crop farmers, biofuel producers and rural communities have made significant investments to get to this point, and we urge the EPA to finalize a rule and methodology that fully appreciates this progress.

Given the proven track record of innovation and capacity for development in the renewable fuels market, we believe that a final rule that falls short of the conventional biofuel cap will do nothing to assuage critics of the program, while missing an opportunity to refocus on addressing the pressing issues needed to fully realize the potential renewable fuels can make for our economy and energy security.

We urge you to increase the renewable fuel blending targets in the proposed rule to restore confidence in the RFS and further encourage continued development in this industry. We thank your consideration of this request.

Sincerely,

 

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