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What went down at biofuels meeting
Story Date: 5/10/2018
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Source: POLITICO'S MORNING AGRICULTURE, 5/9/18
Trump appears to have brokered a deal in the long-running fight between ethanol producers and oil refiners over federal biofuels mandates, Pro Energy's Eric Wolff reports. At a White House meeting Tuesday with Pruitt, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue and a few Republican senators, Trump reiterated his pledge to allow 15 percent ethanol fuels year-round and rejected a price cap on biofuel credits, called Renewable Identification Numbers. Those numbers are used by refiners to prove compliance with the Renewable Fuel Standard.
Unhappiness with one aspect: But ethanol producers groused about another proposed aspect of the deal that would lower compliance costs for refiners: allowing ethanol exports to qualify for RINs.
"The notion of allowing exported ethanol to count toward an oil company's RFS obligation is extremely problematic," Bob Dinneen, president and CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association, said in a statement. "In no way will that ever be acceptable or considered a win for our industry."
Refiners, meanwhile, were wary of a separate proposal for EPA to require large refiners to take on the ethanol-blending requirements for which it issued dozens of waivers to smaller refiners.
Trump is done on the issue: The White House hailed the moves as a victory to "protect our hardworking farmers and refinery workers. The president is satisfied with the attention and care that all parties devoted to this issue."
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