It was a long battle that was finally won back in 2019. The EPA under former President Trump followed his wishes and cleared E15 for year-round sales. This eliminated the summertime sales moratorium. This was a big win for biofuels and a big shot to the efforts of big oil. However, the victory was short-lived as the DC Circuit Court struck down the move, saying EPA didn?t have the authority to issue the change to policy. Something that the biofuels industry has argued to no avail.
VIDEO: Interview with Iowa Congresswoman Cindy Axne
The only way to get around the court?s ruling in favor of big oil, is to have a mandate from the President or the Congress. Action has seemingly been sluggish at best from the Oval Office, but in the halls of Congress the bipartisan group of lawmakers making up the biofuels caucus have been working hard to gain support for change by legislation.
Iowa 3rd District Congresswoman Cindy Axne is on the leadership of the House Biofuels Caucus, and she talked to IARN about the efforts being made to fix language in the RFS and to get E15 available year-round, once again.
Axne says that indications are that there is support in both chambers and the White House. However, she says she has learned to take outside support for biofuels with a grain of salt, but she still remains cautiously optimistic.
We asked Axne to clarify the support she sees from President Biden. Often, we get the impression that he is not as supportive of biofuels as he claimed to have been during the campaign. Axne says that she sees it differently. She feels the President is supportive of all options that are on the table to reduce emissions. However, that there are others in the administration that are speaking more loudly about the growth of the electric vehicle market and corresponding infrastructure.
If that is the correct assessment of the President?s support for biofuels, there are likely going to be those in the biofuels and agriculture industries that will, like Axne, take this with a grain of salt. They would probably suggest that the President do a better job of clarifying that support and tightening the reigns of those in his administration that are giving a different message about biofuels and the future of electric vehicles.
The President?s voice needs to be the loudest in his Administration. He made the promise to Iowans that he would do right by an industry that has taken many lumps in its efforts to reduce America?s carbon footprint. All the industry is asking for is that those promises be kept. Axne assured us that the biofuels caucus is united across party lines to hold the President to his word.
