The ethanol industry is unhappy with the Environmental Protection Agency’s Science Advisory Board for downplaying the climate benefits of corn ethanol in a recent report.
The Renewable Fuels Association argues in a letter to EPA head Michael Regan that his science board’s claims contradict research by USDA and the Energy Department, the California Air Resources Board, and the University of Illinois. RFA CEO Geoff Cooper.
Instead, EPA’s Science Advisory Board says ‘the best available science’ suggests there are ‘minimal or no climate benefits’ from replacing gasoline with corn ethanol. Geoff Cooper was asked if the EPA, with its long record of stymying greater ethanol use, is playing politics in favor of the White House’s push to electric vehicles.
Cooper writes Administrator Regan that the science board’s review was biased and that there were no scientists with biofuel expertise. Rather, there was the chief scientist from the Environmental Defense Fund.
Cooper says he’ll bring up his concerns during a September 21st Science Advisory Board meeting in D.C.
