Ethanol has had quite a rollercoaster ride these past few years. Whether it has been the battle to get access year-round, or the fiasco after we finally got it, and the courts overturned it. Now, we are battling once again with an administration that promised to do right by the industry but has done nothing but patch jobs and stonewalling the first three years of its term.
During the NAFB Convention in Kansas City, we had the chance to catch up with Emily Skor, CEO of Growth Energy. The first thing I talked to her about was the status of the Midwest, bipartisan Governors’ petition for year-round E15. The EPA is roughly 500 days overdue on their legal deadline to make the decision. After getting no clear answers from the EPA earlier in the morning, I asked Emily Skor about the situation.
We talked about the legal situation with the Attorneys General in Iowa and Nebraska suing to get the answer to why the delay is happening. Legal action is still pending at this time, but the clock is ticking.
When I asked Rob Snyder of EPA in Washington, to give us an update from their perspective. He said that the agency is still trying to “figure things out.”
The one area where the ethanol industry, its supporters, and the EPA do seem to agree is that Congress needs to make the final decision to make it easier for the situation to be resolved.
