On Thursday, Vice President Mike Pence visited Des Moines to stump for President Trump and announced a coalition called ?Farmers and Ranchers for Trump.? During his speech, the Vice President ran down a list of the ?promises kept? during the first three and a half years of the administration. Biofuels were included on that list, but not everybody agrees on which promises have been kept.
Vice President Pence highlighted ethanol and biofuels when he talked about the ?promises kept? by the Trump administration. He highlighted the expansion of year-round E15 sales. However, he also mentioned the blending mandate of 15 billion gallons.
The agreement to which the Vice President was referencing was the agreement made in the Oval Office last October. Monte Shaw is the Executive Director of the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association. He says that he sees things differently than the Vice President. Shaw says the EPA under President Trump has never once hit the 15-billion-gallon blending statute from the Renewable Fuels Standard.
Shaw said that right now the EPA is sitting on requests for more small refinery exemptions, and the word is they do not plan to act on them until after the election. Shaw added that may not be the best plan for the Trump Administration, especially if they are wanting to repeat victory in Iowa.
Ironically, the Vice President?s visit took place two years to the day of when Then-Acting EPA Administrator Wheeler was also on the Iowa State Fairgrounds pledging to fix the mess made by Scott Pruitt with the RFS. He pledged to bring more certainty to those small refinery exemptions. Shaw said that he is still waiting, two years later, for those promises to be kept. Shaw says the biofuels industry is not asking for special favors, they just want the administration to fulfill the promises that have been made and enforce the law of the land.
The Iowa Renewable Fuels Association joined with the Iowa Corn Growers, the Iowa Soybean Association, and the Iowa Biodiesel Board in sending a letter to the Vice President asking him to deny the requests for small refinery exemptions and gap-year waivers.
Shaw said that the Trump Administration could do a lot for their reelection bid in Iowa, and for other candidates running if they simply denied the waivers. Shaw said Farmers need to see that stability.
Grant Kimberly of the Iowa Biodiesel Board echoed those comments when he called on the Trump Administration to, ?throw those requests in the garbage.?
We are less than three months away from the Presidential Election. Both parties have called this the most important election in our generation. Iowa, once again, is finding itself as a battleground. Agriculture and the biofuels industry were a hot topic four years ago, and their importance to both campaigns is still apparent four years later.
