Yesterday, the Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit was held in downtown Des Moines. Biofuels leaders from across the state, region, and country were on hand to address the state of the industry, discuss the future of biofuels, and how the work being done has already been a tremendous benefit to the environment. The common problem is that while Washington, D.C. is focused on environmental issues and cleaning up the emissions from transportation, they have been wishy-washy on their commitment to biofuels.
The Biden Administration has said that biofuels were the link they were going to use with agriculture. Iowa Renewable Fuels Executive Director Monte Shaw said that he was optimistic for the future. The Trump EPA was gone, and President Biden was committed, or so he said, to biofuels.
Shaw says that a year later, we saw the Biden Administration renege on those commitments. In fact, the industry is in a more difficult position today than it was when Biden took office. The administration seems focused solely on Electric Vehicles (EVs) and makes no mention of how biofuels can help now.
Shaw highlighted a 24-hour period in December in which EPA Administrator Regan said that biofuels were a critical strategy for the future. The next day, President Biden fully committed the government vehicle fleet to all-electric by 2027.
Another big thorn in the side of biofuels is the D.C. Circuit Court?s ruling in favor of big oil to block the year-round sales of E15. A battle that was fought years ago. So, now the industry is back to square one. Therefore, many Midwest governors, including Iowa?s Kim Reynolds are looking at the options available to them.
On Monday, Governor Reynolds announced her Biofuels Access Bill to help get the choice out to Iowa consumers. Shaw commented on this.
Governor Reynolds addressed the summit later in the morning and talked about her disappointment in the EPA decisions being made under both parties. She talked about how EPA needs to embrace biofuels available to us now, while China is trying to lock up its control of the resources available to make EV batteries.
Therefore, the Governor felt that action needed to be taken at the state level, to get the attention of the national policymakers. An idea that is shared by many midwestern governors in both parties. She lays out the basics of her bill.
Now, there is opposition in Iowa from fuel groups such as FUEL Iowa and the Fuel Choice Coalition. We plan to get into the nitty-gritty of this legislation with their concerns and, hopefully, more details from the Governor very soon. But for now, let?s focus on the problems that have led to these maneuvers.
Emily Skor is the CEO of Growth Energy. She applauded the efforts being made by Governor Reynolds and talks about the benefits of having more access available to Ethanol.
Skor adds that this has never been a mandate for what consumers must choose. It is about offering choices for consumers and enabling more stations to be able to offer ethanol products.
Geoff Cooper is President and CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association. He said the D.C. Circuit Court?s ruling came back to an ?arcane regulation.? He says upholding a regulation that is over three decades old, makes no sense.
Cooper adds that there are efforts moving in both houses of Congress to bring back year-round E15. He says an election year makes it difficult for any legislation to go through with any ease. He also says that ?big oil will want their pound of flesh.?
The message is clear from outside the beltway. Electric vehicles are coming. There is no doubt that transportation will take a significant leap. However, those changes will probably not happen as fast as some politicians think they should. In the meantime, we have a homegrown option, right now, that is reducing our need for oil and helping the environment. It doesn?t make any sense for an administration to be full-throttle on environmental issues, and not be supportive of biofuels now.
