Created:
19 October 2017
WASHINGTON, D.C.: The
Environmental Protection Agency’s standards for renewable fuels have long been
a boon for agricultural states. But that is changing under the new EPA
director, and that’s causing a backlash in Congress.
EPA Director Scott
Pruitt proposes stagnating the 2019 biomass-based diesel volume and reducing the
advanced biofuels volume for 2018. That’s causing concern among members of
Congress from biofuel-producing states and those who see biofuels as a
necessary step toward renewable fuels. Sen. Chuck Grassley accused Pruitt of
breaking with President Donald Trump’s campaign promises favoring biofuels.Opposition to the proposed changes isn’t just an issue for states with major agricultural interests. A group of 33 US senators sent a letter to Pruitt urging him to rethink the proposal. The letter is a rare bipartisan document, with signatures from Republicans Grassley, Joni Ernst and Roy Blount, and Democrats Dianne Feinstein, Al Franken and Claire McCaskill.
In the letter, the senators say the proposed biofuel levels “do not reflect the existing potential for the biodiesel and renewable diesel industries in our states and could cause near-term job losses and discourage investment in capacity and new fuel development.” It is estimated that every 500 million gallons of increased biodiesel production supports roughly 16,000 new jobs.
The backdrop to the fight is Pruitt’s longstanding animosity toward the EPA. Pruitt was tapped to head the agency late last year, when he was Oklahoma’s attorney general and involved in suits against the agency.
While Oklahoma is a big farming state, ranking just behind Iowa for the number of farms, it is an even bigger player for oil production. Oklahoma ranks in the top five oil producing states. Production has more than doubled since 2005 and the state has multiple major pipelines running through it. And Pruitt was a leading voice in favor of oil prior to becoming the head of the EPA.
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