Biofuel Advocates Urge Trump to Stop EPA

The National Biodiesel Board (NBB) and other biofuels advocates sent a letter to President Donald Trump last week urging the White House to halt EPA consideration of “drastic, unprecedented changes” that threaten the U.S. biofuels industry.

The letter said EPA’s proposed changes benefit the “same petroleum refiners that have repeatedly sought to curtail the growth of homegrown fuels.”

Specifically, the announcement said, the EPA proposal slashes staff recommendations for higher cellulosic targets, publishes a Notice of Data Availability (NODA) aimed at cutting total biofuel volumes, including advanced and biodiesel, and may be considering flooding the market with export-subsidy credits, a move that would immediately devalue biofuel blends.

“EPA’s proposal earlier this summer was inadequate, underestimating the power of domestic biodiesel production and ignoring the intent of the law,” said NBB’s Doug Whitehead. “This request for comment is even more disappointing. NBB will be working with EPA to demonstrate the industry’s proven success record, continued growth and impacts to American workers who were promised that this administration had their back.”