With the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) likely to be the focus of renewed congressional debate, API Downstream Group Director Frank Macchiarola briefed reporters on two new online ads designed to highlight serious concerns with the RFS that argue for the program’s repeal or major reform. Here are Macchiarola’s remarks as prepared for delivery: Thanks to… Keep reading →
Two more results from the new Harris Poll on what Americans are thinking about key energy issues. First, 77 percent of registered voters say they’re concerned about government requirements that would increase the amount of ethanol in gasoline: Second, 73 percent agree that federal government regulations could contribute to increased costs for gasoline to consumers:… Keep reading →
We often hear proponents of the federal Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) argue that mandating increasing use of ethanol in the nation’s fuel supply is about consumer choice. This view is reflected in some of the news coverage of this week’s RFS public hearing in Kansas City. Yet, when you look at the marketplace and the… Keep reading →
When you head out for your Memorial Day drive, consider the current price of gasoline – the U.S. average retail price of $2.30 a gallon, which the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) says is 47 cents lower than at the same time last year and the lowest average price just before a Memorial Day weekend… Keep reading →
On May 18, 2016, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a proposed increase of the renewable fuel volume requirements under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program for all biofuels in 2017 and biomass-based diesel in 2018.
We can sum up new polling on Americans’ perceptions of the federal Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) and its potential impact on their lives in a word: concerned. Make that very concerned – about potential damage to their vehicles, about the broad economic effects of breaching the ethanol “blend wall” and about diverting corn away from… Keep reading →
When Congress created the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) more than a decade ago, lawmakers hoped the federal fuels program would spur development of a domestic biofuels industry that would help reduce oil imports with millions and millions of gallons of home-grown ethanol – with a particular focus on increasing volumes of cellulosic biofuel made from… Keep reading →
When Congress and the president acted late last year to end the decades-old ban on domestic crude oil exports, Washington showed it could generate the consensus to update energy policy so it matches America’s new energy reality, a reality of abundance created by surging domestic oil production. The same kind of change is needed on… Keep reading →
If the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) were a candidate in this election year, its track record would invite landslide defeat. Editorial boards of major newspapers are now echoing what a diverse coalition of restaurant associations, grocers, producers of poultry, pork and beef, environmental non-profits and anti-hunger groups have been saying for years. Arguing that “there… Keep reading →
In a memorandum dated October 15, 2015, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Inspector General (OIG) stated that it plans to begin preliminary research on the lifecycle impacts of EPA’s renewable fuel standard.
