In a new editorial, The Wall Street Journal sounds off on the recent politicking by the ethanol industry that stands to harm U.S. refiners — with no benefit to U.S. farmers.
If the Biden Administration is serious about helping consumers, it needs to adopt policies that promote U.S. energy production and refining. A good place to start would be right-sizing RFS mandates.
Decarbonizing heavy trucks and airplanes, which will continue to rely on liquid fuels for the foreseeable future, once seemed a distant dream. That is changing thanks to innovation and investment from America’s fuel refiners, which are manufacturing renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuels that cut carbon emissions by as much as 80 percent.
Limiting California’s access to the exact types of crude oil its facilities need will only increase prices for the state’s consumers and travelers. Drivers are already dealing with gasoline prices in excess of $5 per gallon and the highest fuel taxes of the 50 states. Confining energy producers and consumers to a smaller pool of crude oil will make a very sensitive price environment that much worse.
So much for the Biden administration being concerned about rising energy costs. This proposal would needlessly increase already record-breaking RFS compliance costs which, in turn, will raise the cost of producing gasoline and diesel for U.S. consumers—and it would do so with no corresponding environmental benefit or increase in biofuel blending.
It should come as a surprise to congressional supporters of the Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA), that their 2007 votes to expand the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) to advance “homegrown energy” would lead to historic U.S. imports of biodiesel
The latest U.S. Energy Information Administration data again shows ethanol blending and consumption in the U.S. remain steady and strong compared to previous years. This disproves claims that U.S. ethanol demand has been decimated by hardship waivers exempting small refineries facing that are facing hardship from their Renewable Fuel Standard blending obligations.
