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RFS opponents target Senate energy bill

Attempts to modify or repeal the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) could be part of this week’s debate on a broad, bipartisan energy bill in the U.S. Senate.

Some familiar foes of the RFS—Senators Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, Diane Feinstein of California and Jeff Flake of Arizona—have filed an amendment that would repeal the corn ethanol portion of the RFS.  The proposal has been offered several times in the past.

Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana has also offered an amendment to fully repeal the RFS.

The chances of those amendments making it into the energy bill, however, appear to be slim.  According to the Environmental and Energy Study Institute, Senate support of ethanol is still fractured into several camps making such broad repeals unlikely.  While some want the mandate to be repealed and others are pushing for reform, most farm-state senators strongly favor protecting the RFS.