News

Administration’s biofuels stance still a question mark

A biofuels industry leader says the jury is still out on the Trump Administration’s attitude toward biofuels.

Doug Durante, executive director of the Clean Fuels Development Coalition, says the industry is still trying to figure out how to deal with the new administration. One thing is for sure, Durante says–the ethanol industry’s argument that it reduces greenhouse gas emissions and helps clean the air doesn’t resonate with the Trump team.

“This is not a pro-renewable energy administration,” Durante says. “They don’t feel it’s important to reduce carbon. They’re very skeptical about climate change. They’re very clear about that.”

But Durante is hopeful that Trump’s EPA will be easier to work with on regulatory issues such as Reid Vapor Pressure relief for E15 and higher ethanol blends.

“That the EPA will be more inclined, under this administration, to look at things differently—because it hasn’t been good for us in the past,” he says. “If they reinterpret some of these things and accept new data and listen to what we’re telling them, that part I believe is going to be very good. So from that standpoint, I’m encouraged.”

Brownfield spoke with Durante at the Nebraska Ethanol Board’s Issues Forum in Omaha.

AUDIO: Doug Durante