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Governors’ Biofuels chair calls RFS waivers biggest threat to ethanol

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz calls small refinery exemptions the biggest threat the ethanol industry has faced.

On a conference call with reporters this Thursday morning, Walz says the unprecedented waivers are causing irreparable harm.

“It’s kind of indicative of like long-term markets, and once you lose them, and what I’m very fearful of is that if there’s not an aggressive announcement, then (the Trump Administration) has dealt a death blow to an incredibly innovative American industry that started right here in the Heartland.”

Walz, a Democrat and chair of the Governors’ Biofuels Coalition, sent the Trump Administration a joint letter with South Dakota Republican Governor Kristi Noem recommending ways to mitigate the effects of EPA’s RFS waivers.

“We’re pushing for E15 (and higher blends). I have to just be candid (in saying) it feels like the oil industry thought it had a chance to deal a death blow to this industry, and they’re trying to do it.”

Walz and Noem are asking Trump to have the EPA include lost gallons to the pending 2020 RVO proposed rule; initiate another Biofuels Infrastructure Partnership through USDA; increase the minimum octane standard in gasoline; and, direct EPA to enforce the Clean Air Act requirement to replace the aromatic toxins in gasoline, allowing refiners to use ethanol.