Washington, D.C. — Congresswoman Michelle Fischbach (MN-07) joined a group of House Republicans urging President Biden to keep his promise on upholding the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) by not decimating the demand for billions of gallons of ethanol.
From their letter to President Biden:
“If your Administration makes the unprecedented move to reopen the finalized 2020 RVO, and strip the demand for billions of gallons, the industry will certainly be devastated. As you stated, ‘Lip service won’t make up for the nearly four years of retroactive damage that’s decimated our economy and forced ethanol plants to shutter.’ If these rumors are correct, demand for over 5 billion gallons of renewable, clean fuels will be lost.
“Biofuels production is a major piece of the rural economy in our districts, therefore, we strongly urge you to direct your EPA to reconsider the rule to ensure that your Administration makes good on these promises to ‘fight for family farmers and revitalize rural economies…by ushering in a new era of biofuels.’”
When he was running for president, Biden stated Trump-era RFS waivers were “harmful” and called for “setting strong [Renewable Volumes Obligation] levels for 2021.” Now, it’s again being reported that President Biden’s Environmental Protection Agency [EPA] is “considering big cuts to biofuel blending mandates for 2020, 2021 2022.” This past June, it was reported the Biden Administration was “considering ways to provide relief to U.S. oil refiners from biofuel blending mandates.”
You can find a copy of the letter here.
Co-leading the letter are Reps. Michelle Fischbach (R-MN), Rodney Davis (R-IL), Adrian Smith (R-NE), Dusty Johnson (R-SD), Ashley Hinson (R-IA), and Randy Feenstra (R-IA). Also signing the letter are Reps. Darin LaHood (R-IL), Tom Emmer (R-MN), Ann Wagner (R-MO), Tracey Mann (R-KS), Mariannette Miller-Meeks, M.D. (R-IA), Jim Hagedorn (R-MN), Vicky Hartzler (R-MO), James Comer (R-KY), Ron Estes (R-KS), Jake LaTurner (R-KS), James R. Baird (R-IN), Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), Sam Graves (R-MO), Donald J. Bacon (R-NE), Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO), and Mike Bost (R-IL).
