American Energy Alliance: Congress should repeal Renewable Fuel Standard

The American Energy Alliance (AEA) recently criticized a call from senators, led by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to strengthen the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), arguing instead that it should repeal the mandate.

In the letter, the senators called on the EPA to increase the blending targets for the RFS for 2017.

“(W)e remain concerned that (EPA) continues to use distribution infrastructure as a factor in setting the blending targets,” the letter said. “The lack of distribution infrastructure was explicitly rejected by Congress as a reason to grant a waiver when the statute was adopted in 2005.”

The AEA takes issue with the senators' assertion, arguing that the 2005 law actually allows the EPA to waive blending targets when they would harm the economy or environment and when there is inadequate domestic supply.

The alliance also said the senators should not try to use the RFS to increase the number of cellulosic ethanol plants, as that is not the law’s written purpose. The AEA further said that cellulosic biofuels have not developed as expected due to the associated expenses, and that the RFS cannot make them commercially viable.