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Lawmakers urge EPA to reject oil refiners’ requests for RFS exemptions

A group of senators and House members organized by Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Reps. Cindy Axne, D-Iowa, Angie Craig, D-Minn., and Cheri Bustos, D-Ill., said today, June 17, that the Biden administration should reject any exemptions to the Renewable Fuel Standard proposed by oil refiners.

Reuters has reported that oil refiners have asked for “relief” from the Renewable Fuel Standard and that the campaign has resonance in the Biden administration because it is led by a refinery in Delaware, President Biden’s home state.

“Rather than exempting refiners of their obligations under the Clean Air Act, the administration should provide additional certainty and stability to the renewable fuels marketplace that will create jobs, drive investment, and cut carbon emissions from the existing vehicle fleet,” the lawmakers wrote to Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan and National Economic Council Director Brian Deese.



The Renewable Fuels Association and Growth Energy thanked the lawmakers for sending the letter.

“We’re grateful to these congressional champions for standing up for our nation’s producers of low-carbon ethanol and other renewable fuels. The Biden administration has repeatedly committed itself to moving forward in a transparent way on fuel policy, and likewise has repeatedly stated its desire to move away from the prior administration’s decisions that ultimately favored Big Oil and undermined the RFS. As these lawmakers appropriately point out, biofuels are an important part of decarbonizing vehicle emissions and the transportation sector. It seems unfathomable that the Biden administration would exempt refiners from using more renewable biofuels and move us away from that important goal,” RFA President and CEO Geoff Cooper said in a news release.



Growth Energy CEO Emily Skor noted that the letter came from 16 Democrats.

“The reported handouts to oil companies looking to avoid their biofuel blending obligations would be a complete reversal of the Biden administration’s repeated and unequivocal promises to support clean-energy jobs and uphold the integrity of the Renewable Fuel Standard,” said Skor. “Giving in to oil refiners’ repeated claims of economic strain would also backtrack our nation’s progress of moving toward a cleaner energy transportation future through higher biofuel blends.”


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