FarmWeek Now
Illinois Farm Bureau strongly opposes the Biden administration’s proposed Renewable Volume Obligations (RVOs) for 2020, 2021 and 2022, which would wipe out billions of gallons of ethanol demand and “send the wrong signal to rural America at the wrong time.”
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposal takes the “unprecedented step of reopening the finalized 2020 RVOs.”
“Unfortunately, President Biden has missed his first chance to make good on his biofuels campaign promise,” said Illinois Farm Bureau President Richard Guebert Jr. “Illinois Farm Bureau urges the president to urge EPA to reverse its decision and recognize the role biofuels play in reducing greenhouse gas emissions while providing economic benefits to farmers and rural communities.”
Republican members on the Biofuels Caucus, including four Illinois lawmakers, also urged Biden to stand by the promise he made to “fight for family farmers” and not reduce Renewable Fuel Standard mandates.
“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,” a Sept. 22 letter to Biden stated.
Illinois’ Mike Bost, Rodney Davis, Adam Kinzinger and Darin LaHood signed the letter.
“Both oil refiners and ethanol refiners were hurt by decreased demand due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and while we hope that markets will continue to rebound, it is now more important than ever to uphold the law and ensure our domestic biofuels producers have certainty through fulfilling the statutory obligation of 15 billion gallons of conventional ethanol, annually, along with a strong overall RVO,” the letter read.
