Ethanol Industry Getting Impatient with the Trump Administration

Last June, President Trump visited an ethanol plant in Council Bluffs, Iowa. According to the Hagstrom Report, the ethanol industry is now appealing to him directly to look into the EPA’s implementation of the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS).

Last week, ethanol industry leaders held a telephone news conference and sent a letter directly to the president. The industry’s impatience with Trump could hurt him in Iowa and other key ethanol-producing states, which could make this year’s election even more interesting.

In the past several months, industry groups have gone after the EPA when it came to mismanaging the RFS.

“Ultimately, the buck stops in the Oval Office,” said Geoff Cooper, president and CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association. “We are now appealing to the president to intervene here.”

Cooper said the first EPA administrator under Trump, Scott Pruitt, “derailed things.” However, his successor, Andrew Wheeler, hasn’t gotten things going again in the right direction.

“Even after the federal court overturned some refinery waivers in January, your EPA continues to receive dozens of exemption requests from oil companies,” wrote Cooper in a letter. “EPA is now considering retroactive waivers for years that pre-date your administration. This has to stop.”

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