EPA DROPS NEW RENEWABLE FUEL STANDARD: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Wednesday rolled out its proposed blending mandates for ethanol and other biofuels, and both sides in the debate are displeased.
Under the Wednesday plan, 18.8 billion gallons of biofuels would have to be blended into the nation's gasoline and diesel, and 14.8 billion gallons could be ethanol.
And while the total volume is 700 million gallons above this year and the ethanol volume is up 300 million gallons, the totals aren't what Congress wrote into the law in 2007.
Instead, the EPA is proposing to use a waiver authority written into the law, citing factors like a lower than expected demand for gasoline and diesel.
"This administration is committed to keeping the [renewable fuels standard] program on track, spurring continued growth in biofuel production and use, and achieving the climate and energy independence benefits that Congress envisioned from this program," Janet McCabe, head of the EPA's air pollution office, said in a statement.
The ethanol industry said it's completely unacceptable that the EPA still isn't setting the levels in the statute, and its use of the waiver is improper.
Read more:
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/overnights/280425-overnight-energy-epa-wants-higher-ethanol-blend-mandate
