Greentech Lead U.S: Ethanol industry has welcomed EPA
decision to not waive renewable fuel standard (RFS).
BBI International recently gathered reactions from
industry stakeholders including American Coalition for Ethanol, Growth Energy,
Renewable Fuels Association, DuPont, Poet LLC and Fuels America
“Despite millions of dollars spent by Big Oil and
Big Food to shamelessly attack American-made ethanol, it comes as no surprise
EPA denied the requests to waive the RFS because the facts are on our
side,” said Brian Jennings, American Coalition for Ethanol executive vice
president, in a statement. “EPA considered the flexibility built-into the RFS,
precedent established in 2008, and data which proved waiving the RFS wouldn’t
remedy the harm of the drought in making the right decision.”
“Today’s decision confirms what we knew all along —
the petitioners were wrong in their belief that the RFS caused the economic
harm,” said Tom Buis CEO of Growth Energy. “I commend the
administration’s efforts to carefully review the facts and data in this matter.
Their findings have echoed the comments of Growth Energy and we are pleased
that the most successful energy policy enacted in the last forty years will not
be modified.”
Bob Dinneen, president and CEO, Renewable Fuels
Association, said, “The flexibility that is built into the RFS allows the
marketplace to ration demand, not the government. Indeed, the ethanol industry
has responded to the market by reducing output by approximately 12 percent.
Other users of corn have responded to a lesser degree.”
It is in the best interest of both U.S. agriculture and
American consumers to maintain the RFS, he added. It has helped the nation make
strides toward energy independence, a cleaner environment, create jobs and
bring down the price of gasoline at the pump.
Jeff Lautt, CEO of Poet, said, “As studies have
shown, a waiver would have likely had little to no impact on commodities prices
in the aftermath of the recent drought. This effort was nothing more than the
latest attempt by renewable fuel opponents to undermine policy that has helped
make America stronger.”
Jan Koninckx, global business director for Biofuels at
DuPont, said the drought, not the RFS, is the cause of the current but
temporary situation, something that was reflected in USDA and EPA’s careful
analysis. “While we empathize with both livestock and ethanol producers
that are struggling with higher corn prices, we are also confident that farmers
will continue to expand corn production, and DuPont and others will continue to
commercialize advanced biofuels — to serve both our feed and renewable fuels
needs.”
According to Adam Monroe, president of Novozymes North
America, there is a lot at stake for the U.S. economy and the RFS is needed due
to its ability to generate jobs and private investment.
The company and others have invested more than $1
billion to commercialize advanced biofuels, in a large part due to the RFS.
Brooke Coleman, executive director of the Advanced
Ethanol Council commended the EPA for the decision and said, “Congress was
right to protect the RFS from specious and politically-motivated waiver
arguments, and to include in the program explicit flexibility provisions that
allow the standard to adjust to changing market conditions.”
Coleman also predicted that there would be more stalking
horses put forth against the RFS but said this was a step in the right
direction to put the 2012 waiver request behind the industry.