With a letter to President Trump, two dozen senators, mainly from the Midwest, stepped into a dispute that recently fractured the unity of ethanol trade groups. Spearheaded by Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, the letter asks the president to keep petroleum refiners responsible for compliance with the Renewable Fuels Standard, which requires use of biofuels in the gasoline supply.
“We appreciate the commitment you have made to the RFS. We strongly urge you to steer clear of administrative changes to policy that would undermine the program and run contrary to your goals of promoting domestic energy independence and more choices at the pump,” said the letter.
Investor Carl Icahn, who owns a refinery and is a special adviser to the White House, has suggested that blenders or retailers should be responsible for meeting the fuel standards – not refiners. The change would relieve refiners of the expense of buying credits, called RINs, if they don’t mix enough ethanol into the fuels they sell. The senators said the change would undermine the biofuels mandate.
Icahn persuaded one ethanol trade group to back the change if it was coupled with year-round sales of E15, a higher blend of ethanol than the standard 10 percent.