Trump to put biofuel reform on ice: "Trump failed to broker a deal between Big Oil and Big Corn"
The great negotiator=--NOT able to make a deal. ha ha
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-biofuels-trump/trump-to-put-biofuel-reform-push-on-ice-for-now-sources-idUSKBN1HH39Q?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=twitter
April 10, 2018 / 3:33 PM / Updated an hour ago
Trump to put biofuel reform push on ice, for now: sources
Jarrett Renshaw
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Trump administration will delay any moves to reform the nation’s biofuel policy for about three months, according to three sources briefed on the matter - a decision one of the sources said was meant to shield farmers worried about a potential trade war with China.
The decision comes after President Donald Trump failed to broker a deal between Big Oil and Big Corn during meetings over months about the future of the U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard - a law broadly supported in the U.S. heartland that requires oil refiners to add biofuels like ethanol to the nation’s gasoline.
“There’s just a lot going on right now, so they decided to take a pause and revisit in three months,” one of the sources said, referring to worries in the U.S. agriculture industry that an escalating trade dispute between the United States and China could hurt U.S. commodity exports.
The biofuel reforms threaten to weaken demand for corn-based ethanol, compounding concerns from farmers about a loss of grain exports to China due to the trade dispute. Rural voters are an important constituency for President Donald Trump, helping propel his election victory in 2016, but his support with this group has slipped. reut.rs/2ya8zRy
The RFS has created a 15-billion-gallon-a-year market for ethanol since it was implemented more than a decade ago, a boon for U.S. farmers but a headache for oil refiners that have increasingly complained about the cost of complying.
Trump hosted the latest meeting on potential RFS reforms on Monday. In that meeting, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt and Agricultural Secretary Sonny Perdue presented the president with a list of potential options aimed at helping refiners without undercutting ethanol demand. ................................
