Republican senators pressure Trump's EPA pick over biofuels
Source: Reuters
POLITICS FEBRUARY 13, 2019 / 6:10 PM / UPDATED AN HOUR AGO
Republican senators pressure Trump's EPA pick over biofuels
Humeyra Pamuk
3 MIN READ
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Five Republican senators are warning President Donald Trump’s new pick to run the Environmental Protection Agency, Andrew Wheeler, that their support for his nomination may hinge on his biofuels policy.
The senators, all from states hosting oil refineries, said they want to be assured that Wheeler would work to reduce the regulatory costs for oil companies of complying with the U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard before they decide on whether to back him as permanent chief of the EPA.
The Renewable Fuel Standard requires oil refiners to blend increasing amounts of biofuels like corn-based ethanol into their fuel each year, or purchase blending credits from those who do. The measure is intended to help farmers and reduce U.S. dependence on foreign energy sources, but oil refining companies - like Valero Energy Corp and billionaire investor Carl Icahn’s CVR Energy Inc - complain it costs them a fortune.
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The EPA is working on a number of critical adjustments to its biofuel policy that are of interest to the oil industry, including resetting targets for annual biofuels blending volumes, lifting a summertime ban on higher-ethanol blends of gasoline, and proposing measures to limit speculation in the blending credit market.
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Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-epa-biofuels/republican-senators-pressure-trumps-epa-pick-over-biofuels-idUSKCN1Q231G
