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In 2007, President Bush signed the Energy Independence and Security Act. The bill amended the Renewable Fuel Standard and mandated that increasing amounts of cellulosic ethanol be blended with gasoline and diesel every year, with the provision that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) may reduce the mandated amounts. But year after year, the technological advances […]
Last month, the Obama administration published a proposed rule in the Federal Register that will effectively ban new coal-fired power plants. This greenhouse gas emission mandate on new power plants represents the centerpiece of the Obama administration’s plan to bankrupt the coal industry—and with it one of America’s most affordable, abundant, reliable energy sources. A […]
Yesterday, the Institute for Energy Research (IER) submitted a public comment on the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposed Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) Program for 2014. IER commends EPA for proposing to reduce the total renewable fuel mandate for this year, but explains that EPA does not go far enough. Furthermore, EPA has once again proposed […]
Two more biodiesel companies have been accused of fraud less than two weeks before the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will likely soon finalize regulations mandating how much biodiesel must be blended into gasoline this year. According to the Associated Press, the two companies are accused of generating fake ethanol credits, known as Renewable Identification Numbers […]
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has accused another biofuel company of generating and selling fraudulent Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs), marking the fourth case of RIN fraud since the federal ethanol mandate was passed in 2005. A RIN is a string of numbers used for identification when the ethanol industry produces a gallon of ethanol. Refiners […]
Imagine an alternate universe in which a new diet craze began in 2005, where fitness gurus urged Americans to massively increase their corn intake. The spiking prices led farmers to substitute corn for other crops, and to bring new land under cultivation to meet the exploding demand from consumers. Then an Associated Press investigation reveals […]
In a previous post we discussed the EPA’s proposed reduction to the 2014 biofuel mandate: Because motor vehicle consumption of gasoline has risen more slowly than legislators assumed back in 2007 when the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) statute was updated, the originally mandated targets would have required refiners to surpass the “blend wall.” In other […]
Have you noticed the price of beef, chicken, and eggs going up in recent years? This is what happens when federal laws require turning food into fuel. The Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) requires refiners to blend ethanol into the nation’s fuel supply. Because the only domestic source of cost-effective ethanol is corn-based ethanol, this means […]
Last week was unkind to the ethanol lobby. The EPA proposed a reduction in the biofuel mandate, and a scathing AP investigation undermined the environmental case for ethanol support. To gauge just how serious the situation is, we need only look at the weak arguments put forth by the ethanol lobby in rebuttal. First let’s […]