ENERGY [ALTERNATIVE]/OIL/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The Trump administration will scale back the use of biofuels waivers for small refineries and count ethanol exports toward federal biofuels usage quotas as part of a broad overhaul of the nation’s renewable fuel policy, a source briefed on the plans said on Friday [5-11-18]. The changes are aimed at easing tensions between the oil and corn industries, rivals that have been clashing for months over the future of the U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard – a law that requires refiners to add increasing amounts of biofuels into the nation’s gasoline and diesel. While the RFS has helped farmers by creating a 15 billion gallon a year market for corn-based ethanol, oil refiners have increasingly complained that complying with the law costs them a fortune and threatens the very blue-collar jobs President Donald Trump has promised to protect. After hosting several meetings between representatives of the corn and refining industries, the administration is in the ‘last stages’ of formally proposing changes to the biofuels law intended to appease both sides, the source said on Friday.”
-Jarrett Renshaw, Chris Prentice, “Trump biofuel policy overhaul to include fewer refinery waivers: source,” Reuters, May 11, 2018 10:20 am