ENERGY [ALTERNATIVE]/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The Trump administration is expected on Monday [6-4-18] to announce changes in biofuels policies, including a plan to count ethanol exports toward federal biofuels usage quotas and allowing year-round sale of fuels with a higher blend of ethanol, two sources briefed on the matter said. Reuters reported on May 11 that after hosting several meetings between representatives of the corn and refining industries, the administration was in the ‘last stages’ of formally proposing changes to biofuels regulations intended to appease both sides. The changes, expected to be outlined in a memorandum on Monday, will be subject to the federal rule-making process, added the sources, who were not authorized to speak publicly. A White House spokeswoman declined to comment. The changes are aimed at easing tensions between the oil and corn industries, which 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 incurs steep costs and threatens the very blue-collar jobs President Donald Trump has promised to protect.”
-David Shepardson, “White House expected to announce compromise on biofuels: sources,” Reuters, June 4, 2018 5:28 pm