AGRICULTURE/ENERGY/ENVIRONMENT/EPA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The Trump administration Friday announced a sweeping package of changes to federal ethanol rules in an effort to make up with farmers furious with the president’s earlier decisions to exempt dozens of oil refineries from requirements to blend biofuels into the nation’s fuel supply. The package represents a win for ethanol and biodiesel producers — based largely in the Midwest — in their ongoing battle with oil refiners over the future of the Renewable Fuel Standard, a federal mandate for biofuels to make up a portion of the U.S. gasoline supply. While EPA will continue to hand out economic hardship waivers to small refiners, the deal announced Friday will require companies that own larger refineries to add more biofuels to their products to make up the difference. As a result, the 2020 mandate will require blending above the 15 billion gallons called for the laws that created the RFS, an EPA official said.”
–Eric Wolff, “Trump administration tries to pacify farmers with major biofuels boost,” Politico, October 4, 2019 11:29 am