Duckworth, Durbin ask Biden to back biofuels
Other Midwest senators join call to roll back Trump actions on ethanol, climate change
U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth talks with Illinois farmers at a 2015 fundraiser. (Facebook/Rick Hargett)
By Ted Cox
U.S. Sens. Tammy Duckworth and Dick Durbin led other Midwestern senators in calling on the Biden administration to undo many of the positions harmful to farmers taken by President Trump on biofuels and climate change.
They were joined by Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith of Minnesota, Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, and Debbie Stabenow of Michigan in sending a formal letter to President-elect Biden on Monday asking him to “take bold action to support our nation’s farmers and rural communities while acting to combat climate change.”
According to a news release put out Tuesday by Duckworth’s office, the letter stated: “The outgoing administration undermined the Renewable Fuel Standard, which was designed to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions from the transportation sector, diversify our fuels, strengthen our national security, and drive economic opportunity in America’s heartland. It is critical that the integrity of this policy be restored, and that biofuels be part of your efforts to combat climate change and reduce greenhouse-gas emissions from the nation’s largest emitting sector.”
Farmers have been irritated with the Trump administration for two and a half years for appearing to favor the oil industry over agriculture by granting refinery waivers allowing reduced ethanol production to major oil companies, when they were intended for small, independent oil refineries. Combined with President Trump’s trade war with China, which resulted in retaliatory tariffs on U.S. farm products, it led to reduced demand for corn and soybeans, resulting in reduced market prices that hurt farmers’ bottom lines. The letter charged that the ethanol waivers were “grossly abused when multibillion-dollar companies, like ExxonMobil and Chevron, were provided these waivers.”
Farmers felt betrayed by Trump’s failure to support ethanol. Two years ago, U.S. Rep. Cheri Bustos of Moline joined Durbin in taking issue with the administration’s “watered-down” rules on ethanol production that constituted a “complete failure” for farmers.
The letter also charged that the Trump administration “failed to meet its statutory obligation” by not establishing 2021 Renewable Fuel Obligations before Trump was set to leave office next week. The Environmental Protection Agency “must now publish them quickly and restore certainty in the fuel markets,” the letter stated.
The senators accused the Trump administration of dragging its feet on approving applications to generate corn-kernel fiber ethanol, creating “a backlog of applications from companies seeking to produce cellulosic biofuel from various feedstocks and have them qualify under the (Renewable Fuel Standard).”
The senators also urged Biden to include a renewed commitment to biofuels when he returns the United States to the Paris Climate Agreement, stating, “It is essential that biofuels are included in addressing carbon reduction in the transportation sector for our international climate goals to be met.” Trump pulled the country out of the Paris accords, but Biden has pledged to undo that.
“We strongly support your administration’s goal of addressing the climate crisis and supporting our nation’s farmers,” the letter stated. “Ending the policy abuses that were prevalent during the outgoing administration early on in your term will help to renew commitments to rural communities and drive economic resiliency in the heartland.”