Agricultural News
NFU's Roger Johnson Tells EPA to Follow the Law on the Renewable Fuel Standard
Thu, 23 Jun 2016 11:40:37 CDT
The Evironmental Protection Agency currently is accepting comments until July 11th for their upcoming plans regarding the Renewable Fuel Standard volumes for 2017. With this open comment period, National Farmers Union President Roger Johnson says the NFU is asking the agency to simply follow the law already set by Congress.
According to Johnson, the EPA is not treating ethanol fairly. "The law is the law and they ought to be following the law. The law lays out not a requirement that consumers have to buy this stuff," he says. "It lays out a requirement that the oil industry has to allow access into their supply system so that consumers, if they want to buy higher levels of ethanol, can."
However, the EPA has been cutting back on what is required under RFS which was designed to expand our nation's renewable fuel sector while reducing our reliance on foreign oil.
"We've been strong supporters of the Renewable Fuel Standard for ethanol and other biofuels and in particular the promise of longer-term advanced biofuels and cellulosic ethanol which have enormous environmental benefits," he says.
However, as Johnson stated, the technology is where we are lacking. "It needs developement, it needs some public policy support, it needs to know if companies invest in this new technology they aren't going to be frozen out of the marketplace", he says. " The RFS was designed to give them access to the market because if you don't do that legally, the oil companies largely control that. The distribution system will simply say, 'I don't care what the price is, I don't care if it's half of what gasoline is. We're not going to put it in our pumps.'"
NFU is in the process now of writting comments to EPA in order to convey their message that the EPA, "needs to follow the law, get back on a pack of certainty so that investment dollars can flow in and this industry can be further developed."
To learn more about the NFU's position on the Renewable Fuel Standard, click here.
Radio Oklahoma Ag Network Director Ron Hays spoke with Johnson during his recent trip to Oklahoma. Click on the LISTEN BAR below to hear their recent conversation about the Renewable Fuel Standard.
Story developed and written by Kalee Horn.
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