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Bipartisan Group of 31 Senators Urges EPA To Revise RFS Proposal
Posted 23 January 2014 in
Yesterday, a bipartisan group of 31 Senators led by Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Al Franken (D-MN), John Thune (R-SD) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) sent a letter to EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy, calling on the agency to amend its proposed 2014 Renewable Fuel Standard requirements and reaffirm its commitment to domestically produced renewable fuel.
Cutting across regional and partisan divides, the Senators raised their concerns that the EPA’s proposal would have severe, negative consequences for America’s environment, economy and national security:
Congress passed the RFS to increase the amount of renewable fuel utilized in our nation’s fuel supply. The Administration’s proposal is a significant step backward – undermining the goal of increasing biofuels production as a domestic alternative to foreign oil consumption. Further, the proposed waiver places at risk both the environmental benefits from ongoing development of advanced biofuels and rural America’s economic future. We urge you to modify your proposal.
[…]
If the rule as proposed were adopted, it will:
Replace domestic biofuel production with fossil fuels, contributing to a greater dependence on foreign sources of oil and reduce our energy security.
Increase unemployment as renewable fuel producers cut back production.
Halt investments in cellulosic, biodiesel and other advanced renewable fuels. Rolling back the RFS will, potentially strand billions of dollars of private capital;
Undermine the deployment of renewable fuels infrastructure throughout the country;
Threaten the viability of the RFS, thereby solidifying an oil-based transportation sector and lowering consumer choice at the pump.
The letter was also signed by the following Senators: Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Max Baucus (D-MT), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Roy Blunt (R-MO), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Dan Coats (R-IN), Joe Donnelly (D-IN), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Tom Harkin (D-IA), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), John Hoeven (R-ND), Mike Johanns (R-NE), Tim Johnson (D-SD), Mark Kirk (R-IL), Mark Udall (D-CO), Ed Markey (D-MA), Claire McCaskill (D-MO), Patty Murray (D-WA), Jack Reed (D-RI), Schatz (D-HI), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA).
Click here to read the full letter [PDF].
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Bipartisan Group of 31 Senators Urges EPA To Revise RFS Proposal
