Small Refinery Waivers and Ethanol

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. DURBIN. The provision encourages EPA to continue allowing refiners to stop blending biofuels with no transparency or evidence of hardship.

Fourteen years ago in this Chamber, I helped enact the renewable fuels standard, RFS, which required petroleum-based vehicle fuels to include a minimum volume of ethanol and biodiesel in them. Both fuels are produced from corn and soybeans, driving economic activity throughout Illinois and the Midwest.

The law has been a tremendous success. We have created new markets for corn and soybeans and helped supply motorists with affordable fuel. We have provided a greener alternative to MTBE and other additives. And now the United States is the world's largest producer of ethanol, generating commerce and creating jobs, both on and off the farm.

In fact, I can hardly think of a national policy in this generation that has achieved greater success for rural economic growth than biofuels. In the wake of the gasoline shortages of the 1970s, the farm financial crisis of the 1980s, the clean air discussions of the 1990s, the oil price spikes of the 2000s, and rural economic conditions of today, biofuels became part of the solution. For more than 40 years, farmers and policymakers built an industry unique to the heartland of this country.

Yet in just 2 years, President Trump has wrestled American biofuels to its knees. He singlehandedly has delivered one crippling blow after another. Each action he has taken contributes to the gradual dismantling of this enterprise. With his involvement, or outright neglect, ethanol prices, profits, and blending are the lowest in history, and thousands of rural jobs have been lost.

The President claims his support for ethanol and biodiesel is strong. I say: believe it when you see it. Because when this President issues declarations of victory on biofuels, facilities stay shuttered and the markets stay stalled.

Congressional frustration on this topic is bipartisan and growing, although some farm State lawmakers and interests still stare at their shoes while a President who shares their political affiliation burns this industry to the ground. Long after the alarm bells were ringing and klaxons were sounding, those who should have known better at the outset, whose earlier responses were accolades, now find themselves at path's end, hoodwinked.

As a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, I pressed the EPA to approve E15, a 15 percent blend of ethanol in gasoline, for year-round sales as soon as possible. And I applauded that final decision in June. For Illinois, E15 could boost 14 ethanol facilities and 20,000 downstate jobs. For motorists, E15 could save up to 10 cents per gallon.

But pull back the curtain, and the President has allowed EPA to issue 85 secret waivers that allow oil refineries to stop blending biofuels into gasoline. Economists have confirmed that shatters demand for E15. Waivers mean that E15 is a fake victory by President Trump.

After increasing pressure and outcry, on October 4, President Trump publicized an agreement ostensibly designed to restore the lost ethanol demand caused by his waivers back to the 15 billion gallon floor--even 16 billion gallons, claimed the President. Ten days later, the Trump administration stunned observers by publishing details that watered down these numbers and slashed the ethanol deal by half, while stakeholders were coached that nothing has changed.

The language in the Interior appropriations bill suggests that EPA continue to thumb its nose at corn and soybean producers while issuing small oil refinery waivers. Meanwhile, Big Oil is doing just fine. In May, the Department of Energy reported that net income for top U.S. oil companies like Exxon and Chevron has totaled $28 billion, the most profitable in five years. For farmers, however, net income has plummeted 50 percent from its record highs during the Obama administration.

For years, farmers and policymakers of multiple backgrounds and persuasions have come together, in good faith, to carefully build a new industry that benefits consumers, farmers, and rural residents. This pioneering innovation is rooted in the heritage of rural values, all in jeopardy of crumbling because the void between this President's words and acts.

I urge my colleagues to work to support rural America by ending EPA's efforts to issue these waivers without any concern for transparency or economic impact.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source