The Obama administration appears to be backing calls by the biofuels industry to proceed with setting new Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) volume requirements for renewable fuels for 2010 (12.95 billion gallons), despite environmentalists’ calls to delay the requirements in the event that policymakers delay EPA’s rule to assess the “indirect” greenhouse gas (GHG) impacts of RFS due to land use decisions overseas.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told reporters July 7 that finalizing the supply mandates is important to “send a strong signal” that policymakers favor renewable fuels as a piece of the “climate puzzle,” even as the Obama administration and House lawmakers move to delay EPA consideration of the fuels’ “indirect” GHG impacts.
“It is not as if we are saying that [EPA's rule] is not going to take [the fuels' GHG impacts] into consideration. It is just that the methodologies for calculating something outside of our borders need to be reviewed,” he said.
Vilsack’s comments came in response to renewed calls from environmentalists that if Congress delays EPA’s rule to study methods for assessing “indirect” GHG impacts, then it is also necessary to delay the supply mandates that the biofuels industry is seeking.
“If a ‘time-out’ is called [on EPA's methods for assessing GHG impacts], it should extend to all the players on the field, including a time out for all increased volume requirements under the RFS. Anything less than keeping the [GHG] accounting and the volume requirements on the same schedule amounts to cooking the books,” David Hawkins of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) said in July 7 testimony to the Senate environment committee.
Filed under: Biofuels, Climate Change, Ethanol, ILUC, RFS | Tagged: Corn, Ethanol, ILUC, Land Use Changes, USDA, Vilsack
[...] Secretary Tom Vilsack said earlier this week that finalizing the supply mandates is important to “send a strong signal” that [...]