Iowa Soybean Farmers, Biodiesel Producers Welcome Standing of Key Court Ruling
(ANKENY, Iowa) –The Iowa Soybean Association and Iowa Biodiesel Board today joined other biofuel and agriculture trade associations in welcoming President Trump's decision not to join an appeal of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit's ruling in Renewable Fuels Association v. EPA. The ruling invalidated several of the Environmental Protection Agency’s small refinery exemptions to the federal Renewable Fuel Standard.
Iowa Soybean Association President Tim Bardole of Rippey, Iowa, issued the following statement:
“Iowa soybean farmers and the biodiesel industry are hopeful this decision will put us back on the path to restoring the Renewable Fuel Standard to the positive energy policy Congress originally intended. The EPA’s persistent sidestepping of the RFS law was illegal, as this court ruling verified. We’re optimistic the president will at last put a stop to EPA handing out exemptions to refiners that don’t deserve or need them. We urge the administration to apply the court’s ruling nationwide and stop this unnecessary damage to our industry for good.
“The soybean industry recognizes Sens. Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst, Gov. Kim Reynolds and Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig for their leadership on this issue. It's critical that we continue fighting for policy that builds a domestic biofuel industry and a new market for American agriculture."
Brad Wilson, Chair of the Iowa Biodiesel Board and President and General Manager of Western Iowa Energy, a biodiesel plant in Wall Lake, Iowa, added:
“Biodiesel producers are eager to have some stability returned to the RFS. Make no mistake that EPA's small refinery exemptions have decimated demand for hundreds of millions of gallons of biodiesel during the past three years, and our industry has struggled through inconsistent federal policy. We continue to fight for our recovery and future growth, made even more difficult by the economic challenges of the coronavirus threat and foreign countries flooding the markets with cheap oil. We remain hopeful the administration will apply this ruling nationwide so we can get back on track. On behalf of the state’s biodiesel producers, I reiterate our heartfelt thanks to Sens. Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst, Gov. Kim Reynolds and Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig for their leadership on this issue."
The Iowa Biodiesel Board is a state trade association representing the biodiesel industry. For more information on biodiesel, visit IowaBiodiesel.org.
The Iowa Soybean Association is Driven To Deliver market demand, production research, information and insights and regulatory action benefiting Iowa's 38,000 soybean farmers and the industry.