Sen. Amy Klobuchar:

“The biofuel industry supports hundreds of thousands of rural jobs across the country. However, this final rule fails to make any substantive changes to what was proposed in October, which was already too little, too late for farmers, ethanol producers, and the environment. The Administration caused this problem by making exemptions for big oil companies, and its failure to uphold the RFS has already led to the closure or idling of more than 35 ethanol and biodiesel plants, leaving rural America further behind. Enough is enough. To ensure certainty for the marketplace and uphold the Congressional intent of the RFS, I will continue to encourage the Administration to follow the law and properly account for waived renewable gallons. Our environment, farmers, and rural communities depend on the faithful implementation of the RFS.”

Sen. Tina Smith:

“A strong Renewable Fuel Standard is important to rural communities, farmers, clean energy producers and agribusinesses. The RFS supports thousands of local jobs and helps lead to billions of dollars in economic activity, it cuts our dependence on foreign oil, and it helps fight global warming. As I’ve said before, people were kind of feeling hopeful when the President talked about a 15 billion gallon blend assurance, after what’s been a really cruddy year for corn producers and ethanol facilities—some of whom are literally going out of business. This is another frustrating bait and switch by the President. His pro-oil and gas agenda stands out starkly in a week when we in Congress are about to pass a long-overdue extension of the biodiesel tax credit.”

Rep. Collin Peterson:

“The Administration has repeatedly directed the EPA and other agencies to support the ethanol industry and corn farmers, and the EPA has told those farmers to trust them.  Instead we’re seeing a final rule out of EPA that doesn’t guarantee the 15 billion gallons the RFS mandates.  At a time when our agriculture economy is struggling, the EPA has ripped 4 billion gallons of ethanol out of the market and impacted corn prices and rural communities.  We also have yet to see the other things that were promised to the biofuels industry and corn farmers to get more ethanol into the market via infrastructure incentives and policies related to higher ethanol blends.”