Some of Louisiana’s congressional leaders are worried that the new Environmental Protection Agency biofuel requirements could negatively impact the state and are pushing for its repeal, The Advertiser reports.
The EPA announced Monday that 18.11 billion gallons of biofuel will be part of the country’s fuel supply in 2016 as part of the Renewable Fuel Standard, short of the 22.25 billion gallons Congress estimated in 2007.
U.S. Rep. Charles Boustany, R-Lafayette, says he has concerns with the requirements.
“While today’s announcement shows movement in the right direction, the fact is the RFS continues to hurt Louisiana energy producers, causing higher refining costs that are passed on to families at the pump,” Boustany says. “The Obama Administration can make the first step in halting its war on energy by fully repealing the RFS and allowing our producers to refine this product without the interference of the EPA.”
U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy says he is authoring a bill that will repeal the RFS. He says RFS is outdated because domestic energy production has increased and “fuel-efficient technologies have improved.”
The junior senator adds that EPA mandates have fostered several problems, among them higher prices for corn-based products and threats to jobs for energy producers, refiners and farmers.
The RFS decision is big news to corn growers, whose crop is essential to creating biofuels, and energy producers.
Jack Gerard, American Petroleum Institute president and CEO, hailed the decision as “a significant step in the right direction.”
