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Oil state governors ask EPA to waive 2020 RFS
Leaders of five states with a strong oil refinery presence are asking the EPA to waive the Renewable Fuel Standard for this year.
Renewable Fuels Association CEO Geoff Cooper says the governors of Texas, Oklahoma, Wyoming, Utah, and Louisiana reason the impacts of COVID-19 have resulted in suppressed demand for refined products like gasoline.
He tells Brownfield there is a waiver program that allows states to petition EPA if the RFS is causing direct harm.
“So right out of the gate they’ve come nowhere close to satisfying that kind of threshold question of ‘Is the RFS itself causing this harm?’ They say very clearly right there in the letter what is causing the economic harm, and it’s the coronavirus.”
Cooper says that’s the same issue the entire economy is dealing with, and RFA is encouraging the EPA to reject the request.
“It’s ridiculous, and really it’s just a veiled attempt by the refiners to achieve a goal they’ve had forever, which is to undermine the success of the RFS and protect their choke hold on the fuel market.”
Cooper says the oil state governors might still be practicing social distancing, but they should not be distancing themselves from the facts as well.
