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Illinois, Iowa Representatives oppose suggested reductions to biofuel RVO’s
An Illinois Congresswoman spoke out against lowering Renewable Volume Obligation mandates in the Renewable Fuels Standard. During a House Ag Committee hearing Wednesday, Cheri Bustos urged the EPA not to set lower 2021 and 2022 RVO levels. “I think it’s short-sighted. Intentionally undercutting demand for domestically-produced biofuels would pull the rug out from beneath our corn and our soybean growers and create a whole new cascade of supply chain issues in our food, fuel, and fiber sectors.”
Bustos disagreed with testimony by Ed Cinco of Schwebel’s Baking Company in Ohio who says there is a soybean oil shortage and increased RVO’s levels should wait until there’s enough soybean oil for food products.
Representative Randy Feenstra from Iowa also doubts Cinco’s claim. “While our farmers are projected to produce a record crop this year, the biodiesel and renewable diesel industry are using approximately the same amount of soybean oil that they did compared to last year at this time.”
Feenstra says the USDA’s supply and demand report shows soybean production up 74-million bushels at 4.4 billion bushels.
Bustos is a member of the House Biofuels Caucus and she is the lead sponsor of the bipartisan Next Generation Fuels Act.
