ANKENY, IOWA (May 8, 2020) — Iowa biodiesel producers and soybean growers commended Senators Joni Ernst and Charles "Chuck" Grassley on May 7 for leadership on a letter sent to President Trump, urging him to uphold the Renewable Fuel Standard and reject the requests for a waiver from five oil-state governors. In all, 24 senators signed on to the bipartisan letter. Grant Kimberley, executive director of the Iowa Biodiesel Board, issued the following statement: “We commend our senators for recognizing that, unlike the oil industry, the biodiesel industry had already endured years of hardship and struggle, exacerbated by the administration’s vacillating commitment to the RFS. This has cost real jobs in the heartland and contributed to the farm crisis.
“We are grateful to Sens Ernst and Grassley for repeatedly standing up to refiners and defending the RFS [Renewable Fuel Standard], an extremely successful energy policy when working as Congress originally intended. We urge the administration to see through the oil industry’s latest ploy to avoid their legal obligations and return to their unchallenged monopoly on America’s energy supply.”
Biodiesel is an advanced biofuel made from agricultural byproducts and co-products, such as soybean oil. The IBB is a state trade association representing the biodiesel industry.
For more information on biodiesel, visit IowaBiodiesel.org.