Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa today participated in a bipartisan senators' meeting with Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Gina McCarthy to discuss the Obama Administration's proposed reduction in the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). Grassley made the following comment after the meeting.
"I'm glad Administrator McCarthy listened to senators' concerns. I tried to impress upon her that while President Obama and his administration have claimed to be in favor of domestic biofuels, this proposal is a step backward and will harm our efforts to further diversify our fuel supply. The fact is, the blend wall is a result of Big Oil's obstruction to higher ethanol blends, and EPA's proposal rewards its obstruction. The Administrator heard a lot about the harm this proposal would do to the environment, our national and energy security, and our rural economies. I also personally relayed the request of the entire Iowa delegation to host a field hearing in Iowa to hear directly from farmers and biofuels producers about the benefits of the RFS."
The bipartisan letter requesting a field hearing in Iowa is available here.
More on Grassley's views on the proposed reduction is available here.
