U.S. lawmakers urge EPA to enact 'well-rounded biofuels policies'

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

#ENVIRONMENT NOVEMBER 2, 2017 / 9:36 AM / UPDATED AN HOUR AGO

U.S. lawmakers urge EPA to enact 'well-rounded biofuels policies'

Reuters Staff
1 MIN READ

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A bipartisan group of U.S. House lawmakers has called on the Environmental Protection Agency to recognize “the significant pitfalls and costs” of renewable fuel standards in its future rulemaking and called for “well-rounded” biofuels policies.

“We look forward to working with you to put forth well-rounded biofuels policies that reflect market realities and benefit American families and businesses,” the 64 lawmakers wrote EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt in a letter dated Nov. 1 and reviewed by Reuters on Thursday.

Reporting by Emily Flitter; Writing by Susan Heavey, Editing by Franklin Paul

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-biofuels-house/u-s-lawmakers-urge-epa-to-enact-well-rounded-biofuels-policies-idUSKBN1D21TU

[hunter]

1. The corn ethanol cult won't go away. It's one of the stranger agricultural subsidies.

Less monoculture corn acreage would be good for the environment. Artificially increasing monoculture corn acreage by subsidies and regulatory requirements is bad for the environment.

When I smell ethanol in my gasoline I don't have any warm fuzzy feelings about it, or the farmers who grew the corn used to make it.

Corn fed factory farm meat and dairy is another industry that would be discouraged if we truly cared about the natural environment.

Biofuels almost always turn out to be a bad idea, be it Indonesian palm oil biodiesel, or air polluting power plants fueled by forestry "wastes" that would better be returned to the forest.