Industry officials say up to 400 jobs in Iowa biofuels plants are at stake if the EPA's proposed standards for blending ethanol and biodiesel into motor fuel are adopted. Four plants in Iowa have temporarily shut down. Iowa Congresswoman Cindy Axne warns more may follow if the EPA fails to … [Read more...]
Klobuchar says Trump’s ‘vague promise’ on biofuels is too little, too late
Minnesota Senator and Democratic presidential candidate Amy Klobuchar today said President Trump should not get credit for offering "a vague promise to undo the damage" his administration's oil industry waivers have done to the biofuels industry. "To me, it's too little, too late," Klobuchar said … [Read more...]
Iowa leaders react as EPA releases ethanol use plan
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler released the details today of the Trump Administration's agreement on how much ethanol will be blended with gasoline. Wheeler said the agreement for what's know as the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) will address concerns about blending … [Read more...]
Iowa’s governor still awaits details of Trump’s biofuels deal
Republican Governor Kim Reynolds has not yet seen a document outlining how the Trump Administration may address farmers' fury over ethanol waivers granted to oil refineries. "I'm optimistic that we'll hopefully get something this week, but we're still waiting to see the final details on it," … [Read more...]
Federal trade-related payments sustain farm economy
An economist who monitors Iowa's farm sector says things would be far worse if the Trump Administration hadn't given farmers $28 billion in trade relief payments. Iowa State University economist Chad Hart says the farm economy has been struggling for the past five years due to depressed commodity … [Read more...]
Iowa ethanol industry warns of economic crisis due to RFS waivers
Ethanol industry leaders say there will be price, storage and political ramifications if President Trump fails act within the next two weeks -- and force oil refineries to blend more ethanol into gasoline. Kelly Nieuwenhuis is president of the board for the Siouxland Energy plant in Sioux Center … [Read more...]
One of Iowa’s biodiesel plants has closed amid RFS uncertainty
A southeast Iowa biodiesel plant has shut down, putting 16 people out of work. W2 Fuel in Crawfordsville made about 10-million gallons of biodiesel annually. It's been nearly two weeks since Governor Kim Reynolds met with President Trump, seeking new policies that will increase the federal … [Read more...]
Reynolds says Grassley was ‘bad cop’ during Oval Office meeting on ethanol
Republican Governor Kim Reynolds held her annual fundraiser Saturday night, using the event to denounce the Democrats running for president and make a pitch for Donald Trump's reelection. But Reynolds also recounted tense moments in the White House earlier this month as she and other Iowa … [Read more...]
Trump campaign touts fossil fuels as Trump set to meet oil-state senators
As Iowa's ethanol industry awaits word on a Trump Administration plan to boost the federal ethanol mandate, President Trump's reelection campaign has sent an email warning "Democrats' disdain for fossil fuels will destroy America's economy." The Trump campaign email denounces the so-called "Green … [Read more...]
Iowa’s governor says Trump ‘verbally agreed’ to ethanol industry’s RFS plan
Governor Kim Reynolds says on Tuesday night she checked with Vice President Pence whether there has been progress on a deal to boost the amount of ethanol blended into gasoline. "He just said as far as he knew, things were moving forward," Reynolds said early this afternoon. "...Didn't have a lot … [Read more...]