The ethanol plant in northwest Iowa which makes the fuel from corn cobs and corn stalks is downsizing and 30 employees will be laid off in early 2020. The POET-DSM’s Project Liberty cellulosic ethanol plant in Emmetsburg broke new ground in the industry according to Hugh Welsh, the company's … [Read more...]
Ernst says President Trump is upset by EPA’s biofuels rules
Iowa Senator Joni Ernst today said she's talked directly with President Trump about the furor over proposed EPA rules which Ernst says do not fulfill the deal Trump struck in September on the renewable fuels standard. "I did visit with the president actually, again, two nights ago on this issue … [Read more...]
Buttigieg says there’s real cost to Trump’s broken RFS promises
Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg says President Trump isn't keeping his promises to Iowa's agricultural community when it comes to the Renewable Fuels Standard. "Actions speak louder than words and the president says he cares about farmers, but if you look what he's done with the … [Read more...]
Biden questions President Trump’s deal-making skills
Former Vice President Joe Biden started a campaign swing through eastern Iowa today, offering a critique of President Trump's trade policies. "He's great at the 'Art of the Deal' isn't he?" Biden asked rhetorically, mentioning the title of one of Trump's books. "Every farmer who thinks they're … [Read more...]
Idled Sioux Center ethanol plant back at 50% production
A northwest Iowa ethanol plant that was idled in mid-September has resumed production, due to action in California. Kelly Nieuwenhuis, a farmer from Primghar, is president of farmer-owned Siouxland Energy in Sioux Center. "The State of California is using a significant amount of ethanol to … [Read more...]
Iowa farmer tells congress EPA is ‘crippling rural America’
A northwest Iowa farmer told members of the U.S. House today it's time for congress to enforce the federal ethanol production requirement. "The EPA is taking actions that have dramatically undermined the market," said Kelly Nieuwenhuis of Primghar, the board president for Siouxland Energy in … [Read more...]
Senator Ernst says she’ll ask EPA leader to resign if biofuel blend promise isn’t honored
Governor Kim Reynolds says she plans to focus her lobbying efforts on the EPA to change their policy to fulfill the promise made by the president on the amount of ethanol and biodiesel that should be used to make up for waivers given small refineries. Fellow Republican, Senator Joni Ernst, says the … [Read more...]
Reynolds says Trump’s trying to please both oil and ethanol industries
Bloomberg is reporting the U.S.D.A. warned that the EPA's draft proposal for how much ethanol and biodiesel is to be blended into fuel next year did not fulfill President Donald Trump's deal with the biofuels industry, but the White House signed off on the plan anyway. Governor Kim Reynolds told … [Read more...]
Congresswoman Axne says EPA ‘bait and switch’ on RFS unacceptable
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...]