Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed its new set of aspirational greenhouse gas (GHG) emission standards for Model Years 2027-2032 light- and medium-duty vehicles biased toward an uncertain electric vehicle future over other readily available consumer-friendly CO2 reducing technologies like low carbon, high octane biofuels which are reducing GHGs and saving consumers money at the pump today. American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) CEO Brian Jennings issued the following reaction upon initial review of EPA’s proposal:
“We share EPA’s desire to decarbonize the U.S. passenger fleet but believe there is a better way than arbitrarily regulating a solution with significant unknowns. As EPA Agriculture Advisor Rod Snyder told ACE members just last month, there is no question we will be using liquid transportation fuels for a long time to come, our lifetimes. Appreciating this truth, ACE members are dedicated to producing domestic biofuels with net-negative carbon scores – something that EVs will never achieve.
“Effective federal policy would incent the market to deliver multiple technologies to decarbonize the transportation sector such as through a technology-neutral federal Clean Fuel Standard that sets aggressive reduction goals beginning now. With properly crafted policy, low carbon biofuels can serve as a low-cost, technologically proven means to meet decarbonization goals in the near and long term while creating economic opportunities in rural America.
“Unfortunately, today’s proposal isn’t that. Today’s proposal would stifle innovation and slow near-term climate reductions in exchange for a future of supply chain uncertainty and exacerbating environmental damage and human rights impacts from unsustainable mining of critical minerals across the globe. There has to be a better way.
“Rather than put all our eggs in the electric vehicle basket, a smarter and more achievable approach would be through a technology-neutral Clean Fuel Standard that ensures fair and accurate accounting and crediting of GHG reductions from climate-smart agriculture practices and unleashes homegrown fuel sources.”