Reading Time: 3 minutes Washington/New York | Reuters — The Trump administration on Friday unveiled a plan to boost U.S. biofuels consumption starting next year to help struggling farmers, a move that cheered the agriculture industry but triggered a backlash from Big Oil. The plan would require an unspecified increase in the amount of ethanol that oil refiners must […] Read more
Trump’s EPA promises biofuel boost, angers Big Oil
U.S. grains: Corn falls; wheat, soy rise
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. corn futures dropped on Friday while soybeans and wheat edged higher in muted trading as investors waited for the U.S. government’s monthly update to harvest projections. Corn futures remained under pressure from profit-taking after prices jumped to a seven-week high on Tuesday. The market shrugged off long-awaited news that the […] Read more
Trump backs plan boosting biofuel quotas 10 per cent in 2020
Reading Time: 2 minutes New York | Reuters — U.S. President Donald Trump has tentatively approved a plan to increase the amount of biofuels that oil refiners are required to blend each year to compensate for exemptions handed out to small refiners by the Environmental Protection Agency, two sources familiar with the matter said. The plan is intended to […] Read more
Trump promises ethanol-related ‘giant package’ to please farmers
Reading Time: 3 minutes Washington/South Sioux City | Reuters — President Donald Trump said on Thursday his administration is planning a “giant package” related to ethanol that would please U.S. farmers angry that many more oil refiners have been freed from obligations to use the corn-based fuel. Clashes between farmers and the oil industry over biofuel policy have posed […] Read more
White House seen aiming to calm U.S. farmer unrest over biofuels
Reading Time: 3 minutes New York/Washington | Reuters — President Donald Trump’s administration has been scrambling to stem the tide of rising anger in Farm Belt states after its decision this month to allow numerous oil refiners to mix less ethanol into their gasoline, sources told Reuters on Tuesday. Trump held a two-hour meeting on Monday with members of […] Read more
Ag-state senator says Trump EPA ‘screwed us’ with biofuel waivers
Reading Time: 2 minutes Washington | Reuters — Iowa’s Republican Senator Chuck Grassley said the Trump administration’s Environmental Protection Agency has “screwed” the U.S. ethanol industry and farmers by granting waivers to 31 small petroleum refineries, effectively exempting them from an obligation to use more ethanol in their products. The powerful senator, who represents the largest ethanol-producing state in […] Read more
U.S. refiners urge EPA to keep biofuel waiver requests secret from USDA
Reading Time: 2 minutes Washington | Reuters — A law firm representing small U.S. refineries has urged the Environmental Protection Agency to keep refiners’ applications for waivers from the nation’s biofuel policy secret from the Department of Agriculture, arguing that the petitions include confidential business information. The request, made by Perkins Coie in a letter to the EPA dated […] Read more
U.S. EPA proposes hike in 2020 biofuel mandate
Reading Time: 3 minutes Washington | Reuters — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Friday proposed refiners increase the volume of biofuels blended into their annual fuel output but did not reallocate the waived amounts under the hardship program, drawing ire from powerful corn and biofuel groups as well as Republican senators. The EPA is charged with setting […] Read more
As Biden tours Iowa, farmers want to know where he stands on ethanol
Reading Time: 4 minutes New York | Reuters — Joe Biden may have an ethanol problem. The former U.S. vice-president has pledged support for advanced biofuels as part of his bid for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. But Biden, who leads the crowded Democratic field in opinion polls in Iowa and nationally, faces lingering questions in the U.S. Farm […] Read more
U.S. refiner group sues Trump EPA over E15 gasoline
Reading Time: < 1 minute Reuters — The main U.S. refining industry association said on Monday it sued to block the Trump administration’s effort to expand sales of higher ethanol blends of gasoline, arguing the move exceeded the administration’s authority. The legal challenge from the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM) association escalated a battle between the oil and corn […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
