Renewable Fuels Proposal: "Complete Capitulation to Big Oil"

Jim Lane Obama, in trouble on healthcare, sounds the retreat on renewable fuels; industry groups aghast as EPA targets next-generation, non-food biofuels for biggest cuts; slashes corn ethanol also. Major push-back expected following “complete capitulation to Big Oil”. What are the political, economic drivers? What’s the impact, and how will industry respond? In Washington, the EPA released its 2014 proposed standards and volumes for renewable fuels. The volumes, as widely expected, include substantial reductions from the statutory standards in the original Energy Independence & Security Act. The announced proposed volumes met with united outcry from biofuels trade associations, and sniping criticism over the continued existence of the Renewable Fuel Standard from food and oil industry groups. Oil refiners were remarkably silent on a day which handed them a significant regulatory victory. As analysts began to pore over the detail, the EPA’s proposal won support from Jason Bordoff, former Special Assistant to President Obama and Senior Director for Energy and Climate Change at the National Security Council — and senior Piper Jaffray equities analyst Mike Ritzenthaler wrote that producers would find work-arounds or alternative markets to maintain revenues and cash-flow. In today’s Digest, we have a complete wrap-up of reaction, plus as look at the proposed rule, the EPA’s rationale, the advanced biofuels vs corn ethanol dilemma, the options to change EPA’s proposal in the comment period, and the industry’s short-term and long-term options should the rule be finalized as proposed.