Governors' Biofuels Coalition

Inflation unexpectedly accelerated in September due to soaring prices at the pump, boosting the chances of another Federal Reserve interest rate increase and dealing another blow to Republicans before next month’s congressional elections.

The consumer price index rose 3.7 percent over the 12 months ended in September, driven by the jump in gas prices, which accounted for over half the cost increases, the Labor Department said Wednesday. But prices beyond more volatile food and energy costs also rose more than projected, as consumers continue spending at a robust clip.

President Donald Trump’s plan to buy Russian diesel is burning through political capital at home and abroad — despite industry skepticism that it will even materialize.

Since announcing Friday that Russia would supply millions of barrels of diesel to the United States and the world, Trump has shifted his focus to domestic supplies — announcing plans Wednesday to sell Alaskan natural gas to Taiwan, and even revisiting the idea of capping U.S. diesel exports that infuriated the oil industry last month. But Republican lawmakers and European allies are still focused on his Russia gambit.

EPA’s proposal to fully reallocate renewable fuel standard (RFS) biofuel blending volumes waived for small refiners to larger refiners is essential to restore balance to the biofuel credit market, the agency argues, but it also raises legal and policy questions about the agency’s power to retroactively fix problems in the program. In its unpublished Federal Register notice announcing the plan, released Oct. 13, EPA underscores the need to reallocate all waived volumes to larger refineries to compensate for additional small refinery exemptions (SREs) that the agency granted in August.

The Fueling American Jobs Coalition is pushing back against EPA’s proposal to fully reallocate additional 2025 small refinery exemption volumes onto other refiners. The group made up of independent oil firms and union workers says the plan threatens to raise gasoline and diesel prices beyond increases due to biofuel-blending rules. “EPA should pursue a balanced policy that supports American agriculture without sacrificing fuel affordability, refinery jobs, or domestic energy production,” the coalition says.

Higher energy prices continue to squeeze Americans at the gas pump, lift their heating bills and drive up the price of airfare.

Since the war in Iran began in late February, constraining the global supply of oil, energy prices have soared. Overall, energy prices were up 5.2 percent in September from the month before, and 20.4 percent higher compared with a year ago, according to the Consumer Price Index Report.

Consumers have felt this surge most acutely at the gas station, where the price of gasoline was 34 percent higher than a year ago. According to the AAA motor club, the average price of a gallon of regular gas was $4.33 on Wednesday, slightly up from a month ago, and more than 40 percent higher than at this point last year.

In a move aimed at protecting demand for ethanol and biodiesel, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin used a trip to Iowa on Tuesday to announce a proposal to reallocate 770 million renewable fuel blending credits granted to small refiners by adding them to volume obligations for refiners either this year or next year.
The proposal, which dives into the weeds of the Renewable Fuels Standard, would essentially protect the equivalent of 770 million gallons of ethanol from being waived from refiners’ blending requirements.

Zeldin announced proposed revisions to the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) to ensure 100% of the blending volumes granted by EPA through 29 small refinery exemptions in August won’t reduce the overall renewable fuel blending requirements for the country’s petroleum refiner

The Renewable Fuels Association is running full-page newspaper ads across six competitive states as it tries to leverage voter concerns around affordability to push an industry priority, Jacob reports. The ads ran over the weekend in 14 major papers including the Des Moines Register, The Minnesota Star Tribune and The Kansas City Star. The trade group is urging voters to call on candidates to support the year-round sale of E15 fuel, which they say would help ease high gas prices.

EVs are giving oil-importing countries some breathing room during the Hormuz energy crisis. Between March and August, their EV fleets displaced an estimated $20 billion worth of crude oil, according to new analysis from energy think tank Ember. And while more countries are going electric, the US is losing ground. Fifteen countries, including India and Brazil, have overtaken it this year in the share of new vehicles sold that are fully electric.

Trump did not share details about the exploration plans in Greenland but said, “there are experts that are saying that the amount of easily ⁠available oil is far greater than that of almost any land, anywhere in the world.”

The United States, Denmark and Greenland last month signed an agreement, aimed at ending tensions after Trump’s repeated threats to take control of the strategically located and mineral-rich island.

The USDA’s October supply and demand report raised its forecast for 2026 corn yields by 2.7 bushels per acre, sending corn prices lower following the release. National Corn Growers Association President Matt Frostic says the price drop adds pressure to farmers already dealing with high production costs, including diesel fuel and fertilizer. Frostic is urging Congress to prioritize passage of year-round E15 legislation and a new farm bill when lawmakers return to Washington in November.