Governors' Biofuels Coalition

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the chamber could pass a pandemic relief plan this week, though a deal with the White House remains elusive and the Republican-led Senate might not act before the Nov. 3 U.S. election. Pelosi and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows accused each other of “moving the goalposts” on stimulus legislation in back-to-back Sunday interviews on CNN, showing why there’s so much pessimism among U.S. lawmakers that a deal can be reached before Election Day. Pelosi cited a continuing lack of agreement on funding for stemming the coronavirus pandemic and on aid related to education.

Canada could overtake Brazil as the top market for American ethanol this year, a situation that western Canadian farmers find frustrating. Through the first seven months of 2020 the United States shipped 176 million gallons of ethanol to Brazil and 165 million gallons to Canada. Sales to Brazil have plummeted 23 percent while exports to Canada are down eight percent over that time.

Gov. Walz also spoke with farmers after he toured the Poet Biorefining ethanol plant in Preston, “We had to fight every step of the way to get the president to not give breaks to oil companies, to make sure our ethanol industry thrives and to see them coming back. I think it’s exciting to see small-town folks who are raising corn and producing ethanol to understand that a Biden administration knows that yes we’re going to have to transition off fossil fuels but there’s a bridge and one of those bridges is ethanol,” Gov. Walz said.

California Governor Gavin Newsom has come under fire from ag and biofuels groups following his executive order to phase out gasoline-powered vehicles by 2035. Chad Kuhlers, CEO of north Iowa ethanol plant Golden Grain Energy, says he hopes Newsom eventually recognizes that renewable fuels actually support a low carbon, green economy. He points out ethanol has carbon intensity scores that are at least 20 percent cleaner than gasoline.

Valero (VLO) reported a $464 million third-quarter loss, or $1.14 a share, on Thursday, versus $609 million in earnings in the quarter a year ago. The result was slightly better than what analysts had expected, but the stock was about flat on the day. It is down 56% this year. One bright spot for Valero was its renewable diesel business. The company is in a joint venture with a company called Diamond Green Diesel that produces diesel fuel from recycled animal fats and used cooking oil and corn oil at a refinery in Norco, La.

A group of 15 oil state senators sent a letter to U.S. EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler on Oct. 21 urging the agency to undermine the Renewable Fuel Standard and set the 2021 renewable volume obligations (RVOs) below the so-called E10 blend wall. They also ask that the 2021 RVOs for advanced and cellulosic biofuels and the 2022 RVO for biomass-based diesel “be set at levels of demonstrated domestic production to ensure compliance feasibility.”

The Renewable Fuels Association yesterday called on President Trump to move forward in seeking reciprocity and fairness in ethanol trade policy with Brazil. In a letter to the president, the association highlighted his August pledge to consider reciprocity with respect to Brazilian ethanol imports and reminded him of a commitment from the U.S. Trade Representative in September to “ensure that the ethanol industries in both countries will be treated fairly.”

While Biden’s plan does not call for a ban on fossil fuels and includes measures for continuing their use by capturing their carbon emissions, the 2050 goal still cannot be achieved without significantly curtailing the burning of oil and gas. Indeed, the Democrat’s proposal includes a major subsidy for consumers to buy electric vehicles and get rid of cars that rely exclusively on petroleum-based fuels.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin delivered a downbeat assessment Friday about his economic stimulus talks with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), saying the speaker had “dug in” and “significant differences” remain. Mnuchin’s comments at a White House event came at the end of a week Pelosi had established as an informal deadline for getting agreement on an approximately $2 trillion spending bill in order for legislation to pass before the election. There was no agreement in sight, although Pelosi insisted that she remained optimistic.

Mnuchin has committed to a top-line figure of around $1.9 trillion, much too high for many Senate Republicans to swallow. That includes at least $300 billion for state and local aid, also a non-starter for many in the GOP. The treasury secretary is also giving ground on multiple specific policy issues, such as reducing payments that Republicans wanted to go to farmers so that some of the money would go for food boxes instead, according to two people involved in the talks who, like others interviewed, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the developments. He has left open the possibility of allowing even more money to flow to states and localities via Community Development Block Grants sought by Democrats.