Coalition ad campaign urges Obama to reverse proposed RFS cuts
Source: Amanda Peterka, E&E reporter • Posted: Friday, October 24, 2014
The Fuels America ads feature audio and video of President Obama reiterating a commitment to biofuels in appearances over the last few years.
“There shouldn’t be any doubt that renewable, homegrown fuels are a key part of our strategy for a clean energy future,” Obama says in a March 2010 appearance that’s part of an ad that will air digitally in online publications inside the Beltway.
The ads go on to call on Obama to keep momentum in the advanced biofuels industry by reversing the proposal to scale back the renewable fuel standard’s requirements. Last November, U.S. EPA proposed a 16 percent reduction in the refiners’ 2014 mandates for ethanol and advanced biofuel use compared to the levels Congress set for the year when it passed the renewable fuel standard into law in 2007.
“Mr. President, keep your promise. Don’t gut the renewable fuel standard,” the video ad says.
The ads will run through Election Day. Fuels America, a coalition of biofuels, agriculture and national security groups, did not give the cost of the campaign.
The ads are one of many that the coalition has launched in the last few months leading up to the midterm elections; earlier this week, the coalition announced a six-figure ad blitz in support of four candidates who have backed renewable fuels (Greenwire, Oct. 21).
Oil industry groups have run their own ads calling on the Obama administration to hold firm on its proposed cuts to the standard, contending that the nation’s fueling infrastructure cannot handle more than 10 percent ethanol in the fuel mix.
EPA sent its final rule setting the 2014 renewable fuel volume mandates to the White House for review in August. It is expected to release a final rule shortly, which many industry observers expect will call for at least some increases compared to the proposed targets.