Dinneen: Oil, Ethanol Meetings Not Scheduled Yet, Likely Not Constructive
Source: By Todd Neeley, DTN/Progessive Farmer • Posted: Friday, January 12, 2018
The head of the nation’s largest ethanol interest group told DTN there are no meetings scheduled between oil and ethanol interests to talk about the Renewable Fuel Standard. (DTN file photo by Todd Neeley)
WASHINGTON (DTN) — President Donald Trump’s administration and some members of Congress want oil and ethanol interests to just get along and work out their differences on the Renewable Fuel Standard. But the leader of the nation’s largest ethanol industry interest group told DTN in an exclusive interview on Thursday that, so far, no such meetings between the two sides have been scheduled and may not be scheduled.
Renewable Fuels Association President and CEO Bob Dinneen said he’s not sure oil industry representatives know what they want.
“I’m not sure how constructive it could be, because the oil industry is not monolithic on how to address RFS issues,” he said. “So, what problem are we really trying to solve? Whose problems are we trying to solve? And how many bites of the apple are they going to get?”
Earlier this week, Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, called on ethanol and oil interests to work out their differences on the RFS, as the nomination of Iowa Agriculture Secretary Bill Northey to a USDA undersecretary post continues to be held up by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas. Cruz is using the hold as leverage in hope of forcing the ethanol industry’s hand.
Cruz placed the hold until lawmakers from oil-producing states were granted a meeting with the president and others to discuss possible changes to the RFS. Cruz and others have proposed placing a 10-cent cap on the price of renewable identification numbers, or RINs, as a way to bring down RFS compliance costs for refiners.
Grassley said this week that the Senate “will have to proceed without the RFS.”
RINs are generated when a qualified renewable fuel is either produced or imported. RINs then are bought within the refinery industry by companies that are not producing or buying enough renewable fuels to meet their blending obligations.