Year-round ethanol a victim of spending bill tussle
Source: By Marc Heller, E&E News • Posted: Sunday, December 22, 2024
Advocates for higher-ethanol fuel went from celebration to dejection as a provision to boost E15 sales fell out of a continuing resolution.
Sen. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.) said she expects President-elect Donald Trump to support pro-ethanol legislation. Ben Curtis/AP
A big win for the biofuels industry slipped away Thursday when House Republicans abandoned a proposal to make higher-ethanol fuel available all year.
And behind the loss — at least for the moment — was President-elect Donald Trump, who’d tried to make the policy reality when he was in the White House.
Biofuel isn’t at the heart of the fight, but the E15 provision raised objections from some conservative lawmakers and became one of many casualties as Trump called on Republicans to rewrite the measure. The ethanol industry was left reeling.
Growth Energy, an ethanol trade group, likened the bill without E15 to a lump of coal for farmers for Christmas.