EPA misses opportunity for sucessful energy policy, Growth Energy says

Tom Buis, CEO of Growth Energy, said the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) missed an opportunity to release a successful energy policy with its release of the Renewable Fuel Standard's (RFS) Renewable Volume Obligation (RVO) numbers today.  

The RVO determines the amount of renewable fuel that is federally required to be integrated into traditional gasoline.

Buis said the RVO levels are not what they could have been.

"It is unfortunate that EPA chose to side with the obligated parties who have deliberately refused to live up to their obligation to provide consumers with a choice of fossil fuels or lower cost, higher performing, homegrown renewable energy at the pump," Buis said. "Everyone in Congress, as well as all parties in the renewables and oil industry, knew when this legislation was debated and passed into law that the only way the RFS goals could be met was by introducing higher blends into the market moving forward."

Buis called for significant improvement in the RVO numbers.

The RVO calls for 16.3 billion gallons of renewable fuels, which should consist of 13.4 billion gallons of ethanol and 2.9 billion gallons of ethanol equivalent forms of biofuels this year, according to the National Law Review.   In 2016, these numbers should increase to 17.4 billion gallons of renewable fuels.