FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 12, 2016
Contact: Andrew Jerome, 202-314-3106
ajerome@nfudc.org
WASHINGTON (February 12, 2016) – The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) decision to set renewable fuel volume targets well below amounts required by law has created an uproar in rural America. In response, the nation’s second biggest general farm organization is asking the court system to intervene and require EPA to follow congressional direction as laid out by the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS).
In a petition filed today with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, the National Farmers Union (NFU) requested a review of the EPA’s final rule setting of 2014, 2015, and 2016 volume targets.
“Undermining the RFS is not only damaging for agriculture, it is a decision that harms the environment, weakens rural economies and stalls progress towards energy independence,” explained NFU President Roger Johnson. “We believe the EPA’s final rule and interpretation of their general waiver authority is wrong and requires legal review.”
He added, “When the EPA makes a decision at the expense of the administration’s own climate change goals, I question if the agency considered the market supply and surplus RIN credits when drawing its conclusion.”
NFU joins a coalition of biofuels advocates that expressed similar concerns in a joint-petition filed earlier this year. Those groups include Americans for Clean Energy, American Coalition for Ethanol, Biotechnology Innovation Organization, Growth Energy, National Corn Growers Association, National Sorghum Producers, and the Renewable Fuels Association.
“As an association rooted in the interests of farmers, ranchers and rural America, NFU has been critical of the EPA’s final RFS ruling. We look forward to standing alongside our industry partners in support of a challenge to the EPA’s erroneous interpretation of the renewable fuels supply. We are hopeful our actions will bring clarity to this concerning issue,” Johnson concluded.
National Farmers Union has been working since 1902 to protect and enhance the economic well-being and quality of life for family farmers, ranchers and rural communities through advocating grassroots-driven policy positions adopted by its membership.
-30-