RFA CEO Defends RFS Before House Subcommittee

Renewable Fuels Association President and CEO Bob Dinneen testified before a House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee Tuesday. He underscored the importance of domestic ethanol in the nation’s fuel supply and the important role of the Renewable Fuel Standard. Dinneen was prepared to testify that America’s ethanol industry – supported by a visionary RFS – is already decreasing our reliance on foreign oil, exerting downward pressure on gasoline prices, employing tens of thousands of American workers and cleaning up our air. Due to the forward-looking nature of the RFS – Dinneen says the industry is poised to make even more significant contributions to the nation’s economic and environmental security in the future.

According to Dinneen – net imports of crude oil and petroleum products have fallen from 60-percent to 45-percent since the original RFS was adopted in 2005. As far as gasoline prices are concerned – one University study found that ethanol kept gasoline prices more than a dollar per gallon cheaper in 2011.

Dinneen also defended the Renewable Identification Number tracking system before the Subcommittee on Energy and Power. He called the controversy over fraudulent biodiesel RINs overblown – noting that the 140-million fraudulent RINs represent less than point-five percent of all RINs generated. In fact – he says some 26-billion ethanol RINs have been generated without a single instance of fraud. Dinneen testified that the fraudulent activity was isolated and resulted from the actions of three bad actors.

Finally – Dinneen took the opportunity to reemphasize the ethanol industry’s commitment to flex-fuel vehicles and expanding fueling infrastructure to accommodate the growing volumes of renewable fuel called for by the RFS.

Source: NAFB News Service

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