Chad Smith, NAFB News Service

The National Biodiesel Board strongly opposes petitions from five state governors to waive 2020 Renewable Fuels Standard Volumes. The petitions were submitted by governors of Louisiana, Texas, Utah, Oklahoma, and Wyoming. The NBB says a waiver of the RFS volumes set more than a year in advance would do severe damage to the biodiesel industry. Texas and Louisiana are two of the top states in producing biodiesel and renewable diesel. An RFS waiver would hurt tens of thousands of workers in those two states alone. Kurt Kovarik, Vice President of Federal Affairs, says, “NBB and its members condemn the oil industry’s attempt to use the current national emergency as an excuse to undermine the RFS. The waiver sought by the oil state governors would devastate renewable fuel producers, cost essential critical infrastructure jobs in multiple states, reduce incomes for soybean farmers, and lead to dirtier air and higher carbon emissions.” Kovarik says the Environmental Protection Agency long ago established that waiver petitions must demonstrate that the RFS is the direct cause of severe economic harm, and federal courts have upheld that interpretation. “The oil industry’s current challenges stem from COVID-19 impact, not the RFS,” Kovarik adds.