Micheal Clements, NAFB News Service

Growth Energy offered thanks to four governors, who sent a letter urging Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue to allocate additional resources under the COVID-19 relief package to the biofuels industry. An initial tranche of aid, announced Friday by USDA, included welcome funding for farmers and ranchers, but no direct relief for U.S. biofuel producers. Growth Energy CEO Emily Skor says, “We urge lawmakers and USDA to take immediate, additional steps that are still needed to keep our plants open.” Signed by Governors Kim Reynolds of Iowa, Tim Walz of Minnesota, Pete Ricketts of Nebraska, and Kristi Noem of South Dakota, Growth Energy says the letter also offered a powerful rebuke against recent oil-backed efforts to waive blending requirements under the Renewable Fuel Standard for petroleum refineries. They note, “Using this global pandemic as an excuse to undercut the RFS is not just illegal, it would also sever the economic lifeline that renewable fuels provide for farmers, workers and rural communities across the Midwest.”