Texas Republican John Cornyn is drawing up legislation to overhaul the Renewable Fuels Standard. It’s his attempt to end the disagreement between corn-state lawmakers and oil-patch legislators.
Cornyn’s office has been hosting talks for several months on altering the nation’s biofuels program and come up with a variety of policy ideas, although they haven’t narrowed down any of the choices yet. A few of the policy ideas range from creating national octane standards to creating new supports for cellulosic ethanol or even further subdividing the system for biofuel credits. Cornyn says his goal is to build enough consensus that the legislation will eventually become the basis for an RFS reform bill.
Corn-state senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa says he’s still skeptical of Cornyn’s efforts. “I’m skeptical about the effort coming out of Texas that’s been going on for more than a year-and-a-half will be able to find a proposal that is acceptable to stakeholders on all sides of the issue,” he says. “However, they do deserve some credit for taking the time to learn and appreciate the economics of the renewable fuels industry.”
From the National Association of Farm Broadcasting News Service.