Expect Brutal Fight for RFS and E15

Expect Brutal Fight for RFS and E15. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Line On Agriculture.

Bob Dineen is no newcomer to the dance. He’s the CEO and President of the Renewable Fuels Association and says there are a lot of challenges for renewable fuels.

DINEEN: There are marketplace challenges just because margins are tight right now and those are temporary and this is a commodity market selling into a commodity market so it’s doubly challenging today. But with the crop that’s expected most of the people around this room are fairly optimistic that we’ll get through those. What is maybe a little bit more difficult to see a road through is the challenges in Washington D.C.

He says that is where their opponents that are comfortable using oil are doing what they can to unravel the policies that have built the industry, specifically the renewable fuels standard.

DINEEN: The RFS is under attack in Washington today. I don’t see for a moment that it will be unraveled this year but they will continue to fight next year and they’ll continue to fight in the courts I think it’s really important for the industry to know that the wolves are at the door, to recognize the tremendous resources that our opponents are throwing at this and to be prepared.

Dineen says it’s important for the industry to stay focused on the campaign and even touts a campaign button that says “Don’t Mess with the RFS.”

DINEEN: The RFS has been a tremendous success. When the first renewable fuels standard was enacted in 2005 we were 60% dependent on foreign oil for our liquid transportation fuels and today we are just 45% dependent. That is the consequence of the growth in ethanol, that is a result of the Renewable Fuels Association, that’s because the people in this room who produce ethanol day in and day out have been so successful.

Dineen was the keynote speaker at the International Fuel Ethanol Workshop & Expo in Minneapolis, Minnesota where he talked about maximizing demand.

DINEEN: Well certainly we’ve got to continue to build demand and we’re building it overseas as well as here in the states. The export market is going to continue to be a very important for our industries profitability and in terms of here in the states the E15 market has got to arrive. We think that it’s going to quite soon. We look forward to EPA perhaps providing some certifications for gasoline marketers that choose to use E15 and offer it to their customers. And I have just a great deal of confidence that we’re going to continue to grow and evolve.

That’s today’s Line On Agriculture. I’m Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.