EPA Chief Riles Ethanol Advocates With Call For Biofuels Policy Reform

"WASHINGTON - The head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said on Thursday that the recent bankruptcy of a Pennsylvania oil refiner was evidence the nation’s biofuel policy needs an overhaul in comments that infuriated biofuels advocates.

Philadelphia Energy Solutions, the largest oil refiner on the East Coast, filed for bankruptcy last month. The company blamed the cost of complying with the U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), a law requiring refiners to blend corn-based ethanol and other biofuels into their gasoline and diesel.

EPA chief Scott Pruitt said in an interview with Fox News that the bankruptcy largely stemmed from the RFS, and cited the program’s requirement that refiners earn or purchase biofuel blending credits called RINs to prove to the EPA that they were meeting their obligations."

Richard Valdmanis reports for Reuters February 1, 2018.