Products and Power

The federal rulemaking process depends on sound science, especially when human lives are at stake. A proposed rule  from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) would stiffen regulations for crystalline silica, a group of minerals used in numerous industries, including hydraulic fracturing. Prolonged exposure to respirable crystalline silica is associated with silicosis, an incurable disease that causes impaired respiratory function and scarring of the lungs. Unfortunately,...
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Imagine an alternate universe in which a new diet craze began in 2005, where fitness gurus urged Americans to massively increase their corn intake. The spiking prices led farmers to substitute corn for other crops, and to bring new land under cultivation to meet the exploding demand from consumers. Then an Associated Press investigation reveals the dark side to the new fad: Five million acres of land taken out of conservation and turned into farmland, wetlands filled, and water sources...
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In a previous post we discussed the EPA’s proposed reduction to the 2014 biofuel mandate: Because motor vehicle consumption of gasoline has risen more slowly than legislators assumed back in 2007 when the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) statute was updated, the originally mandated targets would have required refiners to surpass the “blend wall.” In other words, the original mandates would have forced refiners to put more ethanol into the nation’s fuel mix than would be safe for many...
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[caption id="attachment_1696" align="alignright" width="300"] Image: Flickr/snake.eyes[/caption] The Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee held a hearing this week on the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). The hearing comes on the heels of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposal to reduce the total volume obligation for 2014. Testifying at the hearing, American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM) President Charles Drevna  explained some of the flaws with...
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Have you noticed the price of beef, chicken, and eggs going up in recent years? This is what happens when federal laws require turning food into fuel. The Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) requires refiners to blend ethanol into the nation’s fuel supply. Because the only domestic source of cost-effective ethanol is corn-based ethanol, this means that federal law mandates turning food into fuel. As a new ad campaign explains, the Renewable Fuel Standard makes it more difficult for American...
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Last week was unkind to the ethanol lobby. The EPA proposed a reduction in the biofuel mandate, and a scathing AP investigation undermined the environmental case for ethanol support. To gauge just how serious the situation is, we need only look at the weak arguments put forth by the ethanol lobby in rebuttal. First let’s review what happened: The EPA proposed rolling back the 2014 amount of ethanol to be included in the nation’s fuel mix. According to the schedule passed by Congress in...
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The proposed 2014 mandate for the Renewable Fuel Standard Program demonstrates that the RFS is irreparably broken and should be scrapped. Until Congress repeals the entire RFS, EPA should lower the total ethanol mandate and set the advanced ethanol and cellulosic ethanol mandate to zero. Despite years of trying, EPA has proven incapable of setting ethanol volumes that correspond in any way to reality, especially cellulosic ethanol. Furthermore, in the name of reducing greenhouse gas...
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WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released today its 2014 requirements for the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). The proposed rule scales back the ethanol mandate to the 2012 level of 15.2 billion gallons, down from 16.55 billion gallons in 2013. American Energy Alliance President Thomas Pyle released the following statement in response to the announcement:

"The American Energy Alliance welcomes today's better-late-than-never announcement that the EPA will scale back the...

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As we have explained on these pages before, the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) amounts to a massive subsidy for the ethanol industry. By forcing refiners to purchase and blend rising volumes of biofuels, regardless of whether it makes economic sense, the RFS provides ethanol producers guaranteed demand for their product. To protect their mandate, the ethanol industry tries to blame oil companies and refiners to deflect the public away from the fact that the RFS forces the public to buy...
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A recent story in the LA Times explains that government officials at various levels are keen on putting little black boxes in everyone’s vehicle. Civil liberties groups are concerned—and rightly so—about Big Brother being able to track everyone’s movements. Yet even the official reason is ominous: It will allow the government to tally a citizen’s mileage and then send him or her a tax bill. Here are the chilling details:

WASHINGTON — As America's road planners struggle to find...

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