Ethanol Outlook: Trump’s ‘Unmistakable Support’ for RFS

Twice on Tuesday, organizers of the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association’s annual summit played videos of presidential candidate Donald Trump voicing his support for ethanol and the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) that compels the oil industry to blend the biofuel with gasoline. The meeting near Des Moines, Iowa, held next to the Prairie Meadows Casino, sought certainty that support in the new Trump administration isn’t a gamble. As several speakers acknowledged, Trump is loading his cabinet with one-time ethanol foes. Former Texas Governor Rick Perry, tapped to head the Energy Department, sued the EPA for a waiver to reduce the blending mandate. Former Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, who has also sued the EPA, will soon be in charge of running the RFS as EPA administrator. Trump has named billionaire investor Carl Icahn as an adviser. Icahn owns an oil refinery and is an outspoken critic of the RFS. Read More