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Ethanol leader urges Trump administration to quickly set RVO guidelines

The President and CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association hopes President elect Trump moves quickly to set future Renewable Volume Obligation levels for blending ethanol and gasoline.

Geoff Cooper tells Brownfield the U.S. should already have renewable fuel standards in place for 2026 and beyond, but President Biden’s EPA did not complete them. “The deadline according to the law for those volumes was at the end of October. We don’t have those volumes. EPA hasn’t even really started working on those volumes, and so it is going to fall to the next administration.”

Cooper says the nominee for EPA Administrator, Lee Zeldin, does not have deep experience in environmental law and the Clean Air Act, so reaching out to him will be important. “We know there’s a process there to just raise awareness and education and do some advocating to make sure that he understands just how important this policy has been to rural America, to our agriculture industry, to our biofuels industry, and really to every American.”

Cooper says the Biden administration published the 2023, 2024, and 2025 RVO standards all at once. “That gave the marketplace certainty. It allowed the marketplace to plan ahead. You know, we have some stability and it’s really been, I think, very helpful to the entire supply chain.”

Cooper says it will be important for people in the renewable fuels industry and agriculture to meet with the EPA early and often, so they understand the importance of establishing blending levels for 2026 and beyond to bring long-term certainty to the market.

Cooper spoke to Brownfield during the recent National Association of Farm Broadcasting convention in Kansas City.