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Secretary Vilsack defends Biden administration’s biofuels policies

The US Secretary of Agriculture says the Biden administration isn’t picking electric vehicles over renewable fuels.  Tom Vilsack told reporters during a news conference on Wednesday, “It hasn’t forgotten about biofuels, it hasn’t forgotten about ethanol.  The administration understands it.”Secretary Vilsack said the administration’s actions speak for themselves. “What administration finished the work on E-15,” he asked.  “What administration has made E-15 year-round available?  What administration has put billions of dollars into the development of sustainable aviation fuel?”Vilsack says it remains committed to the Renewable Fuels Standard.  “What administration ended the rather liberal use of waivers to allow petroleum companies to basically skirt their responsibilities under the RFS,” he asked.  “The answer to every one of those questions is the Biden administration.”

He says the administration was also the first to get corn-ethanol volumes over 15 billion gallons.

When asked about the tax credits for electric vehicles, Vilsack told reporters the industry has a Renewable Fuels Standard. “Which mandates and requires a certain amount of fuel to be blended,” he said. “What is the value of that to the consumer? It’s probably, over the life of the car, a heck of a lot more than $7,500 bucks. It’s a savings and depending on where you are, it might be $.25 a gallon. It might be $0.50 a gallon if it’s an E-85, or it might be $1 per gallon. You total that up,  oh man, it’s way beyond $7,500.