Brian Jennings, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE), released the following statement in response to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announcement today to reject petitions filed last year by some refiners to change the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) point of obligation.
“Moving the RFS point of obligation to downstream marketers would place enormous burdens on station owners and consumers, so we are grateful EPA is rejecting pleas to change the rules for a handful of greedy refiners who want to escape their responsibilities under the law.”
“The RFS credit trading framework (RINs) has proven to be a powerful incentive that has allowed some of the most respected independent retailers in the country to offer cleaner, higher octane fuels such as E15 to their customers at lower prices. RINs do exactly the opposite of what critics claim, and the proof is higher ethanol-blended fuels at lower prices at the pump in real-world stations across the U.S. A RIN credit is a reward for RFS compliance. Companies complying with the RFS or blending more ethanol than required are able to use the additional RINs to discount prices of ethanol-blended fuels. Convenience store leaders like Sheetz, QuikTrip, RaceTrac and Casey’s are moving the domestic clean fuel market forward and the RFS rewards them for their innovation. It would be wrong to take away that incentive and give it to those few refiners who have made no effort to improve the fuels in our country.”
