Ernst, Iowa lawmakers call on Biden to prioritize biofuels

U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) and GOP Iowa members from both houses of Congress urged President Joe Biden to include biofuels in any final legislative proposal being discussed around federal infrastructure investments.

“You made a promise to Iowans that you would support biofuels, yet the American Jobs Plan falls well short for our state,” wrote Sen. Ernst and five other lawmakers in a May 25 letter sent to President Biden. 

Specifically, the Biden administration’s proposed infrastructure bill would spend $174 billion to subsidize electric vehicles (EVs), including the installation of EV chargers and electrification of the federal vehicle fleet, and would provide tax incentives and consumer rebates for Americans to purchase EVs, according to their letter, which noted that biofuels already play “a vital role” in the United States transportation sector.

“It is our hope that your administration will come to the table to support the proven solution that biofuels provide to reduce carbon emissions in the transportation sector as quickly as possible,” Sen. Ernst and her colleagues wrote. “The administration should support flex-fuel vehicles and cost-effective infrastructure improvements that will pave the way to higher biofuels blends.”

Additionally, the members pointed out that biofuels currently provide a low carbon fuel alternative, and advancements in crop production, carbon capture technologies and new production processes will further drive down their emissions.

“In fact, advancements in biofuels can drive biofuels towards being carbon neutral or even carbon negative — something electric vehicles cannot achieve,” wrote Sen. Ernst and the lawmakers. “If provided a level playing field from the government, biofuels can and will compete in the low-carbon transportation marketplace.”

The Biden administration should demonstrate more commitment to biofuels through “a strong renewable volume obligation for 2021, 2022, and beyond,” according to their letter, and should ensure that biofuel pumps and storage tanks may be updated as needed.

Sen. Ernst and the Iowa lawmakers also suggested the administration incentivize new biofuel technologies and use accurate greenhouse gas modeling to calculate biofuels emissions.

“Biofuels should not be treated as a transition fuel, but prioritized as a fuel of the future,” the lawmakers wrote.