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Feenstra Presses DOE Secretary on the Administration’s Commitment to Biofuels

May 27, 2021

Granholm admits liquid fuel vehicles will remain far more popular than EVs in long-term

HULL, Iowa -- During a Science, Space, and Technology (SST) Committee hearing this afternoon, Rep. Randy Feenstra (IA-04) pressed Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Jennifer Granholm on the Biden administration’s failure to include biofuels in the American Jobs Plan.

Secretary Granholm’s own DOE recently published a study with the headline, “Corn ethanol reduces carbon footprint, greenhouse gases.” This study shows that from 2005 to 2019, corn ethanol resulted in more than 500 million tons of greenhouse gas reductions and the carbon intensity of ethanol decreased by 23%. And this past February, DOE’s Energy Information Agency publishedtheir 2021 Annual Energy Outlook which estimated that liquid fuel vehicle sales will still account for 79% of new vehicle sales by 2050.

Feenstra referenced these studies during today’s SST hearing with Energy Secretary Granholm, who agreed that biofuels are important in the long-term as Americans will continue demanding liquid fuel vehicles far more than electric vehicles.

“Even though the Department of Energy’s findings paint a very clear picture that biofuels present a long-term solution to reducing transportation emissions, President Biden’s policies have not reflected this,” Rep. Feenstra said. “Instead, Biden has called for $174 billion in spending on electric vehicles in the American Jobs Plan while hardly mentioning biofuels. Energy Secretary Granholm herself admitted electric vehicles are expected to account for less than 20% of new vehicle sales by 2050. It is clear a serious disconnect exists between DOE’s findings and Biden’s policies. The president should immediately recognize that biofuels have an important long-term role to play.”

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Background

This week, Feenstra led members of the Iowa delegation in sending a letter to President Biden, urging him to uphold his previous promise to “promote and advance” ethanol and biofuels. Additionally, Feenstra recently had a one-on-one meeting with Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Michael Regan to discuss including biofuels in climate and infrastructure discussions.

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