Something is seriously wrong with the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). Every year, EPA requires a set amount of biofuels to be blended into conventional fuels, but for 2014, EPA refused to release the volume requirements for the year. After more than a year of indecision and delay, EPA punted the decision off further into next year. The House Oversight and Government Reform’s Energy Subcommittee will hold a hearing on Wednesday to get answers from EPA on the hold up, and there also will “likely be broader questions about the RFS’s future”[1], according to a spokesperson for the Subcommittee Chairman, James Lankford. This is an opportunity for Congress to press EPA on potential political manipulation leading to significant delays, any technical problems EPA had in determining numbers for 2014, and what is EPA doing to significantly reform the program to avoid future delays. More importantly, this is an opportunity for Congress to consider action on amending or repealing the program entirely since the assumptions on which the RFS is based are all flawed.
