US biofuel policy revamp on the verge of collapse

Bloomberg

A tentative deal to revamp US biofuel policy appeared to collapse when the White House indefinitely delayed an expected announcement of the planned changes, according to three people familiar with the move.
The postponement of a directive outlining the deal may mark the end of the latest effort to overhaul the American renewable fuel mandate with an eye on lowering costs for refiners forced to blend biofuels into gasoline, said the people, who asked not to be named to discuss internal deliberations.
Despite months of negotiations, Trump administration has struggled to find a balance on a contentious issue that divides two of the president’s key constituencies: Midwest farmers and refiners in Pennsylvania. On the campaign trail in 2016, Donald Trump promised to support ethanol, a pledge embraced by farmers who grow the corn used to produce it.
Senator Chuck Grassley, a Republican from Iowa who threatened to call for Environmental Protection Age-ncy Administrator Scott Pruitt’s resignation over the dispute, cheered the proposal’s apparent failure with a post on Twitter. “Pres Trump helped farmers by rejecting bad ethanol deal,” Grassley said. “I appreciate. GREAT NEWS.”
The planned directive — in the works for weeks — was meant to specifically outline planned changes that have been contested since the tentative deal was struck at the White House last month.
Even before Trump was presented with the draft document, farm state senators were attacking the
proposal. Grassley told reporters he thought Pruitt had “betrayed the president” with his agency’s handling of the biofuel mandate.
PRUITT BECOMES A TARGET
Senator Joni Ernst, also an Iowa Republican, accused Pruitt of “breaking our president’s promise to farmers” in remarks to the S&P Global Platts Energy Podium in Washington. Ernst later wrote on Twitter that Trump “just assured me he won’t sign a deal that’s bad for farmers.”
The plan’s apparent demise was celebrated by biofuel producers. Bob Dinneen, president of Renewable Fuels Association, said the group was “happy the president continues to recognize the importance of our industry to America’s farmers and rural economies across the nation.”
Emily Skor, chief executive officer of Growth Energy, a biofuel trade group, said it looks forward to “refocusing this conversation” toward farm income and
filling-station prices.
This may not be the end of the debate. Lawmakers are developing legislation to overhaul the Renewable Fuel Standard. The politics of the issue can shift along with gasoline prices. And some refiners that have been seeking lower compliance costs for years are unlikely to stop pushing for changes, leveraging the concerns of organised labour to help make their case.