GAO confirms Renewable Fuel Standard is not working

WASHINGTON, December 1, 2016 – Today’s Senate hearing examining the Government Accountability Office (GAO) reports regarding the Renewable Fuel Standard highlights independent government findings that confirm the federal ethanol mandate is broken and needs to be fixed.

“The GAO concluded the RFS is broken and we agree,” said API Downstream Group Director Frank Macchiarola. “The government findings that the ethanol mandate is not working only strengthen our case to significantly overhaul the program.

“A decade ago, the ethanol mandate was created in response to falling domestic energy production and rising crude imports – that reality no longer exists. The U.S. is now leading the world in production of oil and natural gas and in the reduction of carbon emissions, which are near 20-year lows. This success is achieved through market-based solutions, not top down mandates that pick winners and losers.

“An ever-increasing number of Americans are urging policymakers to fix the broken RFS mandate. The market has shown that the RFS is outdated, and an increasing chorus of Republicans and Democrats understand that the policy is broken and that there is a real opportunity for reform.”

API strongly supports the Flores-Welch RFS reform bill, which has a large, bipartisan group of co-sponsors (117 House members), and we continue to call for lawmakers to act.

API is the only national trade association representing all facets of the oil and natural gas industry, which supports 9.8 million U.S. jobs and 8 percent of the U.S. economy. API’s more than 625 members include large integrated companies, as well as exploration and production, refining, marketing, pipeline, and marine businesses, and service and supply firms. They provide most of the nation’s energy and are backed by a growing grassroots movement of more than 30 million Americans.