This is uniting GOP and Dems in Minnesota.
Oct 21, 2019 16:11:09 #
https://www.minnpost.com/environment/2019/10/one-issue-that-unites-republicans-and-dflers-in-minnesota-biofuels/?utm_source=MinnPost+e-mail+newsletters&utm_campaign=2cc7e22f21-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2019_10_18_03_54&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_
One issue that unites Republicans and DFLers in Minnesota? Biofuels
By Walker Orenstein | 10/15/2019
Farmers face ‘collateral damage’
Biofuels have long been a money maker for farmers, but the last few years have made Minnesota’s ag businesses more reliant on the industry.
As part of its trade war with the Trump administration, China slapped tariffs on soybeans and crimped U.S. imports of ethanol, including a byproduct known as distillers grains. Trade with Mexico and Canada has also been strained while the Trump administration seeks ratification of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. At the same time, high crop yields have brought down commodity prices for farmers, even as heavy rains and flooding have interfered with planting and harvest in Minnesota.
Gov. Tim Walz
Gov. Tim Walz
So as the president granted dozens of waivers since he took office to oil refineries that allow them to not blend biofuels into their gasoline, he faced sharp backlash from ag interests. The exemptions to the Renewable Fuel Standards (RFS) were originally meant for small refineries facing economic hardship, although many of the new exemptions benefited plants owned by oil giants like Chevron and Exxon Mobil.
Farmers said the waivers cut demand for biofuels at a time when agriculture is already struggling. About 40 percent of corn grown in the U.S. is used for ethanol, and at least 18 plants across the country have been idled in the last year — including one in Minnesota. The state has 19 ethanol plants, and three plants for biodiesel, which is typically derived from soybeans.
In September, Walz wrote a letter with South Dakota’s Republican Gov. Kristi Noem saying they were “extremely concerned” by the waivers Trump has approved since taking office. The pair said the latest round of waivers — 31 in the last year alone — “undermines the integrity of the RFS and harms our states’ agricultural communities, which have already been affected by the Administration’s tariffs.” Walz chairs the Governors’ Biofuels Coalition and Noem is the vice chairwoman.
That same month, 15 Republicans in Minnesota’s GOP-led Senate also sent a letter to Trump, writing the president’s waivers were “hurting Minnesota farmers and businesses.”
Joe Smentek, executive director of the Minnesota Soybean Growers Association, said soybean farmers are tired of being “collateral damage” in Washington over trade fights and other issues that aren’t fundamentally about agriculture.
One issue that unites Republicans and DFLers in Minnesota? Biofuels
By Walker Orenstein | 10/15/2019
Farmers face ‘collateral damage’
Biofuels have long been a money maker for farmers, but the last few years have made Minnesota’s ag businesses more reliant on the industry.
As part of its trade war with the Trump administration, China slapped tariffs on soybeans and crimped U.S. imports of ethanol, including a byproduct known as distillers grains. Trade with Mexico and Canada has also been strained while the Trump administration seeks ratification of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. At the same time, high crop yields have brought down commodity prices for farmers, even as heavy rains and flooding have interfered with planting and harvest in Minnesota.
Gov. Tim Walz
Gov. Tim Walz
So as the president granted dozens of waivers since he took office to oil refineries that allow them to not blend biofuels into their gasoline, he faced sharp backlash from ag interests. The exemptions to the Renewable Fuel Standards (RFS) were originally meant for small refineries facing economic hardship, although many of the new exemptions benefited plants owned by oil giants like Chevron and Exxon Mobil.
Farmers said the waivers cut demand for biofuels at a time when agriculture is already struggling. About 40 percent of corn grown in the U.S. is used for ethanol, and at least 18 plants across the country have been idled in the last year — including one in Minnesota. The state has 19 ethanol plants, and three plants for biodiesel, which is typically derived from soybeans.
In September, Walz wrote a letter with South Dakota’s Republican Gov. Kristi Noem saying they were “extremely concerned” by the waivers Trump has approved since taking office. The pair said the latest round of waivers — 31 in the last year alone — “undermines the integrity of the RFS and harms our states’ agricultural communities, which have already been affected by the Administration’s tariffs.” Walz chairs the Governors’ Biofuels Coalition and Noem is the vice chairwoman.
That same month, 15 Republicans in Minnesota’s GOP-led Senate also sent a letter to Trump, writing the president’s waivers were “hurting Minnesota farmers and businesses.”
Joe Smentek, executive director of the Minnesota Soybean Growers Association, said soybean farmers are tired of being “collateral damage” in Washington over trade fights and other issues that aren’t fundamentally about agriculture.
Oct 21, 2019 16:24:11 #
dtucker300
Loc: Vista, CA
Nearly everything the government gets involved in turns to crap. Get out of the way and let the markets work.
Oct 21, 2019 16:45:43 #
dtucker300 wrote:
Nearly everything the government gets involved in turns to crap. Get out of the way and let the markets work.
Correct....
Oct 21, 2019 16:59:16 #
dtucker300 wrote:
Nearly everything the government gets involved in turns to crap. Get out of the way and let the markets work.
Nearly everything??? You're being extremely generous d-for the last 20-30 yrs EVERY scheme proposed by the lib (and rhino) clan has made crap sound delicious!!! These libs..and their (rhino) accomplices..have taken 'being stuck on stupid' to a new level where oxygen is required to survive.
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