Environmentalist change their mind about Renewable fuel standards

Washington Times:

Green groups were among the loudest champions for the federal government’s sweeping ethanol mandate a decade ago, touting it as a near-magic fuel that could help ease a climate crisis.

But the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) that boosted ethanol use has fallen out of favor so badly that environmentalists now see themselves on the same side of the debate as Republicans such as Sen. Ted Cruz, arguing that the entire program is deeply flawed and must be completely overhauled.

The intense opposition to the RFS from environmental and conservation groups comes as the White House and congressional leaders work to craft the most serious reforms the program has seen since it was established more than 10 years ago. As Republicans and oil-industry groups bemoan the RFS as a job killer in the oil refining sector, environmentalists say their once-high hopes that ethanol could reduce carbon emissions, preserve land and help fight climate change have been proven wrong.
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Mr. O’Mara and other critics cite the fact that the RFS has mostly fueled wild growth in traditional corn-based ethanol, while the so-called “next generation” of biofuels — such as cellulosic ethanol — haven’t grown at nearly the same rate. Indeed, while the Environmental Protection Agency during the Trump administration has held steady the amount of corn-based ethanol that must be blended with gasoline each year, it’s reduced the mandated amount of advanced biofuels blending.

EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt last year said that was due to “market realities” that have shown it’s been harder to bring advanced biofuels, which are generally considered cleaner, into the marketplace than initially thought.
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The Greens tend to want cellulosic biofuels, but the fact of the matter is that attempt to produce them have not been commercially feasible.  Even with a manipulated market, they can't make it.  I would do away with the mandate and the subsidies and let market forces decide the winners and losers in this debate.