"Biofuel Producers Give EPA an Earful"

"Biofuel and farm groups objected to the U.S. EPA's revisions to the National Renewable Fuel Standard today at a public hearing in Washington.

The proposed revisions to the National Renewable Fuel Standard program, commonly called RFS-2, are required by the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007. They will apply to domestic and foreign producers and importers of renewable fuels. ...

And the law requires the EPA to consider indirect greenhouse gas emissions when calculating a renewable fuel's emission profile. Called emissions from indirect land use change, these are greenhouse gases that would have been absorbed by forests or other vegetation on lands that are cleared to grow biofuel crops.

An ethanol industry representative told the hearing that the EPA is making a mistake in the methods it is using to calculate emissions from indirect land use change."

Environment News Service had the story June 9, 2009.