Biofuel and farm groups sent a letter this week to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell asking for ethanol and biodiesel help.
The Hagstrom Report says they’re asking that financial relief for biofuels be included in the next coronavirus relief package.
The letter was signed by many prominent groups, including the Renewable Fuels Association, Growth Energy, the National Biodiesel Board, and many others. “The situation we face is dire,” the groups say in the letter.
“More than 130 biofuel plants have already partially or fully shut down as motor fuel demand plunged to 50-year lows. America’s biofuel plants annually purchase more than one-third of U.S. corn and U.S. soybean oil. The loss of those markets has depressed farm income and will continue to push corn and soybean prices down dramatically.”
The groups point out that the economic damage has “rippled across the entire agricultural supply chain.”
The letter also says that USDA excluded the biofuel sector from initial aid under the CARES Act, despite ongoing letters of support to Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue from broad, bipartisan coalitions in the House and Senate.
“It’s vital that the next COVID-19 relief package includes immediate, temporary, and direct assistance for the biofuel industry,” they add.
