Iowa Legislature ends session with neither chamber passing biofuels standard

The Iowa Legislature ended its session without taking action on the proposed Iowa Biofuels Standard, a bill introduced by Gov. Kim Reynolds to set a minimum standard of biofuels in the state’s fuel supply. Although the bill (HF 859) passed out of several committees and remains active for the next session, the state’s biodiesel industry and soybean farmers alike expressed their disappointment with the lack of passage.

“We are disheartened that the Iowa Biofuels Standard legislation did not pass,” said Grant Kimberley, executive director of the Iowa Biodiesel Board. “As a top agriculture state and the leading biofuels-producing state, Iowa should be at the forefront of adopting renewable fuels. We encouraged legislators to embrace this commonsense legislation to make biofuel blends the standard here rather than the alternative. Additionally, this legislation would have saved significant taxpayer dollars over the current structure.”

Grant said he, the IBB and the state soybean organizations and farmers are appalled by the misinformation spread by opponents of the bill.

“Some opponents grossly exaggerated fuel price impacts and infrastructure costs associated with this reasonable fuel supply shift, even as some of those same companies pocketed millions of dollars in infrastructure grants as well as federal and state tax credits to support their transition to biofuels,” Grant said. “Furthermore, we find some petroleum companies shortsighted in their vociferous opposition to this modest proposal. As automakers announce plans to go all-electric, and other states actively work to push out fossil fuels altogether in favor of a low-carbon future, not embracing renewable fuels puts the future of all liquid fuels at risk, along with their convenience store profit centers. We remain grateful to Gov. Reynolds and our legislative champions for their attempt to set Iowa on the path to the future while providing significant economic and environmental benefits to rural communities.”