NBB radio ad campaign urges Trump to reject 'gap' SREs

The National Biodiesel Board launched a radio advertising campaign Aug. 24 in six Midwestern states, urging President Donald Trump to keep his promise on the Renewable Fuel Standard. The ads will run for two weeks in Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota, Nebraska, and Wisconsin. The ads urge farmers, biodiesel producers, and others to visit NBB's Fueling Action Center and send email messages directly to President Trump and EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler, asking them to limit small refinery exemptions.

The 30-second ads say, "EPA is threatening to grant more big oil handouts this year that reduce biodiesel demand and take away another market for soybean farmers. Tell President Trump and Administrator Wheeler to reject oil refiner exemptions and keep their promise to farmers."

Kurt Kovarik, NBB's vice president of federal affairs, said, "Over the past three years, EPA has handed out 85 small refinery exemptions that destroyed demand for more than a half-billion gallons of biodiesel and hundreds of millions of bushels of soybeans. Now, EPA is considering nearly 100 new exemption petitions, threatening to double the damage to the biodiesel industry and farmers. Last week, President Trump promised to speak directly to EPA about the pending exemption petitions. Biodiesel producers and soybean farmers are counting on him to keep that promise."

Made from an increasingly diverse mix of resources such as recycled cooking oil, soybean oil and animal fats, biodiesel is a renewable, clean-burning diesel replacement that can be used in existing diesel engines without modification. It is the nation's first domestically produced, commercially available advanced biofuel. NBB is the U.S. trade association representing the entire biodiesel and renewable diesel value chain, including producers, feedstock suppliers, and fuel distributors.