Republican backlash against Trump EPA pick fueled by ‘biofuel reset’

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) – EPA acting administrator Andrew Wheeler rejected a proposal from his staff that would have reduced the ambition of the nation’s biofuel policy over the next three years, arguing the targeted range it included for annual ethanol consumption was too low, according to two sources familiar with the matter.

The decision, made in December as part of the EPA’s effort to reset targets set by Congress in 2007 closer to market reality, has become a source of concern among the oil industry’s Republican legislative backers, some of whom have threatened to withhold support for Wheeler’s confirmation as permanent EPA head over his views on ethanol.

The issue represents the latest flashpoint in the ongoing clash between Big Oil and Big Corn over the nation’s biofuel policy, which has complicated President Donald Trump’s relationship with the two rival constituencies that helped sweep him to the White House in 2016.

Under the U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard, oil refiners must blend billions of gallons of biofuels into their gasoline and diesel each year or buy credits from those that do.

Five Republican senators from oil states, led by Ted Cruz of Texas, sent a letter to Wheeler dated Feb. 11 asking him about his biofuels policies, and saying their support for his confirmation could hinge on his responses.

Trump nominated Wheeler in January but he still faces a senate vote, likely to take place at the end of February.