[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 197 (Monday, December 19, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7278-S7279]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                               Biodiesel

  Madam President, on another subject matter, biodiesel producers are a 
vital part of Iowa's rural economy. In 2021, Iowa produced 340 million 
gallons of biodiesel, which helps Iowa farmers add value to each bushel 
of soybeans by producing a much needed transportation fuel in addition 
to high-protein animal feed.
  Not only is biodiesel good for Iowa's economy, it is also 
significantly better for the environment. According to our Department 
of Energy, greenhouse gas emissions from biodiesel are as much as 74 
percent lower as compared to traditional petroleum diesel.
  Recently, we have seen rapid growth in the renewable diesel 
production, which also uses soybeans as a feedstock. Currently, the 
United States has the capacity to produce about 900 million gallons of 
renewable diesel. However, if all of the planned investments come to 
be, within 2 years, the United States will have the capacity to produce 
5 billion gallons.
  Despite rapid growth in the biodiesel industry, the Environmental 
Protection Agency has proposed a mere 60 million gallon increase in RFS 
volumes for 2023. The proposed RFS volume is particularly disappointing 
given that the Energy Information Administration predicts a 500 million 
gallon increase.
  So it is very clear. It sounds like the EPA has failed to consult 
with the executive branch's own Energy Department. This bad policy can 
be corrected because this is just a proposed rule. The EPA has the 
ability to correct its mistakes in the final rule.
  If the EPA fails to account for expected growth in this industry, 
then the EPA will have failed soybean farmers in the United States--in 
my State of Iowa as well. This also comes at a time when soybean 
farmers are making great strides in conservation practices that further 
reduce carbon emissions and improve soil health.
  As the Treasury Department begins to look at the sustainable aviation 
fuel tax credit in the so-called Inflation Reduction Act that passed 
last August, they need to acknowledge these advances. I did not support 
the Inflation Reduction Act because it is chock-full of reckless 
spending and job-killing taxes.
  However, that act tasks and requires the Treasury Department with 
determining how to measure carbon emissions for a variety of renewable 
fuels. What Treasury decides could make or break the renewable fuels 
industry. Treasury must use the best available science for determining 
carbon emissions.
  So I want the Treasury Department to take note: This science is found 
at the Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory. The National 
Lab has developed a state-of-the-art model for estimating greenhouse 
emissions by fuel source.
  Oddly, for determining the carbon emissions of sustainable aviation 
fuel, the Inflation Reduction Act directs Treasury to use the 
International Civil Aviation Organization model or a similar model.
  If I was involved in writing the bill, I would have made sure that 
the Treasury Department could not outsource these important modeling 
decisions to an international organization when we have got a U.S. 
laboratory that can tell you how you do it in the most environmentally 
positive way.
  The international model doesn't reflect advances in conservation 
practices used by American farmers. American farmers are at the cutting 
edge of conservation practices, and that should be reflected in any 
model that Treasury adopts.
  Farmers across the country stand ready to provide low-cost and low-
carbon fuel to consumers on land, air, and sea. However, if the 
international model is adopted, a sustainable aviation fuel made from 
homegrown corn and soybeans will be very much shortchanged.
  As the Treasury Department begins to write these regulations, as a 
result of the Inflation Reduction Act, it must listen to farmers and 
our own scientists, particularly the scientists at our own Department 
of Energy. We should not be awarding tax benefits based on an 
international model that is

[[Page S7279]]

very much outdated and very much out of touch and that has shortchanged 
American innovation as proven by our laboratory in the Department of 
Energy.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Jersey.