Trump’s oil-boosting waivers hurting Iowa farmers, Greenfield says in Wall Lake

/
5f34f95f8f4f1.image.jpg

WALL LAKE: Biodiesel plant officials and farmers Tuesday morning urged U.S. Senate candidate Theresa Greenfield to continue her opposition to Trump administration waivers for oil refineries on renewable blending.

“The RFS alone, if we can get that going, that will help us a lot,” said Brad Wilson, CEO and president of Western Iowa Energy in Wall Lake.

U.S. Senate candidate Theresa Greenfield discusses the contents of the final product at Western Iowa Energy with Brad Wilson, CEO and president of the Wall Lake biodiesel operation.

Greenfield, a Democrat, toured the plant and spoke with officials, farmers and others for about a hour.

The Renewable Fuel Standard requires that oil companies blend billions of gallons of biofuels into their product for market. But companies, if they can prove distress, are allowed exemptions, a topic of fierce debate between biodiesel and ethanol producers and the farmers who feed their plants, and oil industry executives, as well as the politicians who represent both groups.

In President Obama’s last three years in office his administration approved 23 small-refinery waivers. The Trump administration approved 85 such waivers in its first three years.

Whether Greenfield’s opponent, GOP Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Red Oak, is seen as delivering for farmers on the Renewable Fuel Standard, is a central issue in the race.

Western Iowa Energy, which opened the Wall Lake plant in 2006, can produce 45 million gallons of biodiesel annually. WIE has more than 500 investors and is working to get a second plant running in California.

“It’s amazing what it does for our community,” said Mike Altmanshofer, vice president of operations for WIE.

Wilson said he would like to see more biofuels mandates at the state level and increased use of such fuels on the farm in tractors and combines and other equipment.

For her part, Greenfield, a native of a southern Minnesota farm who is now a Des Moines businesswoman, said the health of the renewable fuels industry is central in Iowa’s economy.

“I speak up about ethanol and biofuels almost every time I get a microphone,” Greenfield said outside of the Wall Lake production facilities. “The small refinery exemptions have been devastating to Iowa, devastating to your industry and our pocketbooks.”