Growth Energy, the nation’s largest biofuels trade association, has filed two intervenor briefs in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. These briefs support the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) recent Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) “Set” rule for 2023-2025 renewable volume obligations (RVOs), responding to challenges from both the oil industry and environmental petitioners in the consolidated cases under Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) v. EPA et al. (Case No. 23-1177).
“Growth Energy has always defended the RFS against false claims, and these latest challenges are no exception,” said Growth Energy CEO Emily Skor. “It’s past time for anti-agriculture groups and their allies in the fossil fuel industry to accept that the RFS is working as Congress intended — delivering on the nation’s economic, energy, and climate goals.”
In its brief in CBD v. EPA, Growth Energy supports the EPA and an independent group of scientists by debunking outdated research used to claim that biofuel production harms endangered species. Growth Energy emphasizes that the EPA, along with the National Marine Fisheries Service and the Fish and Wildlife Service, developed extensive evidence showing that biofuel production does not threaten protected species, exceeding the requirements of the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
The second brief from Growth Energy addresses the oil industry’s argument that the RFS was not meant to promote renewable fuels beyond 2023. Growth Energy counters by citing the D.C. Circuit’s own rulings, which affirm that Congress designed the RFS to enhance U.S. energy independence, security, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. “Advancing the growth of renewable fuels, today and into the future, does just that,” Growth Energy argues.
“We’re optimistic that the courts will toss these challenges on the trash heap, alongside countless others over the last two decades,” Skor added.
Growth Energy’s filings reinforce the RFS’s role in achieving significant economic, energy, and environmental benefits, and the organization remains committed to ensuring that the RFS continues to drive the growth of renewable fuels in the U.S.
