Florida Senate - 2014 SM 800
By Senator Evers
2-00286A-14 2014800__
1 Senate Memorial
2 A memorial to the Congress of the United States,
3 urging Congress to repeal the Renewable Fuel Standard
4 established under the Energy Independence and Security
5 Act of 2007.
6
7 WHEREAS, in enacting the Energy Policy Act of 2005,
8 Congress established the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program
9 to ensure that transportation fuel contains a minimum volume of
10 renewable fuel, and
11 WHEREAS, the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007
12 increased the volume of renewable fuel required to be blended
13 into transportation fuel from 9 billion gallons in 2008 to 36
14 billion gallons by 2022, and
15 WHEREAS, the amended RFS program, known as RFS2, requires
16 that a greater amount of renewable fuel, including cellulosic
17 biofuel, biomass-based biodiesel, and other advanced biofuels,
18 be blended into the motor vehicle fuel supply, and
19 WHEREAS, a study commissioned by the American Petroleum
20 Institute (API) estimates that, by 2015, the volume mandates set
21 forth in RFS2 could increase gasoline prices by as much as 30
22 percent and diesel prices by as much as 300 percent, and
23 WHEREAS, the API study finds that, by 2015, the adverse
24 macroeconomic impacts of RFS2 will include a $770 billion
25 decline in gross domestic product and a corresponding reduction
26 in consumption per household of $2,700, and
27 WHEREAS, the API study concluded that, as the renewable
28 fuel volume obligations in RFS2 increase annually, the “E10
29 blend wall,” the maximum concentration of ethanol of 10 percent
30 (E10) that can be blended in gasoline and still be used by most
31 motor vehicles, will soon be reached, and
32 WHEREAS, the United States Environmental Protection Agency
33 (EPA) amended the total volume fuel mandate for 2014 to 15.2
34 billion ethanol-equivalent gallons, while the maximum volume of
35 ethanol that can be consumed as E10 under current market
36 constraints, as projected by the EPA for 2014, remains at 13.2
37 billion gallons, and
38 WHEREAS, the EPA acknowledges that compliance with RFS2
39 will be difficult to achieve in 2014, as it does not foresee a
40 scenario in which the market could consume enough ethanol sold
41 in blends greater than E10 or produce sufficient volumes of
42 nonethanol biofuels to meet the total volume of renewable fuel
43 and advanced biofuel required under RFS2, and
44 WHEREAS, by mandating ethanol volumes far above those which
45 the market can absorb, RFS2 will place consumers and the
46 automotive industry in an increasingly untenable position, and
47 WHEREAS, according to a study directed by the Coordinating
48 Research Council, the engines, fuel pumps, and onboard fuel
49 measurement systems on millions of motor vehicles could be
50 severely damaged by fuel blends that contain more than 10
51 percent ethanol, and
52 WHEREAS, in 2010, the EPA granted partial waivers allowing
53 the sale of gasoline fuel blends containing up to 15 percent
54 ethanol for use in 2001 model year and newer light-duty motor
55 vehicles despite studies showing the potential for damage to
56 millions of motor vehicles, and
57 WHEREAS, automakers have warned consumers that using
58 ethanol blends that exceed the maximum limits, as specified in
59 their respective automotive owner manuals, could result in the
60 voiding of their automotive warranties, and
61 WHEREAS, the volume mandates set by RFS2 do not account for
62 the impact on the smaller engines that power lawn mowers,
63 generators, and similar equipment, or larger marine engines, and
64 WHEREAS, over the past three years, the EPA levied
65 penalties mandated by RFS2 on refineries that failed to blend
66 cellulosic biofuel into gasoline, despite the absence of
67 technological advances necessary for the commercial production
68 of cellulosic biofuel, and
69 WHEREAS, many Florida consumers and national trade groups,
70 among them the American Bakers Association, The American Frozen
71 Food Institute, the American Fuel and Petrochemical
72 Manufacturers, the American Petroleum Institute, the American
73 Sheep Industry Association, the National Marine Manufacturers
74 Association, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, The
75 National Chicken Council, The National Council of Chain of
76 Restaurants, and the National Turkey Federation, have called for
77 the repeal or amendment of RFS2, and
78 WHEREAS, state governors, cattlemen associations, and
79 restaurant associations have made repeated requests, which have
80 been consistently denied by the EPA, that the annual mandated
81 fuel ethanol volumes be reduced to adapt to ethanol feedstock
82 market conditions and fleet fuel supply and engine constraints
83 and to accommodate the deficiency in alternative fuel
84 technological advances, and
85 WHEREAS, alternative transportation fuels, such as natural
86 gas, are emerging freely without the assistance of market
87 distorting mandates, and
88 WHEREAS, innovations in the oil and natural gas industry,
89 including directional hydraulic fracturing, deep water
90 directional drilling, and oil sands production technologies,
91 have reversed declining oil and natural gas production trends in
92 the United States, and
93 WHEREAS, lower oil import volumes and higher natural gas
94 export volumes have the potential to create a transformative
95 shift in global energy markets, and
96 WHEREAS, the International Energy Agency projects that the
97 United States will become energy independent within the next 10
98 years and will surpass Saudi Arabia as the largest oil producer
99 by 2020, and
100 WHEREAS, innovations in energy efficiency and
101 affordability, along with discoveries of proven domestic oil and
102 natural gas reserves, have strengthened the United States’
103 position in the global energy market, eliminating the original
104 impetus for the drastic increase in renewable fuel standards, as
105 set forth in the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007,
106 NOW, THEREFORE,
107
108 Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
109
110 That the Congress of the United States is urged to repeal
111 the federal Renewable Fuels Standard mandate established under
112 the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007.
113 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be
114 dispatched to the President of the United States, to the
115 President of the United States Senate, to the Speaker of the
116 United States House of Representatives, and to each member of
117 the Florida delegation to the United States Congress.