Today in Biofuels Opinion: “To obtain a waiver…any petitioner must show that there is severe harm to its or to the U.S. economy”

Governor Rick Perry of Texas: “While I have no doubt this mandate was a well-intentioned effort to move our country toward energy independence, it is doing more harm than good and must be modified before our livestock industry suffers permanent damage,” Perry said. “Granting this waiver will provide much needed relief to families, while enabling Texas to continue feeding and fueling the nation.”

Renewable Fuels Association: “To obtain a waiver [of the RFS], Texas, or any other petitioner, must show that there is severe harm to its or to the U.S. economy, that the harm is being directly caused by implementation of the RFS, and that reducing the RFS as requested in the waiver would redress the severe harm that is claimed to be occurring. Even if the statutory requirements were lax and did not require the showings listed above, the Texas request is so lacking in factual support that it would have to be denied. The complete failure of Governor Perry’s request to meet the explicit criteria of a waiver lays bare the true motivation behind the Governor’s action, which has more to do with protecting the profits of integrated oil and livestock companies than with the economic well being of Texans and Americans around the country.”

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