Sen. Harkin says “EPA is way off the mark” on Indirect Land Use Change, predicts rule will be materially revised or face overturn in the Senate

In Washington, Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa said that the “EPA is way off the mark” on indirect land use change and said he doubts that the final EPA rules for the Renewable Fuel Standard will include ILUC in the proposed structure because of doubts raised about the validity of the process by more than 100 scientists. He said that, were the EPA to finalize the rule as it originally proposed, that there were sufficient votes in the US Senate to overturn the rule.

Meanwhile, Senator Charles Grassley of Iowa said that the EPA’s assumptions “conclude that international land use contributes more in greenhouse gases than the entire direct emissions of ethanol production and use — from the growing the crop, the production of ethanol at the refinery, to the tailpipe emissions when it’s burned. The ripple effects are greater than the direct effects. This conclusion is ludicrous.”

The Renewable Fuels Association has requested that the EPA release all the assumptions used in modeling indirect land use change so that they can be reviewed.

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