Wisconsin Soybean Association (WSA) President Sara Stelter submitted a letter of support for agriculture and renewable fuels to the Wisconsin State Journal. Stelter and WSA’s outreach effort comes on the heels of 37 U.S. Representatives and 16 U.S. Senators sending separate letters to EPA Administrator Michael Regan making the case for higher RFS volumes.

Read the letter of support below.

Renewable fuels like biodiesel, renewable diesel, and sustainable aviation fuel present an opportunity for Wisconsin farmers to help address climate change. Unfortunately, the Environmental Protection Agency is underestimating their potential.

Wisconsin has two small biodiesel production facilities. According to data from Clean Fuels Alliance America, their indirect economic impact is considerable: $335 million in economic opportunity that supports more than 1,600 jobs – paid nearly $75 million in wages – in agriculture, grain processing, and fuel distribution.

Last December, EPA proposed Renewable Fuel Standard volumes for 2023, 2024 and 2025 that would limit biodiesel, renewable diesel, and SAF to only 2.95 billion gallons each year. The agency’s own data, however, show that U.S. production of these fuels (not counting imports) exceeded 3 billion gallons in 2022.

Wisconsin’s Senator Tammy Baldwin is a strong supporter of the RFS. I’d like to thank her for signing a letter to EPA Administrator Michael Regan that encourages him to raise the RFS biodiesel, renewable diesel, and SAF volumes considerably.