(May 27, 2010) Washington – The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) today filed a motion to intervene in the lawsuit brought by Friends of the Earth against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) concerning its implementation of the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS).  Additionally, the RFA continues to challenge the Petitions for Reconsideration filed by environmental groups with EPA seeking to further thwart the goals of the RFS.

In these petitions, the environmental community asserts that using biofuels to reduce America’s oil dependence will lead to greater global oil consumption. As such, all the emissions resulting from that increased global oil use must be debited from biofuels’ carbon benefits. They call this the Global Rebound Effect.

“Whatever environmentalist activists call this new theory, I call it nonsense,” said RFA President and CEO Bob Dinneen. “To penalize a technology, any technology, that reduces American oil consumption for any potential oil use in other nations is asinine. Environmentalists are in favor of precious little these days, but by applying their new logic even efforts to improve efficiencies such as gas mileage must suffer a carbon penalty. It simply defies logic.”

Applying this Global Rebound Effect to electricity, for example, would mean any Energy Star appliances that reduce electric consumption would have to be penalized for a carbon release from greater natural gas or coal use elsewhere around the world. By reducing American use of coal, it would lower the world price, thereby increasing global demand and carbon emissions, according to environmentalists.

Additionally, the environmental community claims that EPA is using overly optimistic assumptions about the nature of ethanol production in 2022, implicitly implying little improvement will occur in ethanol production technology between now and then. Such a position stands in direct contrast to what America’s ethanol industry has demonstrated in recent years.

“To assume that no further innovation will occur in America’s ethanol industry is akin to believing the iPad is the final product from Apple,” said Dinneen. “American ethanol production has become increasingly efficient with each new biorefinery built. Ethanol producers have reduced energy and water use, while simultaneously improving efficiencies and yields. By comparison, the oil industry is having to expend more resources to drill deeper and go further into the wilderness in such of oil supplies, and at what cost? Sadly, today we know that answer.”

In its filing to intervene in the case of Friends of the Earth v. United States Environmental Protection Agency, the RFA stated, “RFA members produce ethanol that is subject to these requirements and EPA’s Final Action. [Friends of the Earth] challenges these requirements to make them more stringent and potentially add restrictions to the types of fuel that may qualify under the program. As such, RFA has a substantial interest in the outcome of this case.”

Additionally, the filing notes, “RFA has considerable expertise in the ethanol production process and analyses of the impact of ethanol use in gasoline on air quality, and can, therefore, provide unique assistance to the Court in this case. ... if intervention is not granted, RFA’s ability to defend the interests of its members in this proceeding will be severely prejudiced.”

The case has been filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, docket number 10-1108.

Other issues raised by these groups are refuted in RFA’s initial statement about the lawsuit and petitions found here.