The Intercept describes how the regulation game is played at umTpr’s High-roller table.
Carl Icahn is owner of oil refineries, and an exit ramp for the collapsing Trump Taj Mahal. Carl is also rumpT’s “special advisor of regulation”.
The Play: Carl Icahn is shifting the requirement to blend ethanol into gasoline from refineries to retailers. Carl steamrolled other parties saying that umTrp would sign Carl’s executive order shifting the “point of obligation”. Furthermore Carl pointed out that his boy at EPA, Scott Pruit, will enforce it. To sweeten deal, E15 would be available year round.
Winner: Carl’s refineries can’t mix in ethanol. He has to buy credits from other refineries. This was costing Carl $206Million a year. A quick ¼ billion in his pocket.
Losers: Everybody but Carl. Such a "large-scale restructuring of fuel markets," will result in "turmoil for retailers, higher costs for consumers, and years of uncertainty for hundreds of thousands of workers in the biofuel industry.”
Losers: Farmers: “With the crisis facing farmers today – declining farm incomes, falling land values, low commodity prices – we need a consistent, growing biofuels market. The point of obligation must remain as it is today for the sake of fuel retailers, biofuels producers, farmers, consumers across America and oil refiners who have met their obligations under the Clean Air Act.”
Loser: POET, the world’s largest bio-fuels producer, complained that the inevitable market turmoil would “stop the momentum” of consumer acceptance and hurt their sales of bio-fuels.
Loser: Iowa Senator Joni Ernst opposes the change, saying it would benefit a "select few." "I will continue to push back against any attempts to destabilize the renewable fuels marketplace, regardless of where they originate,”
Loser: Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley, has "no reason to believe that such an executive order is pending or imminent." Grassley, who opposes the shift, said Trump and his team "so far have committed to upholding" the federal mandate.
Losers: Older engines and Lawn equipment. Expanding E15 sales to summer. Popular Mechanics suggests avoiding E15 in older engines or carbureted lawn engines. Ethanol is corrosive to metals and plastic, it bonds with water to clog fuel systems. AAA explains why E15 damages older cars.
AAA explains Winter/summer blends. Winter blend is more volatile, so engines will run when cold. Summer-bland is less volatile, so less vapor lock and evaporation.
Both EPA(Pruit) and the Energy (Perry) department pay critical roles in setting standards and collecting data about fuel effects and performance.
Public Citizen has called on US Justice Department (Sessions) to investigate self-dealing by Carl Icahn.
