Trump May Have to Boost Biofuel After Court Deals Blow to Oil
- Ethanol producers argued EPA didn’t have power to cut mandate
- Unanimous appeals court ruling comes amid fight over mandate
Truck driver loads a tanker trailer bound for a refinery in Montana with ethanol.
Photographer: Daniel Acker/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
The Trump administration may have to reconsider its proposal from earlier this month to curb biofuel use after a U.S. appeals court in Washington ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency doesn’t have the authority to cut quotas while citing inadequate domestic supply.
Issued Friday, the unanimous ruling by a three-judge panel comes amid conflicting legal challenges to actions taken by the EPA. Some factions claim the agency set renewable fuel requirements too high, while others said they’re too low. Shares of ethanol producers rose on the news while refinery stocks declined.