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The President will order the Environmental Protection Agency to draft a rule authorizing the sale of mixed fuel year-round. The rule, which will include a period of public comment, will be accelerated to be finalized before the driving season next summer, said the head of the White House.
According to the White House, Trump will also take steps to help the oil industry more easily comply with federal rules that require him to mix ethanol with his products or acquire credits. Nevertheless, the oil industry – which is fiercely opposed to the lifting of the summer ban because it could weaken the market share of the industry – strongly opposed this plan.
The American Petroleum Institute, the largest oil and gas pressure group in the country, issued a statement calling it "disconcerting the summer ban." A bipartisan group of 20 oil-state Senators also sent a letter to Mr. Trump, stating that a "one-sided approach" of the Renewable Fuels Standard, which requires refiners to incorporate quantities growing of ethanol and other biofuels in the country's gasoline and diesel supply, is "wrong".
Under the leadership of Oklahoma Republican Senator James Inhofe, lawmakers have argued that the lifting of the summer ban "would harm millions of consumers whose vehicles and equipment are not compatible with a gasoline with a high ethanol content and risk of damaging the quality of the air ".
The tension between farmers and the oil industry over ethanol has been a recurring theme in the Trump administration. Scott Pruitt, the former EPA administrator, opposed Grassley and other Corn Republic Republicans for derogating from the rule of thumb. renewable fuels in small refineries.
Pruitt resigned in July following ethical scandals, but it is widely believed that the loss of support among leading Midwestern Republicans has accelerated his departure.
For his part, Grassley said Trump's advice helped to deliver on the promise of a presidential campaign to support the ethanol industry. "From time to time, every politician must strengthen his campaign promises," he said.
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