WASHINGTON – Last week U.S. Senator Al Franken (D-MN) met with John Podesta, senior White House official and special advisor to President Obama, on the need to keep the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) strong to bolster investments in the biodiesel industry, spur job growth in rural economies and decrease dependence on foreign oil.

"Homegrown renewable energy, like biofuels, not only spurs job growth and economic development in Minnesota, but it also strengthens our national energy security by cutting our reliance on foreign oil," said Sen. Franken, chairman of the Senate Energy Subcommittee. "That's why now is exactly the wrong time for the EPA to try to weaken the Renewable Fuel Standard and allow big oil companies to blend less biodiesel and other renewables into our nation's gas supply. I pressed for this meeting because we need to renew our commitment to renewables, and we can start by reversing this shortsighted proposal."

Any day now, the U.S. Environmental Projection Agency (EPA) could issue its long-awaited and final rule on the RFS.

As reported in “Inside Washington” in the June NACS Magazine, EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy stated in congressional hearings that volume mandates for renewable fuels in 2014 should be final by June at the latest. The rule is now close to eight months late.