ILUC or No ILUC, That Is the Question
On Friday the U.S. House of Representatives approved the American Clean Energy and Security Act (H.R. 2454) by vote of 219 yeas to 212 nays. The comprehensive climate change and energy legislation, which serves to advance President Obama’s environmental agenda, was 1,500 pages in length with more than 200 amendments considered. The Senate now plans to take up climate/energy legislation this fall.
With respect to biofuels, only the democrats “manager amendment” was approved during the floor debate of the bill. Proponents of the legislation, Rep. Henry Waxman (D-California) and Rep. Edward Markey (D-Massachussets), along with the House leadership cut a deal with Rep. Collin Peterson (D-Minnesota) who vowed he would not support the bill and take other democrats with him unless the legislation included a provision restricting the consideration of indirect land use change (ILUC) GHG emissions provisions in the current RFS2 proposed regulation. (Mind you, Rep. Peterson was a co-sponsor and voted for the VERY SAME legislation that included these provisions, the 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act, but nobody except me seems to be pointing that important fact out!)
Peterson got his way. The ILUC provisions restrict EPA from incorporating ILUC impacts when determining GHG lifecycle emissions for biofuels at least over the next five years while federal government agencies study the issue (plus one additional year for findings to be considered by Congress). It makes sense to me to take a step back and fully study the best and most appropriate methodologies for analyzing such a controversial and complex issue(s). Will the Senate do the same? Who knows. We speculate that the legislation as a whole will be much more controversial in the Senate and thus less likely to pass (ILUC or not) - at least this year. What does that mean? ILUC provisions in the RFS2 will stay in the final regulation to be released late this year, and I’m guessing, without many changes.
Tags: Biodiesel, cellulosic ethanol, Climate Change, democrat, emissions, energy, Ethanol, GHG, greenhouse gas, ILUC, indirect land use change, LCA, lifecycle analysis, Markey, Obama, Peterson, renewable diesel, renewable fuels standards, RFS, RFS2, Waxman
