Push may have come to shove today, as Iowa Senator Charles Grassley expressed frustration with Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt’s lackluster handling of federal ethanol mandates.
In a conference call earlier today with reporters, Grassley said he was “done playing around with this.” Grassley was referring to Pruitt’s work—or lack of work—to uphold the Renewable Fuel Standards (RFS) law. Grassley said he would call for Pruitt’s resignation unless Pruitt takes corrective action.
Grassley claimed that Pruitt has not supported President Trump’s decision to “allow 15 billion gallons of ethanol to be mixed into the nation’s fuel supply.” Instead, according to an AP story, Pruitt has been “allowing refineries to evade some of that commitment by issuing waivers. Grassley says that has reduced ethanol content to 13.8 billion gallons.”
Today’s development is a huge departure from Grassley’s perspective last fall, when he said “Administrator Pruitt should be commended for following through on President Trump’s commitment to biofuels and the RFS.”
