releases: https://www.inhofe.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/inhofe-opening-statement-at-epw-oversight-hearing-on-domestic-renewable-fuels
Data license: MIT · Data source: dwillis/congress-press
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| https://www.inhofe.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/inhofe-opening-statement-at-epw-oversight-hearing-on-domestic-renewable-fuels | Inhofe Opening Statement at EPW Oversight Hearing on Domestic Renewable Fuels | 2013-12-11 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Republican | House | OK | James Inhofe | I000024 | www.inhofe.senate.gov | legacy | Inhofe Opening Statement at EPW Oversight Hearing on Domestic Renewable Fuels Wednesday, December 11, 2013 Washington, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), senior member of the Environment Public Works (EPW) Committee, today provided the following opening statement at an EPW hearing entitled, "Oversight Hearing on Domestic Renewable Fuels:" As prepared for delivery: Chairman Boxer, I want to thank you for having this hearing. It’s about time. The last time we had one on the RFS was in 2008. And the time before that was in 2006, when I was chairman of this Committee. I’m disappointed, though, because I think today’s hearing will just be another “check-the-box” exercise where the status quo is affirmed and the need for Congress to respond to the many problems of the mandate is minimized. But a lot has changed since 2008. We can all remember when the RFS was expanded back in 2007, and one of the main arguments to do it was to improve our national security. Later, we’re going to hear from Retired General Wesley Clark, who has been on the dime of the ethanol industry for several years now. General Clark has repeatedly accused the US government of fighting wars simply to secure foreign sources of oil. In one interview he said it quite simply: “that’s what people fight wars about.” Last Saturday was December 7, and every year we remember the attacks on Pearl Harbor. It’s the day that lives in infamy. And for good reason. It’s what drew us into World War 2. Americans fight wars to protect their fellow Americans from evil harms abroad. Period. That doesn’t mean energy security and national security are disconnected, but if we want to have a conversation about that, we should look no further than the domestic oil and gas industry. Since 2008, the energy market has been turned upside down. The combination of precision drilling and hydraulic fracturing has opened up the shale revolution that no one saw coming. In 2007, oil production was down and we were in the middle of building massive terminals to import liquefied natural gas. Since then, oil production is up over 50% to nearly 8 million barrels of oil per day and we have so much natural gas, at such competitive international prices, that we’re converting the import terminals into export terminals. And the news just keeps getting brighter. In October, the EIA published a report stating that the US will overtake Russia this year as the largest oil and natural gas producer in the world; and in November, the IEA reported that by 2035 we’ll be able to meet all of our energy requirements from domestic sources alone. This is because of oil and gas – and it’s happening in spite of the RFS mandate. General Clark should know quite a bit about this because he’s also a director of BNK Petroleum, which has oil and gas operations all over the world, including in my state of Oklahoma. I’d be curious to know how he thinks the shale boom has impacted our national security compared to biofuels, especially since there’s no mandate to use it. Last month the EPA announced the 2014 volume requirements for the RFS mandate, and for the first time ever, the Agency lowered the mandated levels across the board for traditional ethanol, advanced biofuels, and cellulosic phantom fuels. In so doing, the EPA has admitted the mandate is completely broken. I’ve been highlighting the mandate’s problems for years, and it’s clear that the chorus of agreement is growing louder every day. Oklahomans of all stripes understand that the RFS is a bad deal. Roy Lee Lindsey, head of the Oklahoma Pork Producers told me, “The RFS has imposed artificial, federally-mandated, year-after-year growth in the demand for corn ethanol, raising pork input prices and making the market incapable of adjusting to or mitigating the worst effects of severe supply shocks like last year’s drought.” Michael Kelsey, head of the Oklahoma Cattlemen, echoed his sentiment when he told me, “The RFS has created artificial demand for corn and has increased the price of this crucial commodity to cattlemen around the country and in Oklahoma.” And our drivers are just as aware. They’d rather eat their food than burn it, and fuel stations all around the state, like the one in the photo behind me [Chart 1], advertise that they have “clear” gasoline. Unfortunately, it’s only going to get harder for Oklahomans to find clear gas because the RFS mandate only gets worse from here. The chart [Chart 2] behind me shows the blend wall in relation to the skyrocketing RFS mandate under current law. Over the next ten years, the RFS mandate rises to more than 3 times the levels allowable with the blendwall. But that’s hardly the only problem. The fuels in the green and red bars, cellulosic and advanced fuels, either don’t exist or are largely imported from places like Brazil. If current law is maintained, and these volumes of fuels are mandated into the system, it will not only make fuel incompatible with most engines on the market today, but it will also push the price of fuel significantly. If Congress does nothing to fix the RFS mandate, what’s in store for Oklahomans and other consumers around the country? Abandoned cars, broken fuel infrastructure, lost jobs, and significantly higher fuel costs. This is not bad news for Oklahoma. It’s bad news for the nation. And it means that the RFS – all of it – must be repealed. ### Press Contact Washington, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), senior member of the Environment Public Works (EPW) Committee, today provided the following opening statement at an EPW hearing entitled, "Oversight Hearing on Domestic Renewable Fuels:" | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z |