October 22, 2023 - WASHINGTON — Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), John Thune (R-S.D.) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) have reintroduced the Adopt GREET Act, a bipartisan bill directing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to update its greenhouse gas modeling for ethanol and biodiesel. 

“The biofuel industry is a boon for domestic energy, but its full potential is largely untapped. Embracing alternative energy sources like corn-based ethanol is environmentally responsible and creates jobs in Iowa and across the Midwest,” Grassley said. “My colleagues and I are working to empower the innovation stemming from our energy and agricultural communities, and get federal emissions testing up to speed with private sector producers.” 

The Adopt GREET Act would require the EPA apply the Argonne National Lab’s “Greenhouse Gases, Regulated Emissions and Energy Use in Transportation” (GREET) Model to energy commodities under the Renewable Fuel Standard. It would hold EPA accountable by ensuring the agency updates its modeling every five years; EPA would need to report to Congress either affirming its modeling is current or explaining why no updates were made.

This legislation follows an earlier effort by Grassley and bipartisan colleagues urging EPA to modernize biofuels emissions modeling in its own capacity. Grassley has touted the ways in which biofuels reduce emissions on the Senate floor, in White House meeting requests and, most recently, during a question-and-answer session. He called on President Biden last year to unleash homegrown biofuels and stop draining the nation’s emergency oil reserves. 

Grassley, Thune and Klobuchar were joined by Sens. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.) and Mike Rounds (R-S.D.). 

The Adopt GREET Act has garnered support from the American Coalition for Ethanol, Growth Energy, the Renewable Fuels Association, POET, the National Corn Growers Association, Gevo and the National Oilseed Processors Association
Source: Chuck Grassley