A big win for the biofuels industry slipped away Thursday when House Republicans abandoned a proposal to make higher-ethanol fuel available all year.
And behind the loss — at least for the moment — was Presid nt-elect Donald Trump, who’d tried to make the policy reality when he was in the White House.
In their scramble to appease Trump by rewriting a bill to prevent a partial government shutdown Friday, Republicans removed a provision to lift seasonal restrictions on 15 percent ethanol fuel. The bill failed, opening the possibility the ethanol provision could resurface in another revision.
Biofuel isn’t at the heart of the fight, but the E15 provision raised objections from some conservative lawmakers and became one of many casualties as Trump called on Republicans to rewrite the measure. The ethanol industry was left reeling.
