To the editor:

I must be missing something in the information provided about the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) in the Messenger recently. In the Messenger editorial Oct. 9, 2019, the writer praises President Trump, Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue and Andrew Wheeler, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency for reaching an agreement to follow the law! I wasn’t aware that they needed an agreement to do that. The quote from Governor Reynolds says in part “We are grateful to President Trump for honoring the federal statute-“ “By protecting the RFS President Trump demonstrated his commitment to rural America-.” What that says to me is that President Trump has apparently NOT been honoring the federal statute or demonstrating his commitment to rural America.

As noted on the front page of the Messenger Oct. 11, 2019 story about the RFS, the agreement for reallocating blending responsibilities because of EPA exemptions is already required by law. According to Monte Shaw, executive director of the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association, the proposed agreement is by no means a “done deal.” It remains to be seen just how committed President Trump is to rural America.

This editorial and article also make me wonder just how laws can be ignored and what recourse there is when they are. What is the remedy? Do our elected representatives have no power other than talking to get the president (any president) and the agencies responsible for administering programs to follow the law? I have no doubt that Senators Grassley and Ernst along with Governor Reynolds have talked to the right people as forcefully as they could. Is that all they can do?

Hopefully, the touted agreement will, in fact, get the RFS back on track and in compliance with the law. If the requirements of the RFS are continually ignored, it does not bode well for Fort Dodge, Iowa or the biofuels industry as a whole.

Larry Franks

Fort Dodge