Feb 15, 2024
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), John Thune (R-SD), and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), and a group of 40 bipartisan members of Congress, including Senators Baldwin (D-WI), Brown (D-OH), Durbin (D-IL), Ernst (R-IA), Fischer (R-NE), Grassley (R-IA), Marshall (R-KS), Moran (R-KS), Peters (D-MI), Ricketts (R-NE), Rounds (R-SD), Smith (D-MN), and Stabenow (D-MI), as well as Representatives Craig (D-MN), Johnson (R-SD), Pocan (D-WI), Smith (R-NE), Alford (R-MO), Bacon (R-NE), Bost (R-IL), Budzinski (D-IL), Crockett (D-TX), Davids (D-KS), Estes (R-KS), Feenstra (R-IA), Finstad (R-MN), Flood (R-NE), Hinson (R-IA), Kaptur (D-OH), Kelly (D-IL), LaHood (R-IL), LaTurner (R-KS), Miller (R-OH), Miller-Meeks (R-IA), Nunn (R-IA), Panetta (D-CA), Slotkin (D-MI), Sorensen (D-IL), and Van Orden (R-WI) sent a letter urging the Biden Administration to act quickly to ensure that the model used to determine eligibility for Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) tax credits unlocks the potential held by farmers, ethanol producers, and airlines to reduce carbon emissions from aviation.
Specifically, the letter urged the Members of the Sustainable Aviation Fuels Lifecycle Analysis Interagency Working Group (IWG) at the Department of Energy to update the current Greenhouse Gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy Use in Technologies (GREET) model for the SAF tax credit program by the March 1 deadline.
“Biofuels drive economic growth, create good-paying manufacturing jobs, and strengthen economies across rural America,” wrote the lawmakers. “As you continue to develop a model to determine eligibility for tax credits under 40B GREET, we ask that you consider the following information to allow every participant in the SAF lifecycle to appropriately participate in the carbon reduction process.
“We request that you adopt the updated GREET model as your methodology for determining this eligibility as soon as possible,” continued the lawmakers. “This will accelerate efforts to decarbonize aviation — in line with the Administration’s stated goals — by accurately crediting emissions reductions from regenerative farming, climate-smart agriculture, and carbon capture and storage.”
Klobuchar has long supported legislation to bolster sustainable aviation fuel.
In January 2024, Klobuchar, along with Senators Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL.) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) introduced the Farm to Fly Act. This legislation would help accelerate the production and development of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) through existing U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) programs and allow further growth for alternative fuels to be used in the aviation sector, creating new markets for American farmers.
In June 2023, Klobuchar joined Senators Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Joni Ernst (R-IA), and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) in introducing the Sustainable Aviation Fuels Accuracy Act, comprehensive bipartisan legislation to identify the standards required to meet the definition of SAF at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
In June 2021, Klobuchar announced the introduction of a new package of bipartisan bills to expand the availability of low-carbon renewable fuels, incentivize the use of higher blends of biofuels, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
In 2021, Klobuchar and Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA) reintroduced bipartisan legislation to create a renewable fuel infrastructure grant program and streamline regulatory requirements to help fuel retailers sell higher blends of ethanol.
Full text of the letter is available HERE and below:
Dear Members of the Sustainable Aviation Fuels Lifecycle Analysis Interagency Working Group (IWG):
We write regarding the implementation of the Department of Energy’s (DOE) updated Greenhouse Gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy Use in Technologies (GREET) model for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).
As you know, homegrown SAF has the potential to drive economic growth and create jobs across America. We recognize your recent decision to allow the GREET model to serve as a secondary model for sustainable aviation fuel as a step in the right direction. This announcement has the potential to bring us closer to scaling up domestic production of SAF as America looks to fortify its domestic energy supply and decarbonize the aviation fuels sector. Biofuels drive economic growth, create good-paying manufacturing jobs, and strengthen economies across rural America. As you continue to develop a model to determine eligibility, we ask that you take measures to permit every participant in the SAF lifecycle to appropriately participate in the carbon reduction process.
We request that you adopt the updated GREET model as your methodology for determining this eligibility as soon as possible. We also ask that, in the process of doing so, you adhere to the rigorous science on which the model is based. This will accelerate efforts to decarbonize aviation — in line with the Administration’s stated goals — by accurately crediting emissions reductions from regenerative farming, climate-smart agriculture, and carbon capture and storage.
Specifically, we ask that you make the following commitments:
- The updated GREET model must be completed and implemented by the IWG’s stated deadline of March 1, 2024. Biofuel producers are eager to begin making investments in production capacity. If the modeling update misses this deadline, these investments will remain on hold.
- Any proposed modifications to GREET should be subject to the normal scientific, agency, and public processes. Any modifications to the model must be governed by the latest science at the DOE’s Argonne National Lab, who have been recognized as the leaders in developing models to calculate carbon life-cycle analyses.
- Any modifications must ensure that the model will continue to accurately credit conservation practices and emissions reductions from regenerative farming as well as carbon capture and storage. Exclusion of these factors would omit critical efforts by American farmers to reduce emissions and would represent a missed opportunity to include rural America in the diversification of the aviation fuel sector.
- Ensure that valuations of indirect land-use changes recognize the contributions of American agriculture and reward modern practices like precision agriculture that lead to higher per-acre yields.
While we recognize your ongoing work to support the production of SAF, the actions above are crucial for ensuring the long-term stability and growth of this field. We stand ready to work with you to implement the updated GREET model as soon as possible, which will unleash the full potential of domestic SAF production and ensure American farmers can fuel the future.
Thank you for your attention to this important issue.
Read the original press release here.