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Friends of the Earth Energy Policy Campaigner Kate McMahon had the following comment: "The EPA must look at the impact that the biofuels mandate is having on global warming today and not use rosy projections about what the state of biofuel production will be in 2022. Using these projections ensures that for the next several years greenhouse gas emissions will only get worse, rather than better. The EPA also needs to take into consideration current research about existing land conversion for biofuels crop production and provide the congressionally mandated safeguards for natural ecosystems."
The legal challenge results from the EPA using optimistic projections about emissions from biofuel production in 2022, rather than current data regarding emissions from biofuel production, to finalize lifecycle greenhouse emissions assessments. Using this flawed method, the EPA determined that all biofuels meet 2007 emissions standards, despite a growing body of research that indicate some biofuels result in worse emissions than conventional gasoline.
Friends of the Earth and the Clean Air Task Force also petitioned the EPA to reconsider its assumption that no natural ecosystems will be destroyed to create plantations. This assumption is based on outdated data and fails to account for recent USDA studies showing existing land conversion from biofuels. Due to this assumption, EPA regulations lack reliable measures to protect natural ecosystems in the United States from conversion into biofuel plantations.
Source: Friends of the Earth
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