Buffett, Icahn interests square off in biofuels law fight
US RAILROADS, including Warren Buffett’s BNSF, are joining a corporate brawl over ethanol mandates that pits American corn farmers and fuel distributors against independent oil refiners like billionaire Carl Icahn.
The American Association of Railroads (AAR), which represents the interests of BNSF, Union Pacific, CSX, Norfolk Southern and others, is pushing back against calls by Icahn’s CVR Energy and Valero Energy for changes to the Renewable Fuel Standard, the law that requires escalating amounts of biofuel to be mixed with petroleum.
At issue is who’s responsible for showing compliance with the programme. Adherence is tracked by paper credits that have become more expensive in recent years. Refiners argue that the costs are exorbitant and that the Environmental Protection Agency, the regulator that has jurisdiction over the mandate, should move the onus from them to lower down the supply chain, closer to consumers.
That would put companies such as BNSF, the carrier owned by Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, and Union Pacific, the largest publicly traded US railroad, on the hook for showing compliance with the credits, AAR said in an emailed statement on Monday. It would also increase fuel prices, the lobbying group said.
“American consumers will ultimately absorb the impact,” said Kristin Clarkson, an AAR spokeswoman.
The lobby “is speaking on behalf of BNSF and the other railroads who are members,” Michael Trevino, a BNSF spokesman said in an email.
Susan Terpay, a spokeswoman for Norfolk Southern, also said AAR’s efforts are in support of the railroad industry. Spokesmen for CSX and Union Pacific didn’t return messages left for comment. Icahn, who owns an 82 per cent stake in CVR, declined to comment.
“Moving the point of obligation helps small retailers,” Valero said in an emailed statement on Tuesday. The impact on fuel retailers would be “positive,” by creating a “level playing field” between smaller and larger companies, Valero said.
Petroleum refiners are required to blend renewable fuels like ethanol into US gasoline as part of a 2007 energy law passed under President George W. Bush that sought to slow the pace of oil consumption and its carbon footprint. Each gallon is tracked by a unique, 38- digit Renewable Identification Number.
If, like Icahn’s CVR Energy, a refiner doesn’t have facilities to add the biofuels, it has the option to purchase them on the open market, often from gasoline distributors that aren’t covered by the mandate, or they can buy excess RINs from refiners that have the infrastructure to blend. CVR Refining, a subsidiary of CVR Energy, estimates it may have spent US$ 250 million on credits last year.
In November, the EPA rejected Valero’s petition to have the obligation moved, saying that while the programme has its challenges, making that change would create fresh obstacles. The agency left open the possibility for change, though, by opening up a comment period that ends Feb 22.
Meanwhile, RINs have tumbled about 48 per cent since Donald Trump was elected US president on Nov 8. In December, he named Icahn as a special adviser on regulations, and he’s also nominated Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, a critic of the programme, to head the EPA. In confirmation hearings last month, Pruitt vowed to support the law, though he did not rule out the administrative change.
Also in January, the Trump administration ordered a temporary freeze and review of 30 environmental regulations published in the Federal Register between Oct 28 and Jan 17, including the Renewable Fuel Standard.