"Farmers and ethanol producers in Minnesota say the waiver controversy is the latest battle in a long-running war for sales and market share."

"WASHINGTON – Brian Thalmann has been selling corn for ethanol for two decades. In that time the farmer from Plato, Minn., says he has never seen an attack on renewable fuel like the one currently underway by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Using a secretive process, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt has increased the issuance of waivers to small oil refineries, absolving them from meeting federal standards that require blending ethanol with gasoline. Corn farmers and ethanol producers across Minnesota, fearing a financial hit, are crying foul.

“It’s kind of an ironic twist that you have an administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency pushing back a product that helps the environment,” said Thalmann who, like many Minnesota corn growers, relies on sales to ethanol plants as a critical source of income."

Jim Spencer and Mike Hughlett report for the Minneapolis Star Tribune April 24, 2018. [2]