Santorum: It's 'Economic Fiction' That Biofuels Are Hurting Refiners

Oil-bought lawmakers need to stop dispensing "economic fiction" that attacks farmers and homegrown energy — refiners, and their profits, are doing just fine, Rick Santorum wrote in a column for the Washington Examiner.

You can't blame the demise of one energy company — due to gross fiscal mismanagement — on the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), wrote Santorum, former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania and presidential candidate.

"In reality, refiners are doing great. Companies like PBF, Valero, Marathon, and HollyFrontier are all posting surging profits," Santorum writes. "Carl Icahn's CVR Energy posted a whopping 2,888 percent jump in profits per share last quarter, and they are subject to the same RFS requirements as everyone else."

Ground Zero for the scare mongerers of biofuels — the bankruptcy of Philadelphia Energy Solutions (PES), Santorum writes.

Santorum points to the fiscal mismanagement, not some biofuel bogeyman, that brought down PES.

"The RFS allows our farmers to compete at the fuel pump, creating a vital market for surplus crops, holding down fuel prices, and driving America's dominance in the global biofuel market," Santorum writes. "Without the RFS, petroleum interests would go back to locking competition out of the market, raising fuel prices, and destroying an economic lifeline for rural families.

"The RFS makes crystal clear economic sense, and it remains vital to U.S. energy security," Santorum writes. "President Trump deserves credit for protecting U.S. energy investments and hard-working farmers against misinformation campaigns."

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