Watch for biofuels policy changes ...

[LAOIL + 33]

Trump has reportedly called a meeting to discuss biofuels policy because a Pennsylvania refiner went bankrupt, allegedly because of the tough regulations .. This has been kept relatively quiet, so I will be interested to see if any major policy changes come out of this. 

[TraderTate + 186]

Ah yes, the old Renewable Fuel Standard ... that was always less than brilliant in my opinion. Who went bankrupt?

[Seleskya + 50]

Philadelphia Energy Solutions LLC. Probably never heard of it; nonetheless, it accounts for more than 25% of East Coast crude refining capacity

[TraderTate + 186]

This will be interesting to watch unfold, politically. Looking forward to another circus, which this definitely will be. This is going to put two key states face to face, Iowa and Pennsylvania, both Trump states. So this issue hurts him regardless.

[Carlsbad + 19]

so it's between Iowa with the corn farmers who love the RFS, or Pennsylvania, which needs the refinery work.

[Blockchainbull + 26]

Politics aside (which is, I concede, not even close to realistic), I'd support Pennsylvania. The RFS simply isn't feasible. Trying to meet these annual biofuel quotas and trying to buy tradable credits to do so isn't natural. This isn't how the market is supposed to work. 

[Seleskya + 50]

Politically speaking, Trump would probably need to support Pennsylvania, but can't afford to sideline Iowa really. Looks like he's got himself in a bit of a fix. 

[TraderTate + 186]

Look no further than this for your answer: Cruz is blocking an Iowa Republican nomination over this ... 

http://globegazette.com/news/iowa/iowa-republican-leaders-call-on-cruz-to-stop-blocking-northey/article_49756bf5-deb1-5bd9-b643-82241c5a5214.html

[Seleskya + 50]

Pennsylvania it is, then ... I guess. So we're calling an end to the RFS here then?

[Kate Turlington + 44]

I doubt it's going to be quite that simple. An blanket end to the RFS? No way. There will be some compromise. 

[TraderTate + 186]

Iowa is trying to undermine Cruz: 

Cruz has said he has no objection to Northey, but is blocking his nomination because of federal ethanol regulations that provide a boon to Iowa’s agricultural economy. Cruz says the regulations are harming oil refineries.

Cruz won the 2016 Iowa caucuses; it was one of the few states not won by Trump, the eventual GOP nominee and general election winner. Cruz earned 27 percent of the GOP caucus vote to Trump’s 24 percent.

[Kate Turlington + 44]

yeah, you really try to remove the politics from this one however hard you try  Iowa isn't going to let this go without a major fight. There's too much at stake. 

[TraderTate + 186]

yeah, and this isn't as sudden as it might seem. They're already drafting an overhaul. The goal if which is to: get 'refiners and corn farmers to stand together to overhaul the nation's ethanol mandate by pitting them against Wall Street speculators" who are "getting rich off the program that is killing jobs."

[Missy + 43]

The ethanol standard is fiscally irresponsible. It's environmentally irresponsible. This made since during the oil shortage years and years ago. It doesn't make sense anymore. Let it go already!

[Rodent + 1,424]

This is a political hot potato. The joke here is that everyone knows this is a bad idea. I don't think any presidential candidate ever was elected who spoke out against the mandate. The Iowa caucuses largely determine the election. Every president is in a terrible position trying to stop the freight train of a bad idea that is ethanol. Iowa's economy depends on this mandate. It has become so embroiled in its economy there is no great way to end it.