Contact: Cassidy Walter
515-252-6249

JOHNSTON, IOWA – Yesterday Senator Chuck Grassley introduced the Fair Returns for Public Lands Act of 2020 with Senator Tom Udall. The bill would modernize the royalty rates petroleum companies pay when drilling on public lands, which haven’t been updated for 100 years.

In response to this action, Iowa Renewable Fuels Association Executive Director Monte Shaw made the following statement:

“Oil companies have been fleecing the taxpayers for 100 years by paying pennies on the dollar for resources extracted from public lands. We should all remember this the next time we hear Big Oil talk about just wanting a level playing field. The playing field can never be level when petroleum companies have secret advantages. This is just one of many hidden Big Oil tax subsidies and we thank Senator Grassley for shining a light on it.”

The Iowa Renewable Fuels Association represents the state’s liquid renewable fuels industry and works to foster its growth. Iowa is the nation’s leader in renewable fuels production with 43 ethanol refineries capable of producing over 4.5 billion gallons annually – including 34 million gallons of annual cellulosic ethanol production capacity – and 11 biodiesel facilities with the capacity to produce nearly 400 million gallons annually. For more information, visit the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association website at: www.IowaRFA.org.

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