Giving Compass' Take:

· Harvest Public Media discusses the current state of biofuels in the U.S., the hopes for it in the future, and why it's a great investment for the government. 

· What are some benefits of using biofuels? What's the cost of making biofuels? Is this a good alternative source of energy for fossil fuels and oil?

· Learn more about biofuels and the renewable fuel standard.

Scott Pruitt’s resignation from the Environmental Protection Agency this month has many in the renewable fuel industry hoping that federal agencies will get on the same page.

That’s because for the last few years, the EPA and the Department of Energy have been at odds, with taxpayer money creating a new biofuel industry that may not have the room to grow outside the lab.

"You know the right hand isn’t always understanding what the left hand is doing,” said Geoff Cooper, vice president of the Renewable Fuels Association.

The Department of Energy spent hundreds of millions on biofuel research in the last two years, announcing another $40 million of funding in June for fledgling fuels that need a market in which to grow. But Pruitt’s EPA hindered ethanol and biofuel use in the U.S. by letting dozens of oil refineries out of federal requirements to blend it into their gasoline.

Cooper and his association lobby for ethanol and biofuels are harsh critics of Pruitt to the point that president and CEO Bob Dinneen said that Pruitt was “waging war” against the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS).

Read the full article about the future of biofuels by Madelyn Beck at Harvest Public Media.