Senator would drop land-use from U.S. biofuels rule

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A senator from the U.S. Corn Belt filed an amendment on Tuesday that would bar federal regulators from considering how land is used overseas when they write rules to expand use of biofuels.

Iowa Senator Tom Harkin filed the amendment while the Senate was considering the annual funding bill for the Interior Department and related agencies, said an aide. It was not immediately clear when the amendment would be debated.

The Environmental Protection Agency proposed a regulation earlier this year that requires advanced biofuels to have greenhouse gas emissions that are 40 percent lower than petroleum from creation through consumption.

Reuters