Fuel Fix reports that “refiners on Tuesday implored President Barack Obama to hold firm on plans to scale back renewable fuel quotas for 2014, warning that if the administration gives in to Corn Belt demands for higher mandates, it could cause gasoline prices to spike.”  

“’Now is not the time to backtrack on a proposal to avoid economic disruption,’ 31 refining executives said in a letter to Obama. ‘Technological and market limitations exist, and consumers — not the federal government — should determine what goes in their cars.’”  

“Spearheaded by the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers group, the letter’s signers included Valero Energy Corp. CEO Joseph Gorder and Tesoro Corp. CEO Gregory Goff. Under a 2008 law, all of them are required to blend renewable fuels — primarily ethanol made from corn and other materials — into gasoline.”