Quote:
Originally Posted by redpoint5
I don't even know how a technical topic, such as octane and oxygenates in engines falls under the executive branch of the US to weigh in on, let alone dictate?
Perhaps the EPA, DOT, and DOE have an interest and some expertise on the subject, but I don't see why the executive branch does. Do government agencies have to go through executive branches when making recommendations, or can they submit them directly to congress?
Where I'm going with this is that we should always be restraining the authority of a single person (executive branch) as appropriate, to distribute that authority to more people.
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The executive branch manages all the agencies which makes the President the equivalent of a CEO.
Congress could write very specific laws that regulate every detail but they don't. Instead they tend to write a broad goal and then leave it to the agencies to write the actual regulations to achieve that goal.
In this case Congress passed Renewable fuel standards in part of the Energy Policy Act of 2005. That law requires the use of renewable fuel to increase from 11.1 billion gallons in 2009 to 36 billion gallons in 2022. It leaves the EPA, Department of Energy, and Department of Agriculture to decide how to make that happen and allows the executive branch to waive the standard if they want.
All you could ever want to know is here:
https://www.epa.gov/renewable-fuel-standard-program