Van Politica launches from Iowa

I am excited to announce my new role as an editor of Van Politica. Read our inaugural story, about Iowa farmers’ views on the upcoming presidential elections, President Donald J. Trump’s (and his EPA’s) handling of the Renewable Fuel Standard and more. Look for more in coming weeks.  A man, a van, and a plan to report on American over […]

Iowa Farmers, Biofuel Producers Call on Trump to Step In Again on Ethanol Deal

‘Don’t let the EPA undermine your deal again, Mr. President’ Industry Group Has Problem with ‘Partial Exemptions’ Language in EPA Proposal WASHINGTON, D.C. (Oct. 16, 2019)– Farmers and biofuel producers in Iowa are voicing their anger at EPA after the agency released a proposal they say is a far cry from a deal they had reached with President Donald […]

EPA Proposal Would Replace Only SRE Volumes That ‘Would Have’ Been Given Under DOE’s Advice

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Oct. 15, 2019– A long-awaited deal on the Renewable Fuel Standard took a more tangible form today when EPA announced it will seek comment on a change to its annual volumes rulemaking from last summer that purportedly would allow it to correct for small refinery exemptions, but early indications are that the biofuels industry isn’t buying […]

Through Washington’s Fog, an Ethanol Deal Emerges: Refiners Not Happy

How many Washington bureaucrats does it take to change a light bulb? Nobody knows, but evidently it takes a surprising number of them to elucidate the terms of ethanol-vs.-oil industry settlement that was midwifed by President Donald J. Trump’s administration. The administration has for months been foreshadowing a deal, the terms of which are still foggy, intended to put […]

People Living in Our… ‘Best Highways’

Los Angeles– Sept. 24, 2019–Last week, numerous media outlets reported that President Donald J. Trump, during a visit to the Golden State, said he wanted to disburse homeless camps like the one shown above. This photo was taken from the Broadway overpass spanning the Hollywood Freeway near downtown. On several overpasses to the east, tents and tarps form colorful […]

Arlington Prepares for 9-11 Observance

Washington, D.C., Sept. 10, 2019 — A flag is draped from the top of 1000 Wilson Blvd., in Rosslyn, to commemorate those who died on Sept. 11, 2001, in New York City, in a field near Shanksville, Pa., and at the Pentagon, nearby. The other flag flies from the flagpole over the Iwo Jima statue of the U.S. Marine […]

Oft-Overlooked Biodiesel May Be Key to Trump’s Bid to Quell Renewable Energy Fight

President Donald Trump hinted last week that he was about to unveil a grand bargain that would settle quarrels between Midwestern farmers who grow biofuel feedstocks, and small petroleum refiners who say the cost of a federal stimulus program to advance renewable fuels falls disproportionately on them and is now leading to refinery shutdowns. The government program at issue […]

Labor Day in Detroit: ‘Low Key’ In Shadow of Union Investigation

You wouldn’t expect a city like Detroit, where the United Auto Workers union was born, to let Labor Day pass without a parade, but this year’s is low key, reports the Detroit News. In fact, at least one group of UAW members planned a protest against UAW’s leadership. Last week, the FBI and IRS raided the suburban Detroit home […]

It's hot out, at least in the Northern Hemisphere and around the Equator, so Donald Trump invited the G-7 to join him at the cool, manicured Trump Doral Resort in Miami, seen here from a plane landing at Miami International Airport. Photo by Dan Macy.

Rome Is Burning, So Come On Down to Doral!

  About the Feature Photo It’s hot out, at least in the Northern Hemisphere and around the Equator, so the President of The United States wants to invite you* to his cool and manicured Trump Doral Resort in Miami- seen here from a plane landing at nearby Miami International Airport.   Photo by Dan Macy. *The term ‘You’ means […]

‘River Rouge’

Dearborn, Mich. – Refineries, steel works and an automobile factory all contribute to the day’s industrial discharge into the air over Michigan and Canada. This photograph will be part of the National Press Club annual photo exhibition in the lobby of the club, 529 14th St., N.W., 13th Floor, Washington, D.C., beginning Aug. 30, 2019.