Recent attempts to undermine biofuels in previous defense department spending bills have been unsuccessful. However, as House lawmakers meet to debate the Fiscal Year 2017 Department of Defense appropriations bill, National Farmers Union hopes a provision exempting the military from using biofuels will not be made law. NFU President Roger Johnson said the “recurring efforts to neutralize biofuels through the defense department appropriations process are disappointing.” As written, the appropriations bill would exempt the military from Section 526 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007. The Section prohibits federal agencies from buying synthetic fuels with a larger greenhouse gas footprint than traditional petroleum. NFU says the military’s use of biofuels has encouraged the development of newer technologies that are often kept from the market due to “exploitative practices of Big Oil.”