U.S. biofuel giant POET LLC has tapped government relations firm Heather Podesta + Partners to lobby Capitol Hill on legislative matters related to the Renewable Fuel Standard.

Sioux Falls, SD-based POET is the largest U.S. ethanol producer in the U.S., operating more than two dozen 27 ethanol plants in the country and producing about 1.7 billion gallons of ethanol per year.

POET

POET becomes the second fuel group in recent weeks to retain D.C. representation in relation to the RFS, the federal initiative that required transportation fuel to contain a minimum amount of renewable fuels as a means of curbing greenhouse gas emissions and reducing the country’s reliance on imported oil.

Oil and energy trade association the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers recently hired Capitol Counsel LLC for strategic counsel and lobbying support among legislative and executive branch officials on issues pertaining to the RFS.

Agency founder and prominent Democratic lobbyist Heather Podesta manage the POET account, along with a team that also includes Benjamin Klein, ex-aide to Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND); Annie Palisi, former deputy director of member services to speaker John Boehner; and Patrice Willoughby, former executive director te Congressional Black Caucus under Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA).