Archives: December
Our New Year’s Resolution for 2011: End the U.S. Ethanol Policy Boondoggle
With the stroke of a pen on Friday afternoon, President Obama gave the mature, thriving U.S. corn ethanol industry an early Christmas present they didn’t need: a one-year extension of $6 billion in ethanol subsidies and the 54-cents-per-gallon tariff on imported ethanol. Read More
Lame Duck Congress Goes from Bad to Worse on U.S. Ethanol Policy
Some in Congress are intent on making a bad situation even worse. Despite calls from across the country – including 67 newspaper editorials, over 80,000 letters from clean energy advocates, and opposition from a bi-partisan group of Senators and one of the broadest coalitions imaginable – lame-duck lawmakers are pushing ahead with ethanol earmarks. The plan would charge American taxpayers more than $5 billion per year to subsidize the mature corn ethanol industry, as well as double a trade barrier that denies consumers choice at the pump and makes gas more expensive. Read More
End of Ethanol Tariff & Subsidy Doesn’t Mean the End of U.S. Ethanol
Earlier this morning, Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) took to the chamber floor to make a last stand for extending the $6 billion per year ethanol subsidy and tariff that are set to expire on December 31st. The speech was rife with the same old hyperbole that has been debunked countless times by experts around the globe and repeatedly on this very blog. Here goes another round. Read More
Is Corn Ethanol a Dirty Word?
With the release of two Senate Dear Colleague letters in roughly 24 hours, Washington is much abuzz about ethanol policy. Yesterday saw a bipartisan letter from Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Jon Kyl (R-AZ) calling for an end to the ethanol tariff and subsidies – signed by 17 Democrats and Republicans across the country. Today came the farm belt’s response – a counter letter from Senators Charles Grassley (R-IA) and Kent Conrad (D-ND) urging an extension of the existing policies this year. Here’s some food for thought after comparing both letters. Read More
