Webb: Congress should end ethanol subsidies
U.S. Jim Webb, D-Va., today called for an end to costly ethanol subsidies and tariffs. In a bipartisan letter, Sen. Webb and other senators urged Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kent., to eliminate the protections currently manipulating ethanol costs and restricting U.S. trade. The current subsidies and tariffs on domestic ethanol are set to expire on Dec. 31.
“Eliminating or reducing ethanol subsidies and trade barriers are important steps we can take to reduce the budget deficit, improve the environment, and lessen our reliance on imported oil,” said the senators. “Historically our government has helped a product compete in one of three ways: subsidize it, protect it from competition, or require its use. Ethanol may be the only product receiving all three forms of support from the U.S. government at this time.”
Currently, the United States has a 54 cent-per-gallon tariff on ethanol imports and a 45 cent-per-gallon subsidy on blending ethanol into gasoline. In addition, the Federal Renewable Fuels Standard mandates an annually increasing usage of corn ethanol. These protections are expensive and redundant.
“We cannot afford to pay industry for following the law,” said the senators, noting that subsidies would cost taxpayers at least $31 billion over the next five years.
In a 2009 letter, Sen. Webb recommended the Environmental Protection Agency examine more closely the negative effects ethanol protections have on other sectors of the economy. Ethanol subsidies have led to steep increases in the price of corn and other sources of feed, which have negatively affected beef cattle, dairy and poultry producers and driven up the cost to consumers of commodities like milk and eggs. He also sent a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk expressing concerns over the ethanol tariff.
Edited by Chris Graham. Chris can be reached at freepress2@ntelos.net.
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[...] The govenment energy policies, if it has any, are senseless. Here is just the ethanol toll: Webb: Congress should end ethanol subsidies | Augusta Free Press [...]
Finally some common sense. The ethanol program is a complete waste of money. Ethanol blends in gasoline reduces mpg, and the cost of producing, shipping, blending is more expensive than any so called savings. On top of that we are giving subsidies to the producers because they cannot make money without gov’t funding Additionally higher percentages as recently proposed will only cause maintainence issues that will be very costly to car owners.
On top of that it has driven food prices through the roof. Where corn is used as a feed source or ingredient in production, the cost has gone uo. In animal production the cost of feed has increased over 50%, cost of corn chips, tortillas, etc doubled, etc.
Time to do away with the ethanol subsudies.
We will get lower cost food from milk to meat, eggs, chips etc, higher mpg in our autos, and a huge cost savings at the gov’t level.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m very happy with Webb and want to see him returned to office. But I LOVE ethanol, used E-20 in my last car often because it was cheaper at one particular gas station whenever regular gas prices spiked. (I think they were using their old prices, because regular car owners didn’t realize that E20 and E30 were meant for regular cars, and the station didn’t go through it very fast.) That car lasted to 250k miles, and its engine and transmission were still sound when I gave it away. Now I use E20 on the newer car, when I can get it. They claim that mileage is slightly lower and that the cars have a little less power, but I don’t notice it. What am I, a teenager? I don’t punch my accelerator, don’t want to ruin my engine that way, so if power is slightly less that’s fine with me. The mileage may have been a little less, but the real drag on mileage is driving it on city streets instead of taking the freeway, I don’t think the fuel makes that big of a difference