July 16, 2010
Ethanol Industry Calls for a Change in US Policy
Published in Hoosier Ag
A group of ethanol producers is calling on Congress to take a new direction on energy policy. Growth Energy announced Thursday that it are willing to give up government subsidies for ethanol in exchange for a level playing field. “We are confident that in a fair and open market, ethanol can and will compete successfully against oil,” said Tom Buis, CEO of Growth Energy. “Creating that competitive market will save money for both taxpayers and motorists, since it takes the control out of the hands of Big Oil and puts it into the hands of the consumer.” The “Fueling Freedom” plan calls for the phasing out of current ethanol supports over time by redirecting a portion of those funds to build out the infrastructure for the distribution and use of ethanol and by shifting the remaining portion away from the oil companies to opening the market.
The primary elements of the plan include:
• Funds currently going to the oil industry as an incentive for blending ethanol into gasoline (the VEETC) would be redirected to provide backing for the build out of distribution infrastructure for ethanol - such as tax credits for retailers to install 200,000 blender pumps and federal backing of ethanol pipelines. This will provide Americans the access to choose ethanol in an open and free market and would allow for the elimination of the tax supports over time in exchange for that level playing field.
• Requiring that all automobiles sold in the U.S. be flex-fuel vehicles - as many as 120 million. This requires no additional cost to taxpayers and a minimal cost (about $120 per vehicle) to vehicle manufacturers.
Growth Energy’s Fueling Freedom plan, once implemented, would build out the infrastructure in the United States to create a path that leads to a genuinely free market - an open market that is free of government supports. Redirecting monies currently paid to oil companies to blend ethanol into gasoline toward the ethanol producer and infrastructure improvements would enable consumers to choose between gasoline and renewable, homegrown ethanol. “Fifty five years ago, President Eisenhower, himself a former general, proposed an Interstate Highway System to give Americans the freedom to travel our country,” said Growth Energy Co-Chair Gen. Wesley K. Clark (Ret.). “Today, Growth Energy is proposing to give Americans the freedom to choose an American fuel to travel those highways. By creating an open fuel market, we can break OPEC’s monopoly, improve our national security, and create jobs here at home.”
The group wants to see the government put resources into building a renewable infrastructure. POET Energy’s Jeff Broin says, instead of tax credits, the government should spent taxpayer dollars on building an ethanol pipeline to move the renewable fuel from the Midwest to the east and west coasts.
The National Farmers Union was quick to announce support for the Growth Energy Plan....
