August 19, 2010
Vilsack: Consider ‘modification’ of VEETC
Published in Brownfield Ag
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says he will encourage Congress to continue the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit, also known as VEETC. But Vilsack hints Congress should also consider a “modification” of the ethanol tax credit in order to put more funding into ethanol infrastructure.
In comments to reporters at the Iowa State Fair this week, Vilsack said the tax credit is still important to the growth of the ethanol industry.
“While it may be mature in the Midwest, it’s relatively in the process of being developed in other parts of the country,” Vilsack says, “and we want this to be an industry that has nationwide implications—we want it to be in all parts of the country if we’re to reach the 36-billion gallon threshold that Congress has set. When we do, it’s going to create tremendous opportunity in rural America.”
But Vilsack also hinted some support for Growth Energy’s recent proposal to trade current government incentives for more assistance in developing the nation’s renewable fuels infrastructure.
“I think we have the capacity—with sort of a modification to the credit—to consider ways in which we could direct resources as incentives to help build the tanks and the distribution dispenser systems,” he says.
Vilsack says that could include government incentives to install more blender pumps and manufacture more flex fuel vehicles...
