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Agricultural News


Many Agricultural Groups Applaude the Defeat of Senator Coburn's Amendment to Eliminate Ethanol Tax Incentive

Tue, 14 Jun 2011 14:34:05 CDT

Many Agricultural Groups Applaude the Defeat of Senator Coburn's Amendment to Eliminate Ethanol Tax Incentive The Renewable Fuels Association, along with the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) and the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA), today applauded those Senators that voted to stop the political gamesmanship of Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) over federal investment in ethanol. On a cloture vote to proceed to an amendment that would end the current ethanol tax incentive immediately, Senator Coburn lost 40-59, falling 20 votes short of the sixty votes needed to obtain cloture.


"This vote demonstrates the lack of appetite for this kind of destructive policy and political gamesmanship. The Senate and the country need to focus on a comprehensive energy strategy that seeks to expand America's ability to renewably meet its fuel needs. Initiatives like the legislation introduced by Senators Thune and Klobuchar yesterday are the exact kind of responsible policy prescriptions that will create domestic jobs and help meet the energy challenges of the 21st century. With this kind of political theater hopefully behind us, American ethanol producers are ready to work with lawmakers to ensure a robust and diverse domestic ethanol industry can develop in a fiscally responsible manner."


The RFA supports the Ethanol Reform and Deficit Reduction Act offered by Senators John Thune (R-SD) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN). Under this proposal, the current ethanol tax incentive, known as VEETC, would transition to a variable tax incentive tied to the price of oil. Additionally, the bill would make available funds saved by the transformation of VEETC to expand ethanol fueling infrastructure by improving tax policies currently available for blender pumps and other ethanol-related infrastructure. Specifically, the bill calls for 53,000 blender pumps, a number the RFA noted was needed to help achieve the goals of the Renewable Fuels Standard. The bill would also extend current tax incentives for the next generation of ethanol technologies using cellulosic and other feedstocks. If passed, the bill would take effect July 1, 2011. This bill is similar to legislation introduced by Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA), who is a cosponsor of this bill, and Kent Conrad (D-ND).


ACE Executive Director Brian Jennings said the vote sends the right message to the American public.


"This vote is a major victory for the biofuels industry and American consumers and a setback for those clinging to our status-quo dependence on oil. It proves political stunts aimed at ethanol won't be tolerated in the U.S. Senate. Now we can focus on continuing our work with the White House and both chambers of Congress to support meaningful and responsible legislation to reform ethanol policy, such as S. 1185, the Ethanol Reform and Deficit Reduction Act, introduced by Senators Thune, Klobuchar, and many others this week," Jennings said.


Jennings says ethanol supporters should also be praised for the work that they did in defeating Senator Coburn's amendment.


"ACE grassroots members from around the nation took the initiative to make phone calls and send emails to Senate offices, making a persuasive case that this vote was important and could make a difference at the pump and in the pocketbook. We thank our members for their efforts and we urge them to stay involved as these discussions continue to develop in the months to come," Jennings said.


"We greatly appreciate the strong message senators sent Sen. Coburn today by showing him they understand the importance of the ethanol industry to rural America," NCGA President Bart Schott, a grower from Kulm, N.D., said. "This demonstrates the Senate's lack of desire to engage in destructive policy making, especially to an industry that supports hundreds of thousands of jobs in America during a time of economic uncertainty. We also thank our many growers and supporters who called and emailed their senators about this important vote."


If Senator Coburn's efforts had been successful, the ethanol industry could have seen production reduced by as much as 38 percent. This would have significantly impacted an industry that provides and supports more than 400,000 U.S. jobs, many in rural America, during a time of economic uncertainty. The loss in ethanol production could have resulted in the shedding of approximately 112,000 of these jobs, in all sectors of the economy.


"The ethanol industry has been proactive in our efforts to reform, unlike the oil and gas industry," Schott said. "NCGA supports alternative reform options that will provide a safety net to the industry while reducing the overall cost to the federal government. We hope Congress will focus on policy initiatives such as the Ethanol Reform and Deficit Reduction Act that was introduced yesterday by Sens. John Thune and Amy Klobuchar. NCGA and its partners in the ethanol industry look forward to working constructively with Congress towards reform."



   

 

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