Free Republic

We knew (or at least feared) that this was coming, but Friday saw the finalization of the new biofuels – specifically ethanol – blending requirements for 2019 and 2020. And true to the promises that President Trump made to Iowa politicians, we did not see any significant reductions in the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) mandates. In fact, they went up, much the same as under Obama’s EPA. (EPA website)

For the first time in years, there is an emerging consensus that the biggest racket in national politics deserves to end. Earlier this month, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and 10 other Republican senators held a luncheon summit at the White House with President Trump with the goal of drastically reforming the Renewable Fuel Standard, the federal mandate that annually funnels $13.5 billion from the wallets of American fuel and food consumers into the coffers of agribusiness giants. Before the national nightmare of Obamacare, there was the RFS, the most sweeping and intrusive federal intervention in the American economy undertaken in...

“If any candidate you're considering won't go to Iowa and tell Iowans that Big Corn's special status needs to end, why do you think he or she will go to Washington and tell the other ten thousand special interest groups that their special goodies need to come to an end?”Are you completely, totally, thoroughly repulsed, disgusted, furious, mortified, mystified, and aghast at how special interests seem to control Washington while ordinary Americans like you and I pay for their goodies on a seemingly endless basis? To paraphrase the late, great Jerry Reed – they get the goldmine and we get...

It’s the ethanol, Sherlock....For if he wins Iowa, he will have defeated the ethanol lobby. And beating Big Corn on its home turf is what can propel him to a win in New Hampshire.People in New Hampshire hate ethanol. Ethanol is corrosive, it destroys engines. If ethanol-laced gasoline is more than a couple months old, it can't be used in high performance small engines. It is hydroscopic, attracting water, another problem with performance.A lot of guys have a personal problem with ethanol. Go to any tavern in New Hampshire and you'll hear an earful. There's nothing worse than getting all rigged out with your chain saw, ready to...

...Senator Ted Cruz, already under attack in Iowa for opposing government support for ethanol, has won the support of an out-of-state conservative leader, Ken Cuccinelli II, who on Tuesday aimed an unusually blistering attack on "Big Corn"......"The Governor of Iowa is a Big Corn cheerleader, and his son is running a super PAC hitting Cruz for not bowing to worship Big Corn..." wrote Mr. Cucinelli, the former attorney general of Virginia.He described an agricultural forum in Iowa early in the year attended by presidential hopefuls as a "Big corn kiss up confab."Mr. Cruz is leading Iowa polls of likely Republican...

The federal government announced Monday it has taken a step toward wide distribution of gasoline mixed with 15 percent ethanol by allowing manufacturers to register as suppliers. While the EPA is moving the process forward by allowing the registration, E15 still must clear another set of federal tests and become a registered fuel in individual states. Ethanol makers then must convince petroleum marketers to sell it at gas stations. Most ethanol fuel sold for passenger cars and pickups today is 10 percent ethanol and 90 percent gas. The new blend that boosts ethanol to 15 percent would only be sold...

Republicans leading the House Energy and Commerce Committee are charging that the (EPA) agency does little to determine how its regulatory agenda affects prices at the pump — The price per gallon is up a little more than 30 cents from a year ago, according to data from the Energy Information Administration. Refiners met federal requirements to drop the amount of sulfur in gasoline from 300 parts per million to 30 ppm. Now, the EPA wants them to bring it down to 10 ppm.

A recent survey of likely Republican caucus goers shows that support of federal subsidies for the ethanol industry has waned significantly in recent years. The poll, which was commissioned by TheIowaRepublican.com, finds that Iowa Republicans view a candidate who supports ending federal ethanol subsidies more favorably than a candidate who doesn’t. The survey asked, “Some of the candidates have proposed to end federal subsidies for ethanol. Do you have a very positive, somewhat positive, somewhat negative, or very negative reaction to candidates taking this position?” Forty-seven percent responded by answering very or somewhat positive. Only 24 percent of respondents said...

How to remove $5 billion from the federal deficit in one fell swoop? Eliminate the $5 billion-a-year subsidy given to oil refiners for blending ethanol into gasoline. The Senate voted Thursday to do just that, and even though the amendment is attached to a bill that probably won’t pass, the 73-27 vote sends a message that many Democrats and Republicans are behind an idea supported by an odd coalition that ranges from Tea Partyers to the Sierra Club. Thirty-three Republicans joined 40 Democrats in voting to eliminate the subsidy. Provided in the form of tax credits, the subsidy gives 45...

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- Gone are the days when ethanol topped the list of policy priorities in Iowa, the corn-rich state that hosts the leadoff presidential caucuses. But apparently some of the 2012 Republican presidential field isn't giving up on the issue, magnifying the relevance of ethanol subsidies to suit their campaigns. Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty calls ending the subsidy a hard truth, while former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman says his opposition to the subsidy is why he won't bother to campaign there. But powerful Iowa Republicans also want to phase out the federal tax credit for ethanol,...

Mr. Romney's campaign said he would still compete in Iowa's caucuses, now slated February, 2012. But the former Massachusetts governor's absence from the Aug. 13 straw poll will likely diminish his chances, some Iowa officials say, while raising the odds that whoever wins the poll will be best positioned to claim the status as Mr. Romney's top rival for the nomination. According to 2008 election-day surveys, 60% of Iowa caucus-goers called themsevles evangelical or born-again Christians. In the New Hampshire primary, the figure was 23%. In the general election that year, about a quarter of voters in both parties were...

Obesity and diabetes rates continue to rise despite decline in consumption of sweetenersWASHINGTON – A comprehensive review of research focusing on the debate between High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) and other sweeteners presented today finds there is no evidence of any significant variation in the way the human body metabolizes HFCS as opposed to standard table sugar, or any difference in impact on risk factors for chronic disease. James M. Rippe, MD, founder and director of the Rippe Lifestyle Institute and professor of biomedical sciences at the University of Central Florida, presented a summary of recent research entitled -- "High...

The Environmental Protection Agency wants to dump more corn into your fuel tank this summer, and it's going to cost more than you think. The agency is expected to approve a request from 52 ethanol producers known collectively as "Growth Energy" to boost existing requirements that gasoline contain 10 percent ethanol to 15 percent. The change means billions more in government subsidies for companies in the business of growing corn and converting it into ethanol. For the rest of us, it means significantly higher gasoline and food prices. It's time that this shameless corporate welfare gets plowed under. In 2007,...

Prices for corn tortillas, a staple of Mexican diet and culture, are soaring south of the border. Some tortilla prices in Mexico have risen as much as 60 percent, hurting the low-income people who depend on it as their basic food. Elizabeth Rosas, a 20-year-old office cleaner in Mexico City, was discouraged to find that her usual tortilla shop this week raised the price of its corn tortillas from 8 pesos (73 cents) to 10 pesos (91 cents) a kilogram. "My family doesn't have the budget to pay more for tortillas," said Rosas, who makes $40 a week and shares...

President Bush last week called on the nation to invest in new technology to reduce dependence on foreign oil. The president set specific targets for the U.S., calling for a 20% reduction in gasoline use over the next 10 years. He said that a boost in the use of alternative fuels such as ethanol would account for most of that reduction, cutting gasoline use by 15%. Stricter gas-mileage standards for vehicles, he said, should lead to the other 5% reduction. The president also proposed doubling the nation's strategic-petroleum reserves to hedge against oil-supply interruptions. Increased calls for energy independence come...

SAN RAMON, Calif. — Oil company Chevron Corp. on Tuesday said its alternative energy subsidiary has agreed to prepare a proposal to develop ethanol plants for Ethanex Energy Inc., a publicly traded renewable energy company. Under the agreement with Ethanex, Chevron Energy Solutions will perform engineering studies and design work to prepare a detailed plan to build high-efficiency ethanol plants. Financial terms of the pact were not disclosed. The proposal is expected to include details for Chevron to negotiate contracts to engineer and build at least three biofuel plants for Ethanex by 2008. The plants would be located in Missouri,...

TOKYO (AP) -- Honda Motor Co. has developed a way to make ethanol fuel from plant waste matter in a process that has the potential to expand the use of biofuels that fight global warming, the Japanese automaker said Thursday. Existing bio-ethanol production faces supply limits because it uses sugar and starch of sugarcane or from corn, both of which are also utilized as food. By tapping far greater supplies of inedible plant matter, such as stalks, leaves and rice straw, the new fuel takes a step toward making biofuels more practical, Tokyo-based Honda said in release. The breakthrough comes...

WASHINGTON -- Along with automakers, the Bush administration wants to end debate over whether ethanol made from corn yields more energy than does the fuel used to produce it. The Energy Department's verdict: It does. A new department brochure says that 740,000 British thermal units of fossil energy are consumed to make and deliver ethanol that contains 1 million Btu of energy. The latest version of the brochure, issued last month, is part of a broad department defense of ethanol. . . . Critic unbowed "Every argument they make is bogus," says Tad Patzek, one of the leading critics of...

Construction of New York's first dry mill ethanol plant is scheduled to begin this summer, with the state contributing nearly $6 million as part of a strategy to reduce dependence on foreign energy, Gov. George Pataki said. Western New York Energy's $87.4 million Orleans County facility is expected to produce about 50 million gallons of the fuel each year. The clean-burning, corn-based product is combined with gasoline to produce a blended, higher octane fuel. The plant will buy an estimated 20 million bushels of corn each year, 6 million from western New York, opening a new market for the state's...