Posted on 01/21/2016 2:17:48 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
One of the most destructive environmental subsidies in the United States has found an enthusiastic supporter in Donald Trump.
"The EPA should ensure that biofuel ... blend levels match the statutory level set by Congress," he said yesterday in Iowa, adding that he was "there with you 100 percent" on continuing federal support for ethanol. "You're going to get a really fair shake from me."
The ethanol lobby has rigorously courted Trump since April, arranging to speak at least weekly, including at least three in-person meetings, in addition to an ethanol-plant tour, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Trump's support for ethanol may win him votes in Iowa, but federal support for ethanol is a bum deal for Americans.
Under the 2007 Independence and Security Act, Congress mandated that the United States use 36 billion gallons of biofuels, including corn ethanol and cellulosic biofuel, by 2022.
And the federal government not only requires the use of ethanol; it also subsides it. Tax credits between 1978 and 2012 cost the Treasury as much as $40 billion. Moreover, numerous other federal programs, spanning multiple agencies, allot billions of dollars to ethanol in the form of grants, loan guarantees, tax credits, and other subsidies.
Taxpayers suffer in other ways, too. Vehicles can drive fewer miles per gallon using ethanol blends than they would with pure gasoline. So Americans end up spending an extra $10 billion per year for fuel, the Institute for Energy Research estimates.
Ethanol also guzzles 40 percent of the U.S. corn crop, and the resulting scarcity drives up the price of food. This year alone, the Congressional Budget Office estimated, American consumers will spend $3.5 billion more on groceries because of the ethanol mandate.
Rising prices of corn feed have even put some small feedlots and ranches out of business. And as grocery prices increase, so does federal spending on programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
In a further hallmark of terrible policy, it's probably not even possible for Americans to meet the ambitious ethanol goals Congress and the bureaucrats at the EPA have envisioned.
Ethanol-intensive fuel blends can wreak havoc on car, lawnmower, and boat engines. In fact, many vehicle manufacturers will no longer offer warranties when ethanol comprises 10 percent or more of fuel; engine erosion simply becomes too common.
So, we can't really increase the total amount of ethanol mixed into our gasoline much more, but - especially as vehicles become more fuel efficient - Americans aren't consuming enough gasoline to meet the Renewable Fuel Standards with a 10 percent ethanol blend. The EPA acknowledged this inconvenient mismatch last spring, setting three-year ethanol-use requirements at 3.75 billion gallons below the legal minimums.
Ethanol's green benefit is also far from certain, explaining why even many within the environmentalist Left question - or outright oppose - the federal government's support.
It takes about 29 percent more energy to refine a gallon of ethanol than gasoline, and that process is often fueled by dirty sources like coal. Factor in the emissions generated during this production process, and ethanol sometimes comes in less green than old-fashioned gasoline. On top of that, burning ethanol also emits higher quantities of the chemical compounds that produce smog.
Then again, perhaps it's not surprising that Trump likes federal support of ethanol. After all, the real-estate mogul's business model has historically hinged on using tax abatements and other subsidies to make his building projects profitable.
(An example: As we reported in August, Trump Tower - which features a Gucci store Trump claimed was "worth more money than Romney" - has received a $163.775 million tax break from the city of New York.)
Many of Trump's constituents have rejected the so-called Republican establishment because of its corrupt preferential treatment for Wall Street and Big Business. But Trump's support for ethanol belies his populist Main Street rhetoric. In reality, he's just another rich, East Coast politician who would prop up special interests at the expense of the taxpayer.
-Jillian Kay Melchior writes for National Review as a Thomas L. Rhodes Fellow for the Franklin Center. She is also a senior fellow at the Independent Women's Forum and the Tony Blankley Fellow at the Steamboat Institute.
Trump has always been a supporter and benefitted from Crony Capitalism.
And Bankruptcies.
There is no scarcity of food in America and food prices are at historic lows. Agricultural price supports ensure a stable food supply and prevent dangerous deflationary forces from wrecking havoc in our economy. We learned this lesson the hard way during the depression. Agricultural price support is good for America.
Hey, sometimes it takes a little crony capitalism here and there to get rid of the big crony capitalism in DC...
Oh, it is DC... More of the same...
Buy your fuel from Iowa,
or al-Queda and al-Exxon
take your pick
“food prices are at historic lows”
What planet to you living on.
And cool, more top down management of the country from DC is going to make “America Great Again”...
While in principle I disagree about price supports but you are correct about the supply. Ethanol programs are a dif matter tho.
".....[Donald] Trump: This is the best time to think like a champion. As an example, the house is being foreclosed. You go see your bank -- maybe you can make a deal, maybe you can't. But you can make a deal with a bank on another house, and much better than the one you're living in. ... They'll do any deal to get rid of their product.
They have houses by the thousands. And you go see that bank and you make a deal.
[Larry] King: How do you assess [Barack Obama]?
Trump: Well, I really like him. I think that he's working very hard. He's trying to rebuild our reputation throughout the world. The previous administration was a total disaster, a total catastrophe.
And, you know, the world looks at us differently than they used to. ... He was handed a pretty bad deck of cards. And I'm not saying I agree with everything he's doing. ... I do agree with what they're doing with the banks. Whether they fund them or nationalize them, it doesn't matter, but you have to keep the banks going.
King: Do you assess him as a champion?
Trump: Oh, yes, he's a champion. I mean, he won against all odds. When he first announced, people were giving him virtually no chance. And he's just done something that's amazing."....
I just bought a gallon of milk for $2.oo and a pound of deli muenster cheese for $3.99. I bought 5 lbs of smoked ham for $20. I eat more meat than a puma. 2 loaves of quality multi grain bread for $4 and a six pack of 120 oz diet mountain dews for $2.00. Don’t tell me food is inflationary in America. We are the best fed country in the world.
And just like that, the irrational is rationalized... Because Trump supports it. Amazing.
We’ve got a glut of oil. Even before all this new fracking we bought less than 10% of the oil we use from the middle east. The oil is far cheaper than ethanol and provides more energy per gallon. Consumers go further for less cost.
And if ethanol made any economic sense whatsoever, it wouldn’t have to be mandated by big government. People would do it because it made sense to. God forbid letting the consumer decide...
Ethanol keeps farming profitable. Bad things happen when farming becomes unprofitable.
There’s a reason we started agricultural price support programs back during the great depression.
he had to give him a chance. Everybody did. he was the first black POTUS and the previous administration was a total disaster which is what got us Obama in the first place.
I’ve listened to Trump’s response in regards to ethanol. Basically he’s pro-American industry. Anything to screw OPEC who are ripping Americans off
Trump could give Slick Willie a be in Times Square and you would try to justify it, pathetic.
I know....
Oh, I see. The prices are all the same all over the country. I must the ONLY one getting ripped off paying higher prices for those things.
“match the statutory level set by Congress”
Oh! The horror of it! Donald Trump is advocating following the laws made by Congress! This is definitely not Conservative! ;-)
Trump says what he has too, where and when he needs to say it.
Meet the New Boss!
Same as the Old Boss!
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