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.
Food should have kept up with the price of everything else. Corn was $2/bushel in 1950. The prices have been kept artificially depressed by government programs. Gas was what 20 cents a gallon in 1950, how bout corn at $14/Bushel to keep up with gas at $1.40/gallon since farming is a very energy intense operation.
Did you ever hear of modern agricultural technology. Do you know about the impact on corn yield and that some produce corn produces 400 gallons ETOH per acre which consists primarily of CO2 from the air and solar capture by the leaves? After the ETOH is processed you are left with a high protein feed and cornstalks for roughage? Corn grows like bamboo, it is a relative.
I never implied ETOH or gas make engines last longer.
Like you said, you can buy electric, a very popular option in CA, or mass transit, or move out or close to work.
What do you do for work?
Oil has had monstrous subsidies, allowed cheap leases on PUBLIC land, and so goes the list. My point is, there isn’t an industry or business out there that hasn’t received government support. Have you been paying attention to how modern agriculture is constantly demonized. Have you heard of GMOs?
The idea was to reduce oil buying from enemy countries using our dollars to buy terrorists to murder Americans. See how it works?
So the demorats aren’t the enemy. They have convinced you that the republicans are the real and present danger? Wow.
You are aware ETOH blend has been available in the Midwest since the 1970s right? Hitler ran a good portion of his war machine on ETOH. Did you know that?
Subsidies (regardless if ethanol, sugar, milk, etc.) make whores of farmers and the taxpayers the dupes””
As with every industry, including yours. Can you still get on that high horse?
The Energy Policy Act of 2005 was proposed, passed, and signed by Republicans.
That’s simply a fact. Try to wrap your head around it.
The idea was to reduce oil buying from enemy countries using our dollars to buy terrorists to murder Americans. See how it works?
Blah, blah, blah.
It was proposed, passed, and signed by Republicans. You can’t polish a turd by stamping “Republican” on it. See how it works?
Thank you. Where in Article I or in any of the Amendments is Congress authorized to even think about an "energy policy" of any sort?
“”Oil has had monstrous subsidies,””
Well then you should have a monstrous list of them, please provide it.
Ditto!
In a phrase: HELL, YES!
I’m not in the same stream as the SS shills (IE: “I *paid* into”) that exist, even on this site. I, for one, will not indenture our fellow Citizens/progeny for some altruistic fell-good’isms. If that means *I* should ‘suffer’, so be it.
NO subsidies. PERIOD.
It’s NOT govt property (aka $$$) to give, nor do they have the authority to do so; though, those facts haven’t stopped ‘em in the past.
I’m sure *poor* ol’ farmer Ted Turner won’t turn down your charity.
If you don’t know the difference between working taxpayers and welfare slugs you must be from Massachusetts.
You are not forced to buy ETOH, so stop lying about it. You are forced to buy insurance, pay taxes, file tax returns, and pay government rent for property you own. None of us are forced to buy ETOH.
Can we keep it on an adult level?
Leases on PUBLIc lands by the 100s. Check out the North slope of Alaska.
If we can rid the nation of all government checks and subsidies, count me in, but to selectively demonize agriculture as welfare and all the rest as independent businesses, count me out of the BS. For the record, my father never accepted social security until we forced him to at age 78 and he was penalized when he needed some return.
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