Posted on 01/19/2016 2:01:06 PM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
Republican presidential hopeful Ted Cruz received an anti-endorsement from the governor of Iowa, Tuesday, host of the country's lead-off presidential caucus, on account of his failure to support renewable fuels like ethanol.
Gov. Terry Branstad,a Republican who has not endorsed any of the GOP presidential candidates for president, said at a renewable fuels conference near Des Moines that Iowans should reject Cruz because he supports phasing out the fuel standard.
His comments,which come within two weeks of the state's critical Feb. 1 caucus,could resonate with state farmers who grow the corn used in ethanol,and the soybeans widely used in biodiesel or risk getting trounced at the Iowa caucuses.
"We should not be supporting somebody who is opposing those things that are of critical importance to the economic well-being of our state," Branstad said.
Cruz,the junior senator from Texas,is a vocal supporter of his home state's oil industry, which generally opposes the use of ethanol,and has supported in the past ending the renewable fuels standard,a federal regulation that sets a minimum for the amount of ethanol blended in the nation's gasoline supply.
Asked if he wants to see Cruz defeated in Iowa,Branstad responded:"Yes."
"This would be a great way to send a strong message," the Iowa governor added.
Cruz has called for phasing out the fuel standard requirement over five years as part of his plan to end all energy subsidies and mandates. He authored a Senate bill in 2014 to end it by 2020.
Speaking to reporters in Center Barnstead,New Hampshire Tuesday, Cruz..[said] Iowa corn farmers are wonderful Americans,but Iowa corn farmers are not career politicians,..Iowa corn farmers are frustrated with career politicians. They're fed up with politicians who make deals every day to grow government, to expand the debt,to do things like fund Planned Parenthood,to do things like support Obamacare,to do things like give in to amnesty."
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
The Hill: Trump calls for higher ethanol mandate
Donald Trump said Tuesday that federal regulators should increase the amount of ethanol blended into the nation's gasoline supply.
Speaking at an event hosted by the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association, Trump, a real estate mogul and the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination, said the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ought to follow the ethanol volumes Congress set in 2007.
"The EPA should ensure that biofuel... blend levels match the statutory level set by Congress under the [renewable fuel standard]," Trump said.
The mandate is popular in Iowa, which hosts the nation's first caucuses.
In setting the ethanol blending mandate for 2016 last year, the EPA used a provision in the law that allows it to waive the specific volumes Congress set out, citing lower than expected gasoline demand, among other factors.
Trump spoke very briefly about the ethanol mandate at the beginning of his speech, reading from notes in a straightforward fashion, before continuing onto other subjects in the more lively manner he usually shows in stump speeches.
The event came hours after Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad (R) told voters in the first state to choose presidential candidates that they shouldn’t vote for Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas), one of Trump's most potent challengers.
Branstad cited Cruz's opposition to continuing the ethanol mandate after 2022, saying Cruz is "heavily financed by Big Oil."
Trump welcomed Branstad's comment.
Cruz has "been mixed in the subject, he goes wherever the votes are, so he all of the sudden went over here, and then all of the sudden, he got slapped," Trump said. "So it's very interesting to see."
Trump was generally very supportive of the ethanol law, saying he is "100 percent" behind the ethanol industry, a powerful force in Iowa.
"As president, I will encourage Congress to be cautious in attempting to charge and change any part of the RFS," he said.
Trump tied ethanol to his campaign slogan "Make America Great Again," saying ethanol reduces dependence on imported oil, which helps energy independence.
"Energy independence is a requirement if America is to become great again. My theme is 'Make America Great Again.' It's an important part of it," he said. [end]
Because you should get fewer miles per gallon, wreck your perfectly good marine and small engines, and trash the fuel systems in those older vehicles you cling to.
I like Trump, but this was an unforced error.
It’s alsmost like Trump isn’t conservative.
Ethanol costs more than oil. How about we make America great with petroleum based fuels?
This must be absolutely killing you, but it’s fascinating how Trump has completely taken over the party. I would expect an endorsement from Branstad and use of his political network sometime in the next week. Ted is just about finished. You are watching the Art of the Deal in practice right before your eyes.
Well, courageous “I don’t owe anything to anyone and can’tbe bought” Donald Trump is bending over to the corn lobby. That didn’t take long.
Trump said his Mantis runs just fine on ethanol. LOL!
No, Ted Cruz Has Not Changed His Position On Ethanol
"Earlier today the internet was littered with bloggers crowing or, alternatively having full grown cows passed down their alimentary canal, over a report that Ted Cruz had caved to the Renewable Fuel Lobby and was suddenly supporting this boondoggle.
Most of you know the background. When Ted Cruz visited Iowa earlier in the year he rejected the mandate that gasoline contain ethanol, the so-called Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), in favor of letting the consumers decide if they wanted to use gasoline cut with ethanol. With the end of RFS, the subsidies that make the boondoggle a lucrative money extraction device for large agribusinesses would also come to an end. Since Cruz has been campaigning in Iowa, he has been dogged by a group owned by ethanol rent-seekers and run by the son of the Iowa governor bitching about how Cruz is threatening their gravy train."....
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Jan 7, 2016:
"....Sen. Ted Cruz in 2013 co-sponsored the "Renewable Fuel Standard Repeal Act," which would immediately repeal the ethanol mandate.
In 2014, he introduced a broad energy bill that would wind down the mandate over five years, slashing the federally mandated volume of renewable fuels (including corn ethanol) by 20 percent every year for five years.
Last night in Cherokee, Iowa, Cruz said again that he believed in "a gradual phaseout" of the mandate over five years. The ethanol lobby group - America's Renewable Future - responded to this by declaring that Cruz had decided to "listen to Iowa farmers."
"During a bus tour stop in Sioux Center, Iowa last night," the group said in a statement, "Senator Ted Cruz expressed support for the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) through 2022."
The thing is, while this represents a shift from 2013, it has been Cruz's position since 2014. Cruz's campaign confirmed to me that he still would slash the mandate every year - so that by the end of his first term, mandated levels would be only 1/5th of what they would otherwise be - meaning the mandated levels would drop each year instead of rising each year.
So it was misleading for ARF - and for me - to represent Cruz's comments in Cherokee as a flip-flop.
Unlike other Republican candidates, Cruz wouldn't leave the RFS alone until 2022 (notably, that's in the theoretical second term of the next president), but he would cut it each year of his presidency."..... ... CORRECTED: Cruz still favors slashing ethanol mandate every year for five years
Not surprising that Trump will tack left.
He’s got Sarah Palin covering for him now. The snow job on good conservatives continues apace.
Does the ethanol go in the GAS tank, or in the operator?
The " Not building the wall, is REALLY WINNING" statement from him, will be coming out of his lips sooner than I figured. sigh.
He needs more votes from the Left so he's making his move.
Just another phony panderer,ethanol is carp,ruins small engines,use the corn for food.So much for Palin,Conservatives are toast
LOL! No its almost like Trump wants to win Iowa. And doing a bang up job of keeping Ted from stealing it away. :-)
This aint good for Trump....
If ethanol were so great, it wouldn’t require a government subsidy to be in and stay in business.
Fact is, it delivers 30% less energy per gallon than gasoline
Trump throwing more money down the Ethanol hole. I have no problem with ethanol. But ethanol from corn is a problem. “And he said unto them, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.”
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