Free Republic

When the gasohol governor marches into Iowa and says that ethanol's subsidy days are numbered because "we simply can't afford them," you know the times they are a-changin'. Tim Pawlenty's courage may have been borne of necessity, but nonetheless, it is in stark contrast to Newt Gingrich, who went to Des Moines and got on bended knee in front of the Renewable Fuels Association. Or for that matter, Al Gore, who not long ago admitted that the only reason he supported ethanol in Iowa was to secure the presidency. Profiles in courage they're not. But now, a bipartisan majority in...

Pixar Animation mastermind John Lasseter says the company has no environmental agenda, but with "Cars 2," the blockbuster outfit does tap into today's eco-mindedness with a plot driven by oil vs. a cleaner alternative. Debuting in U.S. theaters Friday, "Cars 2" sends race car Lightning McQueen (voiced by Owen Wilson) on a World Grand Prix circuit whose organizer fuels the vehicles with a green alternative called Allinol, prompting the bad guys to try to discredit the new power supply that threatens traditional gasoline.

WASHINGTON, (AP) -- Republicans have blocked a Senate jobs bill that included a repeal of the ethanol tax credit. Yet ending that tax break remains a live option for budget cutters looking for ways to reduce massive federal deficits.

Reports from the WTO and USDA show that corn supplies are influenced by biofuel subsidies and mandates. The biofuels industry is being blamed for record food prices and high price volatility. Earlier this month a report from the World Trade Organization and other international agencies recommended that governments cut support for biofuels to ease that volatility. On the heels of that report, the U.S. Department of Agriculture issued its corn forecast; it suggested that corn supplies will be very tight this year because bad weather has limited planting and because the share of corn going to ethanol is increasing. After...

An extraordinary convergence of recent events seems poised shortly to make aviation biofuels the belle of the investor’s ball. The first is that on 8 June the follows the international standards certifying body ASTM International announcing its approval of its BIO SPK Fuel Standard, to be made official later in the year, of the use of hydrotreated renewable jet (HRJ) Jet A-1 fuel in commercial aviation. The potential financial implications are massive, as together the airline industry and the U.S. military use more than 42.25 million gallons (1.5 million barrels) of jet fuel a day. One of the leading contenders...

In Colorado, Gevo has formed a joint venture with Redfield Energy to retrofit Redfield’s existing ethanol plant into an isobutanol plant, with an expected production capacity of approximately 38 MGy. The retrofit is expected to commence by year end 2011, and Gevo expects to begin commercial production of isobutanol at the facility in the fourth quarter of 2012. Gevo will provide the technology and capital necessary to retrofit Redfield’s existing 50 MGPY ethanol facility and, in exchange, will receive an equity interest in Redfield. Redfield owns a 50 MGPY ethanol production facility located two miles north of Redfield, SD. The...

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...

Yesterday’s vote failed for procedural reasons but they cleaned it up today and nailed down a remarkably bipartisan consensus. Eyeball the roll: 38 Democrats, 33 Republicans, and both independents voted yes, with no votes coming mainly from plains-states senators eager to keep the campaign cash flowing. When you’ve got both senators from California and both senators from Oklahoma on the same side of an issue, you’re working magic, my friends. The vote also could have ramifications on future votes to reduce the deficit. Much of the GOP conference supported Feinstein’s bill even though it does not include another tax break...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Senate voted overwhelmingly on Thursday to eliminate billions of dollars in support for the U.S. ethanol industry, sending a strong message that the era of taxpayer support for biofuels is ending. The Senate in a 73-27 vote approved an amendment to end the 45-cent-a-gallon subsidy the government gives refiners and the 54-cent-per-gallon tariff on imported ethanol, which would be a boon to a major ethanol-producing country such as Brazil that makes ethanol from sugarcane. The Senate measure still faces a long road to becoming final. The White House issued a statement saying it was against a...

The U.S. Senate voted on Thursday to end the 45-cent-a-gallon subsidy the government gives refiners and the 54-cent-per-gallon tariff on imported ethanol from Brazil and other countries. The proposal to end the ethanol incentives passed 73 to 27, and came in the form of an amendment that was tacked onto an underlying economic development bill that is not expected to pass the Senate. The White House said it was against a "straight repeal" of the federal incentives for ethanol.

The Senate voted Thursday to repeal a $6 billion tax credit for ethanol producers, a move that could signal the end of some federal subsidies as part of an eventual budget and debt-ceiling compromise. A bipartisan group of senators—40 Democrats and 33 Republicans—joined together in a 73-27 vote to support an end to the subsidy. The subsidy gives refiners a 45-cent-a-gallon tax credit for blending ethanol into gasoline and has been a factor behind higher corn prices in recent years. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R., Iowa), a longtime supporter of the credit, objected to the measure. The U.S. ethanol industry is...

Milford, Conn (WTNH) - Local auto shops are swamped with dozens of cars in need of repairs, all due to bad gasoline. One dealership alone has serviced fifteen cars with fuel injection problems. Other service centers in Connecticut have been responding to similar complaints. Cars are stalling, sputtering, and just not running efficiently. Delilah Rios from West Haven noticed the problem with her Scion on Thursday. "They have to change the fuel injectors, they have to change the spark plugs, they have to clean out all the tubes, the gas," Rios said. The dealership concluded that the gasoline was the...

Bachmann's Tricky Ethanol PoliticsShe's for it, but she's also a Tea Partier. To the ethanol industry, Michele Bachmann has been both a friend and a foe. Over the course of her career, she’s carefully straddled the line between supporting the industry and arguing against government subsidies. “When it comes to ethanol, I think that it’s a part of our solution, but there’s concerns about that because of the subsidies,” Bachmann told Fox Business host Eric Bolling early this year. “I think it’s just something that we have to look at going forward.” When it comes to ethanol, the 2012 candidates...

Subsidies for ethanol are being put to the test again in the Senate Thursday, as budget cutters try to demonstrate a growing appetite in Congress to end special interest tax breaks to help reduce government borrowing. The Senate is scheduled to vote on two measures that would end subsidies for producing ethanol, a renewable, liquid fuel additive that comes mainly from corn in the U.S. One measure would repeal a $5 billion annual tax credit that provides 45 cents a gallon to oil refiners who mix ethanol with gasoline. The Senate rejected an identical measure Tuesday, 40-59, though some senators...

After a decade of experimenting with mandates, tax credits and tariffs, a national consensus has been reached that ethanol is just not worth it. Late to arrive at this conclusion are farmers, their Congressional representatives, and presidential candidates eager to win over primary voters—a coalition that has made it nearly impossible to begin unwinding the various policies designed to prop-up ethanol. The driving force behind U.S. ethanol consumption is the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), otherwise known as the ethanol mandate, which was established with the enactment of the Energy Policy Act of 2005.The RFS mandated that a minimum of 4...

On Tuesday, the Senate voted 40-59 against an amendment by Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., to end the annual $6 billion (45 cents-per-gallon) tax subsidy for ethanol, as well as the 54 cents-per-gallon tariff on imported ethanol. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., was a co-author of the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit Repeal Act. As she explained, the subsidy bestows $15 million a day "on large oil companies with no good reason" and drives up food prices. Yet Tuesday Feinstein voted against her own amendment. Feinstein explained to reporters that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid promised her a vote on a similar...

Senate Democrats are making hay today with yesterdays' vote by a majority of Senate Republicans to repeal the tax credit for ethanol in defiance of Grover Norquist's "Taxpayer Protection Pledge." Here's the e-mail blast from Chuck Schumer and Bob Menendez, with a conference call coming: "In Watershed Moment, 34 Senate Republicans Broke With Right Wing Ideology Yesterday -- Vote Means Tax Expenditures Now Fair Game To Reduce Deficit...Schumer, Menendez to Call Yesterday’s Vote 'Sea Change' That Will Boost Movement to Finally End Wasteful Oil and Gas Subsidies." They are correct. The vote breaks GOP orthodoxy that for decades has pretended...

Several Senate Republicans are angry at anti-tax activist Grover Norquist’s position on a major ethanol vote, creating a rift between one of Washington’s most influential conservatives and a Republican Party that has marched largely in lock step with his campaign tax pledges over the years. “What Grover Norquist has just done is blown his pledge wide open,” Sen. Mike Johanns (R-Neb.) told POLITICO.

Coburn on Grover Norquist: ‘Old news..doesn’t matter what he says’ Coburn talks with reporters before their caucus luncheon on Capitol Hill Tuesday. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) An intra-GOP feud played out in the U.S. Senate on Tuesday.

Dallas-based chemical company Celanese Corp. has engineered a process to produce ethanol from natural gas and wants the federal government to give it some of the same incentives afforded corn-based fuel. The company is promoting its technology, called Celanese TCX, as the answer to problems of corn-based ethanol — unpopular subsidies and its competition for a food crop, contributing to rising food prices. By using the prolific domestic natural gas supply to produce the gasoline additive, the nation can ease demand for corn crops with a petroleum product that doesn’t have to be imported, said Steven Sterin, Celanese chief financial...