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Nebraskans say ending federal ethanol subsidies would be a mistake
Yesterday, the U.S. Senate voted on a measure to get rid of ethanol subsidies.
That vote was unsuccessful. But, some in Nebraska are happy about the vote to keep the mandate, but this might not be the end of the issue. There are plans for another vote that would make reforms to the current tax bills. The vote to remove the ethanol incentive was not passed, but there were plenty of votes in favor of it. "It's a little scary in that there were forty votes that wanted to end it, which tells me there's still a lot of sentiment there to get rid of the ethanol subsidy," said Tod Brodersen, Hastings Ethanol Board representative. For the ethanol industry, removing the subsidies could have serious consequences. But producers and companies wouldn't be the only ones affected. The incentives create a demand for the ethanol, which in turn keeps both the ethanol industry and corn farmers in business. "Ethanol is one of the biggest things for us as corn producers that we have, whether it's when we're using ethanol in any of our motors that we use here on the farm, from our gas powered vehicles all the down to the little motors that we use to run pumps," said Brandon Hunnicutt, chairman of the Nebraska Corn Growers Association. The subsidies attached to ethanol provide an incentive for gas companies to use blended fuel. "By leaving this v-tech in order and in place just means that it's easier to make a blend to have some incentives for the customer, the oil companies, the blenders, to use our product," said Duane Kristenen, general manager of Chief Ethanol. ""If you look on the street you'll see that the E10, the 10% ethanol, is about a dime a gallon cheaper than straight no lead. If they take away the incentive, I would say it would go to even at least or perhaps ethanol a couple cents higher," said Brodersen. Not only is the ethanol fuel good for our pockets, but also for keeping American independence. "We've got a great renewable fuel here in Nebraska, the United states, that we can utilize that's grown right in our backyard, it's better for everybody at large," said Hunnicutt. There are plans for another vote to occur under different ramifications in a couple weeks. |
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