Time for Real Reform

While most politicians lived up to their negative stereotypes yesterday in the Senate with the unconstitutional vote on an amendment to stop renewable fuel incentives, the time is now for our policy-makers to step up to the plate and vote on real ethanol reform.

With yesterday’s overwhelming vote, one has to wonder if they really understand the circumstances behind those votes. As many of those same voters tout fiscal responsibility and refusal to raise taxes, their vote would actually raise fuel prices and gas taxes on consumers. This is the very same Senate who agreed to keep giving subsidies to oil companies producing record profits while sending our country into another recession and our money overseas.

“The McCain’s and Coburn’s love to talk about ethanol standing on its own two feet, but they don’t seem to have a problem giving taxpayer dollars to dirty old oil,” said Lisa Richardson, Executive Director of the South Dakota Corn Growers Association. “American renewable fuels have come a long way in the last ten years but need a level playing field in order to compete with petroleum in the market place.”

Enough with political games, it’s time for our Senators to get serious about the Thune-Klobuchar bill, which brings much needed reform to the ethanol industry and reduces our national deficit. This fiscally responsible and common sense bill would stop VEETC on July 1, 2011 just like Coburn’s Amendment, and with the money saved it would invest in blender pump infrastructure and reduce our countries debt by $1 billion.