Big Ethanol Comes A-Begging
It looks to me like this ginormous bailout is becoming beggars’ row for industries that got their butts kicked in the free market but who believe, for some insane reason, that they’re entitled to take the money from us that we wouldn’t give them voluntarily. The latest to try to bilk us out of our hard-earned cash is the ethanol industry. Yep, the folks who brought you reduced gas mileage and higher food prices now want a chunk of your tax money, too.
The Renewable Fuels Association, a trade group for the U.S. ethanol industry, has spoken with staff members from Capitol Hill and President-elect Barack Obama’s team and “provided them with some ideas on how to craft the language of” an economic recovery package, said Matt Hartwig, a spokesman for the RFA.
Hartwig said RFA has suggested a number of steps including setting up a $1 billion short-term credit facility so ethanol producers could finance current operations; a $50 billion federal loan guarantee program to finance investment in new renewable fuel production capacity and supporting infrastructure; and a requirement that any auto maker receiving federal aid only produce new vehicles that can run on any blend up to 85% ethanol, beginning with the 2010 model season.
As Nick Loris points out, we’ve already been giving Big Ethanol a continuous bailout for the past thirty years in the form of huge tax subsidies, tax credits, and laws that require us to buy ethanol whether we want to or not. The ethanol industry has had more than a fair chance to establish its product as a desirable alternative fuel source and it has failed. If not for the government, ethanol would dwindle away to nothing. It’s well past time that happened.
Other Posts of Interest:
- Yeah, We’re Idiots for Listening to Them
- The Bailout is Now A Trillion Dollars More Expensive than World War II. The Madness Must Stop
- We are the Ultimate “Check and Balance”
Category: The Economy and Your Money, Thinking About Energy
