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Tuesday, June 14, 2011
2:48 PM EDT
Christopher Prandoni

Senate Denied Choice on Ethanol

Failure of cloture motion derails opportunity to kill ethanol mandate, credit, and tariff

Today the US Senate failed to invoke cloture on S. 782. This represents a lost opportunity for the Senate to vote on killing the government’s unfair myriad of ethanol preferences. Had cloture prevailed, through a series of amendments, the Senate could have voted to rip out ethanol, root and branch, from the federal government. Amendments offered by Senators DeMint, Thune, and Coburn, would collectively have ended the Renewable Fuel Standard (ethanol mandate), tax credit, and import tariff.

ATR alerted Taxpayer Protection Pledge signers that voting for ethanol tax credit repeal—which is a $6 billion tax increase—is consistent with their pledged commitment to their constituents provided they also supported a tax cut offset—such as the death tax repeal contained in the DeMint amendment.

There is a consensus conservative position that the government’s support for ethanol needs to end. Unfortunately, this view is not shared by Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla). On the Senate floor last night Sen. Coburn said the following: “I support ethanol…I support a mandated level of ethanol.” ATR and the overwhelmingly majority of the conservative movement support full repeal of the ethanol mandate, ethanol tariff, and the ethanol tax credit.

ATR looks forward to working with conservative allies on and off Capitol Hill to fully repeal the government’s buttressing of the ethanol industry.

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