As the fight to save the Renewable Fuel Standard continues, another anti-ethanol editorial has appeared in the Star Tribune.
Supporters of renewable fuels are used to seeing anti-ethanol pieces in the Star Tribune, but that doesn’t make it any less frustrating — especially when they continue to contain the same old myths and Big Oil talking points scare tactics.
This latest editorial claims that “Americans subsidize ethanol through tax breaks,” and when “corn is diverted into making ethanol, feed prices go up.” Both are standard anti-ethanol talking points that have been proven untrue, but are repeated so often that a lot of people, unfortunately, accept them as fact.
Ethanol is not subsidized.Your tax dollars directly support many different industries, but ethanol isn’t one of them. The federal ethanol blending tax credit went away in December of 2011 and ended what many referred to as ethanol “subsidies.”
Tying an industry you are attempting to squash with government subsidies is an easy way to rile up the masses and get them on your side. Even though ethanol is not subsidized, the talking point that it is resonates with people and immediately puts renewable fuels supporters unfairly on the defensive.
Regarding feed prices, the price of corn today is under $4 per bushel and right around the same price it was when the Renewable Fuel Standard was passed in its current form in 2007. Not surprisingly, the crowd that blames ethanol for increasing feed prices doesn’t acknowledge this fact. After all, it would interfere with their pre-determined narrative that ethanol is to blame for higher costs.
Yes, corn prices were high in recent years before falling this year. The increase was due to many factors, including massive drought throughout the Corn Belt and the ups and downs of world markets. To solely blame ethanol is disingenuous and wrong.
To be fair, the editorial that appeared in the Star Tribune was not written by the Star Tribune’s editorial board. It was actually written by the Chicago Tribune’s editorial board and re-printed on the Star Tribune’s website (apparently, re-printing anti-ethanol editorials from other news outlets must be easier than finding someone locally to write one).
But that doesn’t make it any less maddening to read the same old misinformation regurgitated yet again. As long as the Star Tribune and other media outlets continue printing anti-ethanol pieces that blatantly get the facts wrong, we’ll keep doing what we can to set the record straight.
If you’re fed up with ethanol attacks and the EPA’s proposal to slash the amount of ethanol blended into gasoline, take action now and make your voice heard. Tell EPA, “Don’t Mess with the RFS!