Ethanol vote fuels subsidy doubts
There are no longer any sacred cows when it comes to energy.
The Senate delivered a strong rebuke to ethanol tax subsidies Thursday, underscoring an uncertain future for both the corn-based gasoline additive and the broader set of cherished energy subsidies.
More than two-thirds of senators voted to immediately end an existing 45-cent-per-gallon tax credit for blending ethanol in gasoline that expires at the end of the year.
“I think we’re looking at everything now,” said Nebraska Republican Sen. Mike Johanns, a former governor and George W. Bush-era agriculture secretary. “Trying to figure out what to do with the budget has caused us all to come to grips with some things we’ve supported in the past, all of us.”