Senators propose immediate end to ethanol credit - TwinCities.com

WASHINGTON—Two senators from ethanol-producing states proposed Thursday to immediately end a tax credit for the corn-based fuel and agreeing to support shifting some of that money to debt reduction.

Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and John Thune, R-S.D., along with ethanol opponent Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., have proposed diverting $1.3 billion of the money remaining for the tax break this year to pay for debt reduction. And $668 million will be used for incentives for the ethanol and biofuels industries.
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Ethanol industry groups praised the agreement Thursday, signaling it is the best they can do as Washington has trained a skeptical eye on their business. Just last year, many in the industry were hoping the full $5 billion tax break could be diverted for industry incentives.

Flashback: “Let them burn ethanol” — Marie Antoinette | Facts About Ethanol

The result was a perfect Washington storm: Agribusiness lobbying and environmentalist advocacy about “energy independence” came together to push ethanol front and center, from where it has gathered momentum and gained strong champions.

Al Gore, campaigning for Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar in 2006, defended ethanol with the question, “What is so complicated about choosing fuel that comes from Minnesota farmers rather than from the Middle East?”

Quite a lot, as it turns out, Al. The former Vice President has been a leading ethanol supporter since the 1970s. In 1994 he cast the tie-breaking vote in the Senate that stopped a cut in ethanol subsidies. In 1999 he called ethanol “environmentally friendly” when boasting of the Clinton/Gore administration’s plans to triple its use by 2010.