Monday, April 28, 2008

US Congress reaches deal on farm bill: Ethanol subsidy to be cut

Remember: USDA crop progress this afternoon, I'm all atingle.
From the Financial Times (Saturday):

Congressional negotiators on Friday reached a tentative agreement on the farm bill, potentially ending months of deadlock over US agricultural policy amid record profits by farmers and mounting concerns over rising food prices.

The proposed legislation, whose final details will be unveiled next week and still face the possibility of a White House veto, will cost $280bn over five years and largely preserves an extensive programme of subsidies to US farmers.

Under the terms of the deal reached by House and Senate negotiators, a key ethanol tax credit is expected to be reduced from 51 cents per gallon to 45 and the tariff on ethanol imports from outside the US is also expected to be scaled back....MORE


And a few minutes ago, from Brownfield Network:

Ethanol industry fights back against misinformation
The Indy Racing League’s (IRL) Road Runner Turbo 300 took place at the Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kansas, Sunday. The IRL is, for the second year in a row, using 100% ethanol to fuel all its race cars. And before Sunday's race, the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council (EPIC) held a press conference at the speedway to counter the recent spate of negative stories and misinformation about the renewable fuel.

As recently as a year ago, anti-ethanol coverage in the mainstream media was less common, typically focusing on questions related to its efficiency as a fuel. But over the last several months, articles blaming ethanol for a wide range of global ills have surfaced in media outlets around the world. Now, EPIC Executive Director Toni Nuernberg told reporters the entire renewable fuels industry is banding together to counter the false claims about ethanol in an initiative called Renewable Fuels Now.

"It isn't just EPIC," Nuernberg said. "It's EPIC. It's RFA [Renewable Fuels Association]. It's ACE [America Coalition for Ethanol]. It's a number of our members, EPIC members, ethanol plants, working together to combat some of this.">>>MORE