Allow the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit to Expire

Download the PDF

The Honorable Harry Reid
Majority Leader
United States Senate
The Honorable Nancy Pelosi
Speaker of the House
United States House of Representatives
The Honorable Mitch McConnell
Minority Leader
United States Senate
The Honorable John Boehner
Minority Leader
United States House of Representatives

Re: Allow the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit to Expire

Dear Congressional Leaders:

The undersigned diverse group of business associations, hunger and development organizations, taxpayer advocates, agricultural groups, religious organizations, environmental groups, budget hawks, and public interest organizations urge you to allow the refundable Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit (VEETC) to sunset this year.

In particular, Congress has the opportunity to end the $6 billion a year subsidy to gasoline refiners who blend corn ethanol into gasoline. At a time of spiraling deficits, we do not believe Congress should continue subsidizing gasoline refiners for something that they are already required to do by the Renewable Fuels Standard.

Experts like the Congressional Budget Office and the Government Accountability Office have concluded that the subsidy is no longer necessary, and leading economists agree that ending it would have little impact on ethanol production, prices or jobs.

Letting the VEETC expire will help control deficit spending without in any way hindering the development of advanced biofuels, which can help us meet our energy, environmental and food security needs in a fiscally responsible manner.

Sincerely,

ActionAid US
Africa Action
Africa Faith and Justice Network
American Bakers Association
American Conservative Union
American Meat Institute
American Frozen Food Institute
California Dairies, Inc.
California Dairy Campaign
Center for Biological Diversity
Center for Food Safety
Clean Air Task Force
Clean Water Action
Columban Center for Advocacy and Outreach
Competitive Enterprise Institute
Dairy Producers of New Mexico
Dairy Producers of Utah
Earth Day Network
Environment America
Environmental Working Group
Foreign Policy in Focus
FreedomWorks
Friends of the Earth
Grocery Manufacturers Association
Heartland Institute
Idaho Dairymen’s Association
International Center for Technology Assessment
International Dairy Foods Association
KyotoUSA
Leadership Conference of Women Religious
League of Conservation Voters
Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns
Milk Producers Council
Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate
MoveOn.org Political Action
National Audubon Society
National Catholic Rural Life Conference
National Chicken Council
National Council of Chain Restaurants
National Meat Association
National Taxpayers Union
National Turkey Federation
National Wildlife Federation
Natural Resources Defense Council
NETWORK, A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby
Oregon Dairy Farmers Association
Oxfam America
PLANT (Partners for the Land and Agricultural Needs of Traditional Peoples)
Pew Environment Group
Public Citizen
Safe Climate Campaign
Sierra Club
Snack Food Association
Taxpayers for Common Sense
Union of Concerned Scientists
Unitarian Universalist Ministry for Earth
Washington Cattle Feeders Association
Washington State Dairy Federation
World Wildlife Fund

CC: United States House of Representatives and United States Senate

Areas of Focus
Disqus Comments

Related News

Continue Reading