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DAVID KRUSE

By Staff | Jun 15, 2012

Republicans are working hard by taking out the ethanol blender’s credit and preventing re-authorization of the bio-diesel credit, to de-fund military use of biofuels, block the commercialization of E15 and dismantle the Renewable Fuels Standard.

This is now as much a part of their agenda as is repealing Obama-care. Farm State GOP legislators must have been told to stand down in their party as they have been totally ineffective in stopping the assault on biofuel.

There is little pretense anymore over GOP intentions. If you think Mitt Romney would stop it, it would take me a while to stop laughing to take you seriously. This is a full out assault across all these different sectors intending to take the biofuel industries down. They have lots of oil money, able to fund bogus studies, claiming damage from E15 that the Enironmental Potection Agency discredits.

The RFA refuted the oil industry smear of E15 saying “E15 is the most exhaustively tested fuel approved by EPA. Testing on E15 was the equivalent of taking 12 round trips to the moon – 6 million miles.”

Growth Energy said the EPA discredited the petroleum industry’s bogus E15 study saying, “The EPA tests were much more thorough, testing more engines for longer periods, and for 120,000 miles and the results were consistently clear – E15 did not produce any negative effects.

If that is not enough, consider the fact that NASCAR has run close to two million miles on E15 in some of the toughest engine conditions imaginable with no problems whatsoever. As a matter of fact, their extensive use of E15 has shown the benefits of increased horsepower and performance. “

Ironically, Brazil was the testing ground for using higher ethanol blends where they didn’t have a domestic oil industry to lie, cheat and mislead Brazilian consumers about ethanol. The Obama administration is unequivocally pro-E15, intending to bring it to the market place while Republicans are trying hard to stop them.

“Our” Republican ethanol supporters got out-voted or, like Sen. Dick Lugar (R-Ind.), just got voted out. I have voted for Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) every chance that I got, but he and Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), along with GOP Congressmen, like Iowa’s Tom Latham and Steve King, appear worthless as ethanol defenders, either rolling over or rolling with their party.

It is highly ironic that the political party that was the most influential developing the U.S. biofuel industry under George W. Bush, is now doing everything it can to kill it at the behest of Big Oil.

My Congressman, Steve King, strongly supports biofuels. That’s good. The problem is that his party doesn’t, and the Tea Party which he champions is much opposed to biofuel and pretty much anything “green” that Democrats support. This is not an issue with Democrats who generally vote for biofuel incentives, but with huge opposition within King’s own party that he has been totally ineffective at reversing.

He doesn’t need to tell his district that supporting biofuels is the right thing; we know that. He needs to convince his party colleagues and he has been a total failure at that, big fat “F” for a grade. Due to redistricting, King has an opponent this election, something he has not had to contend with before.

Christie Vilsack is running against him and all the things that our U.S. ag secretary have been trying to do for biofuel are being blocked by King’s political buddies. Grassley has the same problem in the Senate.

The headline of the Ethanol Monitor read, “House Republicans Sabotaging Military’s Plans for Alternative Energy; Democrats, Industry Fighting Back.”

The U.S. military, U.S. Navy in particular, has been developing and utilizing a lot of biofuel underwriting the defense component of using home grown biofuel. House and Senate Republicans are trying to stop the military use of biofuel by defunding a $631 million Navy authorization bill to develop and purchase advanced aviation biofuels.

DTN reported, “The Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Jonathon Greenert wrote earlier this week that the military would not purchase alternative fuels unless they are price competitive, but he added he supports the efforts of the Navy, Department of Defense and USDA in accelerating efforts to create alternative energy for the Navy fleet.” On the restrictions passed by the House, Greenert wrote, ‘I believe this will impeded America’s energy security.'”

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) pushed the Senate anti-biofuels provisions.

“Infofe’s amendment would limit the use of alternative energy or environmental management programs unless the Secretary of Defense determines that funding such a program would result in a reduction of military casualties or is necessary to protect human health and the environment, as well as ‘certificates to congressional defense committees that the expenditure of such funds is cost-effective and sufficiently justified.'”

Could that be any more crazy? We have soldiers dying overseas to protect foreign oil, yet these idiots intend to apply lame restrictions on using domestic biofuel in order to see to it that we remain dependent on foreign oil.

It makes me sick.

There is a new coalition of GOP House and Senate anti-ethanol legislators that have overwhelmed GOP farm state pro-ethanol representatives so that the assault on ethanol is being made on a broad front from military use of biofuel to dismantling the RFS. If they win enough majority this fall, the GOP, under the direction of Big Oil, will dismantle every facet of support for biofuel.

David Kruse is president of CommStock Investments Inc., author and producer of The CommStock Report, an ag commentary and market analysis available daily by radio and by subscription on DTN/FarmDayta and the Internet.