Dianne Feinstein: “I rise today with Senators Kyl and Sununu to introduce a bill to strike the ethanol import tariff. With record high gas…”

“I rise today with Senators Kyl and Sununu to introduce a bill to strike the ethanol import tariff. With record high gas prices and demand for ethanol growing faster than expected, I believe we need to act now to ease the ethanol supply crunch. As many of my colleagues know, I have been strongly opposed to the ethanol mandate that was included in the energy bill enacted last August. Today, more than ever, I believe that the time has come to end unwarranted subsidies to ethanol producers. They include: $4.5 billion in agricultural subsidies in 2004 alone that benefit corn farmers (Environmental Working Group); a 51 cent per gallon tax credit for ethanol producers; and a 7.5 billion gallon ethanol mandate that was included in the energy bill. The current 51 cent per gallon subsidy is costing American taxpayers $2 billion per year, and will cost even more after 2012--almost $4 billion per year--when the use of ethanol is mandated to nearly double. Now that the ethanol mandate is law, it is time for the subsidies to cease. I believe we need to start by striking the 54 cent per gallon ethanol import tariff. Ethanol imports are extremely limited, even though production costs for ethanol in foreign countries are significantly lower than in the United States. For example, according to the Congressional Research Service, Brazilian productions costs are 40 to 50 percent lower than in the United States.…”