Word On The Street
Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle
“The 36-state governors biofuels' coalition has done a good job of summarizing the priority actions as follows. First, extend and modify the existing tax incentive, which expires December 2010, from a blender to a producer credit. Simultaneously, eliminate the ethanol tariff, while imposing sustainability standards that protect the global environment, protect and promote proper labor standards and economic development in exporting countries.” – Address to ACORE's Phase II of Renewable Energy in America conference, December 4, 2008
U.S. Senator Richard Lugar (R-Indiana)
“To demonstrate leadership, the United States should lift its tariff on Brazilian ethanol that now shelters the United States industry.” – Keynote speech at American Enterprise Institute seminar, “Was Malthus Right? Was Today's Global Food Crisis Inevitable?” July 2, 2008
“Brazil can provide ethanol to our coasts more efficiently than from our 15-state heartland.” – “Key senator urges tariff overhaul as Brazil eyes U.S. market,” Environment & Energy Daily, July 2, 2008
U.S. Rep. David Scott (D-Georgia)
“…Why is it that we have a 54 cents-per-gallon tariff on every gallon of ethanol we would import from Brazil? It doesn't make sense. Why would we not want to import ethanol made from sugarcane, the most energetic, the most productive kind of ethanol, into this country from Brazil to offset the loss from importing oil from there as we build up our own capacity for ethanol?” – Congressional Record, July 8, 2008
John Redpath, Head of Oil and Agricultural Trading, Deutsche Bank
“When gasoline was $3 at the pump...the popular thing was to keep the tariff in place. Now, it's a different story.” – “US Election Season Freezes Ethanol Tariff Talk,” Dow Jones, July 15, 2008
Joshua A. Byrge and Kevin L. Kliesen, Economists, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
“According to a recent report by the Congressional Research Service, Brazilian ethanol enjoys a significant cost advantage relative to U.S.- produced ethanol. Moreover, since Brazilian ethanol is made from sugar cane, allowing increased imports from Brazil would lessen the potential supply pressures on U.S. feed grain production noted above.” – “Ethanol: Economic Gain or Drain?,” The Regional Economist, July 2008
Wall Street Journal
“We will face up to our responsibility to diversify our energy supplies -- dropping our trade barriers to Brazilian ethanol and opening up our domestic resources to development would be good places to start.” – Holman W. Jenkins, Jr., “First Yukos, Then Georgia,” August 13, 2008
Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)
"The price of oil has hit $130 per barrel and prices are going higher every day. This means that the need for inexpensive and cleaner-burning fuels continues to grow. And yet U.S. refiners are forced to pay a 54-cent tariff on ethanol imported from Brazil and other foreign sources. This makes no sense, given the record oil prices and the limited supplies of domestic ethanol. This bill would essentially level the playing field and ensure that U.S. refiners are able to purchase cheaper and more climate-friendly ethanol, no matter where it comes from." - Congressional Press Release, June 4, 2008
Senator Judd Gregg (R-NH)
"As the United States continues to face record high energy and oil prices, it is important that we find affordable, practical, and bipartisan solutions to our nation's energy situation to help relieve the stress on consumers at home and at the gas pump...Affordable, plentiful ethanol from Brazil and other friendly nations provides a better alternative. This legislation introduced today on a bipartisan basis offers a reasonable solution that lowers the tariff on ethanol, keeping prices more competitive for American consumers and steering us in the direction of more affordable energy alternatives." - Congressional Press Release, June 4, 2008
Congressman Mark Udall (D-CO-2)
"We need to do everything we can in Washington to alleviate the pain hard-working Coloradans are feeling with skyrocketing gas prices. This bill makes common sense adjustments that can help peoples' pocket books in the short-term and diversify our energy portfolio in the long-term." - Congressional Press Release, June 19, 2008
Senator John McCain (R-AZ)
"Our government pays to subsidize corn-based ethanol even as it collects tariffs that prevent consumers from benefiting from other kinds of ethanol, such as sugarcane-based ethanol from Brazil. As taxpayers, we foot the bill for the enormous subsides paid to corn producers. And as consumers, we pay extra at the pump because of government barriers to cheaper products from abroad. Here's a better way. Instead of playing favorites, our government should level the playing field for all alcohol fuels that break the monopoly of gasoline, lowering both gasoline prices and carbon emissions." - "Remarks on Energy Security and Our National Security," Fresno, CA, June 23, 2008
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke
"As you know, I favor open trade and I think allowing Brazilian ethanol, for example, would reduce costs in the United States. - "Bernanke backs lower tariff on Brazil ethanol", Reuters, February 28, 2008
Governor Charlie Crist
"We are the gateway. We are opening our arms. Brazil and Florida can be partners and leaders in the development of ethanol as fuel." - "Florida Governor: State Can Be US Gateway for Brazil Ethanol," Dow Jones, November 5, 2007
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
"The federal government is subsidizing corn-based ethanol and we have a tariff of 54 cents-a-gallon on the most important ethanol to discourage cheap fuel coming in from Brazil. This is crazy." - "CA Governor Continues to Blast Feds at Low Carbon Symposium," Power Market Today, May 22, 2008
The Wall Street Journal
"Floods in the Midwest are making coast-bound shipments of American corn ethanol nearly impossible, creating an opportunity for ethanol from Brazil. Demand might really jump if a 54-cents-per-gallon import tariff on Brazilian sugarcane ethanol is removed... - "Floods Create Opening For Brazilian Ethanol" June 23, 2008
Congressman Ed Perlmutter (D-CO-7)
"This bill opens the door to lower fuel prices in the short term and promotes the growth of alternative sources of fuel for the long term. Looking at ways to increase opportunities for alternatives to traditional petroleum-based fuel is good for our national security, good for the climate and good for jobs." - Congressional Press Release, June 19, 2008
Ben Lieberman
"...Congress should do something for America's drivers by removing the tariffs that limit imports of cheaper ethanol and drive up prices at the pump." - Senior Policy Analyst in the Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies at The Heritage Foundation, May 12, 2006
C. Ford Runge
"If you want to take some of the pressure off this market, the obvious thing to do is lower that tariff and let some Brazilian ethanol come in." - an economist specializing in commodities and trade policy at the Center for International Food and Agricultural Policy at the University of Minnesota, The New York Times, June 23, 2008
Energy Department Secretary Samuel Bodman and Agriculture Department Secretary Edward Schafer
"It is clear...that biofuels are already moderating gas prices. That impact is likely to grow substantially as more biofuels come to market." - letter to the Chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, MarketWatch, June 11, 2008
The Milford Daily News
"Then why not import sugar-based ethanol from Brazil? Because Congress has placed a 54-cent per gallon tariff on sugar-based ethanol...Meanwhile, the price of gasoline keeps going up, while the promise of ethanol continues to be undermined by special interest politics." - editorial, Milford, Massachusetts, June 17, 2008
The Montgomery Adviser
"In Brazil, the world's second leading producer of ethanol, sugar cane is the primary crop used for ethanol. Sugar cane is part of the food system as well, of course, but nowhere near as important a component as corn. It is easier to convert to ethanol than corn and the process also is more environmentally friendly." - editorial, June 11, 2008
The New York Times
"Corn ethanol generates less than two units of energy for every unit of energy used to produce it, while the energy ratio for sugar cane is more than 8 to 1. With lower production costs and cheaper land prices in the tropical countries where it is grown, sugar cane is a more efficient source." - "Obama Camp Closely Linked With Ethanol", June 23, 2008
The Wall Street Journal
"Corn ethanol is selling in the U.S. for $2.80 a gallon, compared with about $1.87 per gallon for Brazilian ethanol, made from sugarcane. As corn prices have risen this year, Brazilian ethanol has become more competitive, despite the tariff." - "Brazil's sugar ethanol gains an opening in U.S.", June 23, 2008
R. Cohen
"Sugarcane is not a staple. It's eight times more productive than corn. It grows year round. It must be processed fast, so CO2-spewing transport to distant ethanol plants is impossible (unlike for corn). Its leftover biomass can be used to produce electricity, enough, by some estimates, to provide a third of Brazil's power needs by 2030. Ethanol already accounts for about 50 percent of car fuel in Brazil. The vast extent of unused arable land - only 16 percent is cultivated - offers enormous scope. At $40 per barrel-of-oil-equivalent in Brazil, sugarcane ethanol makes strategic and economic sense. Yet, the new U.S. farm bill extends the current steep ethanol import tariff - 54 cents a gallon - until 2010, to keep what Brazil makes out...This is nuts. Let the right ethanol in..." - International Herald Tribune, June 4, 2008
