Two potential aspirants for the Republican nomination for president, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz spoke against an ethanol mandate at the Iowa Ag Summit, according to reports in the Washington Post and the New York Times. The all-day session at the Iowa State Fairgrounds, organized by wealthy agribusinessman, was attended by nine potential candidates. “Just hours after Gov. Terry E. Branstad of Iowa opened the gathering by exclaiming, ‘Don’t mess with the RFS!’ Mr. Bush said that both the Renewable Fuel Standard and the wind production tax credit eventually should be eliminated,” said the Times. According to The Hill newspaper, “Bush said the RFS should be phased out, but set the date for doing so nearly a decade away.”
The Post said, “While many of the prospective candidates said they backed the subsidies, the event was notable for the number of dissenters, with Sen. Ted Cruz (Tex.) being the most explicit, saying the Renewable Fuel Standard should be repealed.”
Ethanol played a role in the agricultural boom that began nearly a decade ago and resulted in record-high corn, wheat and soybean prices. Nearly 40 percent of the U.S. corn crop is used in making ethanol. While biofuel is a popular cause in the Midwest, it has critics elsewhere. The EPA is more than a year late in setting a target for use in 2014, as it weighs arguments that the gasoline market is saturated with ethanol at the traditional 10-percent blend rate.
The Des Moines Register says agriculture is a pervasive part of the culture in Iowa. “Nearly a quarter of Iowa adults are actively farming now or have done so at some point in their lives, and nearly half of Iowa adults have lived on a farm, the poll found. Two-thirds have close relatives who have farmed now or in the past. Just 6 percent of Iowans have never stepped foot on a farm,” says the Register. It quotes Iowa State University sociologist Paul Lasley, who says although three-quarters of Iowans are not directly involved in farming, “A lot of us have roots in agriculture.”