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Aug. 24, 2012
By Gale Lush, Chairman
BOONE, IA – August 24, 2012 – “With the federal ethanol
Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) and the federal wind energy
Production Tax Credit (PTC) under attack from various
anti-renewable energy groups the American Corn Growers
Foundation (ACGF) is providing important educational information
to the public at the Farm Progress Show this coming week in
Boone, Iowa,” says Gale Lush ACGF Chairman, a Nebraska corn,
wheat and soybean farmer.
“Our ACGF booth, No. 9513 in the Varied Industries Tent, will
have a considerable amount of information about the economic
development and energy security value that ethanol and wind
energy provide to all Americans,” said Lush. “According to Iowa
State University, ethanol has kept the price of gasoline about
$1.09 per gallon lower than it would be without ethanol in
America’s fuel pipeline, saving U.S. motorists about $1,200 per
household in 2011 or approximately $130 billion in the U.S..
Iowa is a great case study on the value and importance of the
federal wind energy PTC and how it works as a positive driver
for economic development and sustainable energy security. Iowa
is now getting twenty-percent of its electricity from wind
energy. Wind energy and the federal wind PTC helped create
nearly 7,000 jobs in Iowa and 75,000 jobs nationwide. Why would
anyone want to get rid of the wind PTC incentive, and instead
support oil, gas and coal (fossil fuel) subsidies? America needs
the ethanol RFS and the wind PTC strengthened, not weakened,”
added Lush.
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The Economic
Development and Consumer Benefits from Ethanol and Wind Energy
Are Substantial |
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Benefits of Ethanol and
the Ethanol RFS |
- Saves consumers
about $1.09 per gallon for gas, saving about $1,200
per household, or about $130 billion nationally
- Uses only starch
from the corn kernel. Feed value-protein, minerals,
fiber, oil, (1/3 of kernel) still goes for livestock
feed
- Ethanol plants
produce Distillers Grain (DDG), a feed
- 33 million metric
tons of DDG produced in 2011, equal to total amount
of grain fed to cattle in US feedlots yearly
- Each barrel of
ethanol displaces 1.2 barrels of imported oil
- If the U.S.
ethanol industry were a foreign supplier, only
Canada would supply the U.S. with more fuel than the
U.S. ethanol industry. Ethanol is a major U.S. fuel
supplier.
- Ethanol plants
generate about $19.6 million in extra household
income annually in the United States
- A 50% decline in
ethanol production would cost the U. S. Treasury
$13.6 billion annually
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Benefits of Wind Energy
and the Wind PTC |
- Helped create
6,000 to 7,000 jobs in Iowa
- Helped create
about 75,000 American jobs today
- The PTC will
create 500,000 jobs over next 20 years if it is
extended and not allowed to expire in 2012
- Wind provides 20%
of Iowa’s electricity today
- Wind energy and
the federal wind PTC has created nearly 500 U.S.
manufacturing facilities in 44 states
- Wind
farms/turbines use no water for cooling
- $14.6 million in
Iowa land lease payments each year
- $400+ million in
U. S. land lease payments annually
- $15 billion in
average annual U.S. investment
- Fosters economic
development in all 50 states
- The wind PTC is an
effective policy tool that encourages wind power
development in rural America
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“The ethanol RFS and the wind
PTC are not subsidies. They are economic development incentives.
They help level the playing field with fossil fuels and make our
country more energy independent while spurring rural and
national economic development. They generate new manufacturing,
expanding the local, state and federal tax bases and create jobs
right here in the USA. As Americans we have to ask why
multi-national oil and domestic fossil fuel interests continue
to undermine our U. S. renewable energy policy incentives, like
the ethanol RFS and the wind energy PTC,” said Lush. “And let’s
remember who’s actually been getting subsidized the most for the
past 100 years. It’s oil, gas, coal and fossil fuels overall.
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) estimated federal
incentives for electricity between Fiscal Year 2002 and 2007,
concluding that: “Tax expenditures largely go to fossil fuels:
about $13.7 billion was provided to fossil fuels and $2.8
billion to renewables.” “The ethanol RFS and the ethanol
industry overall, as well as the wind PTC and the wind energy
industry overall, are great examples of how positive government
policy passed by our U.S. Congress and then implemented by our
U.S. government does create thousands of good-paying American
jobs while making our country more energy independent and
economically secure. Who says smart government doesn’t create
jobs,” asked Lush.
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