Effort to Shift Biofuel Industry Incentives Gains Foothold in Washington

New York Times
By ALLISON WINTER of Greenwire
Published: October 22, 2010

The Obama administration and biofuel-industry advocates are slowly backing off traditional tax incentives for corn-based fuels in favor of financing infrastructure aimed at increasing the distribution of renewable fuels.

The administration's biggest ethanol booster, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, acknowledged in a National Press Club presentation yesterday that changes to the current subsidy system may soon be in store. And the tariff on imported ethanol, he added, would "over time be phased out."

While he expressed support for extending ethanol tax subsidies, Vilsack urged industry to prepare for change. "We need," he said, "to begin to think about reforms to the ethanol credit program to make it more efficient and effective at addressing the full range of challenges we face in meeting our goals for traditional and next-generation biofuels."

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