Obama official slams Senate vote against ethanol tax credit

“The Administration supports efforts currently underway in the Senate to reform and modernize tax incentives and other programs that support biofuels. However, today’s amendments are not reforms and are ill advised. They will lead to job loss as our nation begins its economic recovery and pull the rug out from under industry, which will lead to less choice for consumers and greater dependence on foreign oil.”

“We need reforms and a smarter biofuels program, but simply cutting off support for the industry isn’t the right approach.  Therefore, we oppose a straight repeal of the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit (VEETC) and efforts to block biofuels infrastructure programs.”

The Senate voted 73-27 in favor of Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s (D-Calif.) amendment to end the ethanol blender’s credit and the ethanol import tariff.

But lawmakers voted 41-59 against Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) plan to prohibit use of federal funds to build ethanol blender pumps or storage facilities.