LOCATION/TYPE

NEWS HOME

[ exact phrase in "" • results by date ]

[ Google-powered • results by relevance ]


Archive
RSS

Add NWW headlines to your site (click here)

Get weekly updates

WHAT TO DO
when your community is targeted

RSS

RSS feeds and more

Keep Wind Watch online and independent!

Donate via Paypal

Donate via Stripe

Selected Documents

All Documents

Research Links

Alerts

Press Releases

FAQs

Campaign Material

Photos & Graphics

Videos

Allied Groups

Wind Watch is a registered educational charity, founded in 2005.

News Watch Home

Jeb Bush stakes out contrary position on energy subsidies in Iowa 

Credit:  Jonathan Martin | www.nytimes.com ~~

DES MOINES – Jeb Bush said Saturday that he wanted to phase out federal benefits for renewable fuels and wind energy, using an agricultural summit here to side with his party’s free-market advocates over the industry groups who staged the forum.

Mr. Bush’s language was gentle – he praised the use of ethanol in gasoline and said he supported the expansion of alternative energy sources such as wind – but he left no doubt he wanted to get rid of a pair of benefits that are widely supported by Iowa’s political and industry leaders.

Just hours after Gov. Terry E. Branstad of Iowa kicked off the gathering in an event hall on the state fairgrounds by exclaiming, “Don’t mess with the R.F.S.!” Mr. Bush said the Renewable Fuel Standard should eventually be eliminated. Mr. Bush praised the law, which requires that biofuels like corn-derived ethanol be mixed with gasoline, saying it “has worked, for sure” and noting the increase in production and declining reliance on foreign oil.

But Mr. Bush said the industry’s success would obviate the need for a subsidy. “Ultimately, whether it’s ethanol or any other alternative fuel, renewable or otherwise, the markets are ultimately going to have to decide this,” the former Florida governor said.

As for when the fuel requirement should be sunset, Mr. Bush suggested it would not be any earlier than in what would be his second term as president – “2022 or sometime in the future,” he said.

Mr. Bush was just as clear about his opposition to the wind production tax credit, a popular benefit in a state where many farms are now dotted with massive wind turbines.

He was clearly ready for the question, citing a Florida-based wind energy giant that believes the success of the wind industry would eventually render the tax break unnecessary. “It’s now competitive and I think it ought to be phased out over a period of time,” said Mr. Bush, adding that it should be done “over a three-to-five year period.”

The audience of about 1,000 Iowans appeared neither pleased nor angry by his answers – they remained silent.

But Mr. Bush’s comments were striking at an event funded by the very agricultural interests most invested in sustaining the federal benefits. (An ad promoting the Renewable Fuel Standard appeared on a pair of flat-screens on stage in between speakers earlier in the day).

His positions, however, will please another important audience far away from the Iowa State Fairgrounds. Some of the Republican Party’s most sought-after donors – including free-market groups such as the Club for Growth, as well as the Koch brothers and the oil industry – are opposed to one or both of the federal benefits Mr. Bush came out against.

Source:  Jonathan Martin | www.nytimes.com

This article is the work of the source indicated. Any opinions expressed in it are not necessarily those of National Wind Watch.

The copyright of this article resides with the author or publisher indicated. As part of its noncommercial educational effort to present the environmental, social, scientific, and economic issues of large-scale wind power development to a global audience seeking such information, National Wind Watch endeavors to observe “fair use” as provided for in section 107 of U.S. Copyright Law and similar “fair dealing” provisions of the copyright laws of other nations. Send requests to excerpt, general inquiries, and comments via e-mail.

Wind Watch relies entirely
on User Funding
   Donate via Paypal
(via Paypal)
Donate via Stripe
(via Stripe)

Share:

e-mail X FB LI TG TG Share


News Watch Home

Get the Facts
CONTACT DONATE PRIVACY ABOUT SEARCH
© National Wind Watch, Inc.
Use of copyrighted material adheres to Fair Use.
"Wind Watch" is a registered trademark.

 Follow:

Wind Watch on X Wind Watch on Facebook

Wind Watch on Linked In Wind Watch on Mastodon