Poultry groups join coalition against extension of ethanol subsidy

The National Chicken Council, US Poultry & Egg Association, and several state poultry federations are among a vast coalition of 90 organisations opposing extension of the blenders’ credit that subsidises the production of ethanol.

The groups sent letters to the leaders of Congress calling on them to let the tax credit expire on schedule at the end of 2011. The ethanol industry is lobbying Congress for an extension.

“Congress has the opportunity to end the $6 billion a year subsidy to gasoline refiners who blend corn ethanol into gasoline,” the letter said. “At a time of spiraling deficits, we do not believe Congress should continue subsidising gasoline refiners for something that they are already required to do by the Renewable Fuels Standard.”

A coalition of 90 business associations, taxpayer advocates, hunger and development organisations, agricultural groups, free-market groups, religious organisations, environmental groups, budget hawks, and public interest organisations sent the letter to Congressional leadership urging Congress to let the refundable Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit (VEETC) expire and to resist calls for spending on infrastructure for conventional biofuels.

In addition to NCC and USPOULTRY, the letter was signed by the state associations representing the poultry industry in Alabama, California, Georgia, Indiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Arkansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.

A list of the 90 business associations who signed the coalition letter can be found on the website of the National Chicken Council.