Jan 28, 2016
By Tom Bryan
U.S. presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) was given an opportunity to clarify his position on ethanol and the U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard during a high-profile Fox News GOP debate in Des Moines, Iowa, Thursday night. Here’s what Cruz said when Fox News' Chris Wallace asked him why Iowa voters should support him.
“I’m glad to discuss my views on ethanol and energy," Cruz said. "I think God has blessed this country with enormous natural resources, and we should be developing all of the above. We should be developing coal, oil, natural gas and nuclear, wind and solar, and ethanol and biofuels. But I don’t believe that Washington should be picking winners and losers. And I think there should be no mandates and no subsidies whatsoever.”
Cruz went on to say that he has introduced a comprehensive tax plan that eliminates all federal subsidies.
“So there are no subsidies for oil and gas, no subsidies for anyone," he said. "Now, it is true that there are a bunch of lobbyists, and a bunch of Democrats in this state, spending millions of dollars trying to convince the people of Iowa that I somehow oppose ethanol. That’s not true. I have introduced legislation that would phase out the ethanol mandate over five years, but that is in the context of having no mandates whatsoever for anyone. But there is a much more important regulation for ethanol, and that’s the EPA’s blend wall, which makes it illegal to sell mid-level blends of ethanol in gasoline. I will tear down the EPA’s blend wall, which will enable ethanol to expand its market share by up to 60 percent … all without any government mandates whatsoever, through the marketplace.”
Read the original story here : Cruz Reiterates Firm Opposition To RFS, Other Mandates