I do not pretend to be an expert on the ethanol industry however in the short time I have researched the issue, I have come to the conclusion that the ethanol lobby serves one purpose: lining the ethanol lobbyist's pockets with our money. I live in Iowa. I absolutely support farmers however I do not support lobbyists who get paid to make deals with politicians at the expense of taxpayers and the free market.
I received the following letter in the mail this week. It answers my questions better than anything I have seen. Please take the time to read it if you have any concerns about Ted Cruz and his position on ethanol. It was written by an Iowa farmer, David VanderGriend, who is intimately involved in the Iowa ethanol industry and was a pioneer in the field. In fact, the VanderGriend distillation unit was the first exclusive fuel alcohol still ever registered in U.S. That was in 1979. This farmer appears to have built his livelihood on the ethanol industry. Here is his letter:
From
the Desk of
DAVID VANDERGRIEND
DAVID VANDERGRIEND
Dear Fellow Conservative,
You and I don’t know each other well, but
I am going to write today as if we are old friends.
Why? Because the subject of this letter—Iowa’s agriculture economy—is personal to me. And when agenda-driven political attacks threaten Iowa’s farming communities, I take that very personally and am inclined to take action as well.
That is why I decided to write you this letter today. You have received lots of slick attack mailings against Senator Ted Cruz claiming he is somehow “against the farmer” or “anti-ethanol.” These claims are false. While all these mailings harp on Sen. Cruz’s opposition to the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS), that fact alone does not make him anti-ethanol.
To the contrary, Senator Ted Cruz is pro-ethanol. And in my opinion, he is the forward-thinking leader for Iowa agriculture we need working for us in the White House.
And believe me, I am in a position to judge which candidates will really help Iowa’s economy, and which candidates are just telling us what we want to hear. After growing up on a farm outside Sheldon, Iowa and experiencing the importance of farming on the economy of rural America, I have made it my mission to help sustain agriculture by finding innovative ways to turn grain into renewable energy such as ethanol. I have been involved in ethanol since the very beginning and have built over half the ethanol plants in Iowa.
In short, no one is more personally and financially invested in ethanol than I am.
And I can say the accusations being leveled at Senator Cruz on ethanol are untrue. Some have stated Sen. Cruz won’t even meet with industry leaders. Well, he’s met with me several times, and
he and I have had in-depth discussions on ethanol and the best ways for the federal government to help Iowa’s ethanol industry grow in the future. And let me tell you, this man is not the ideologically-rigid, anti-ethanol demon his opponents are trying to portray him as in all these ridiculous ads.
Is Cruz anti-mandate? Yes. In fact, he is against all federal mandates, including those supporting the oil industry in his home state of Texas.
But does that make Ted Cruz anti-ethanol? No. Not at all.
Anyone who thinks the two are inseparable may not be seeing the big picture for ethanol, or understand what is really going to determine our fate.
The RFS helped ethanol producers gain access to consumers at first, but moving forward, it will not do anything to drive demand in a way that really helps the industry grow in a free market with consumers choosing the fuels they like.
It’s sort of like the recovery I recently made from hip replacement surgery this past Thanksgiving. At first, I needed two crutches just to walk across the room. A month later, I could get around with just one crutch. After a few more weeks, all I needed was a cane. Today, I don’t need anything——I’m walking around on the two feet God gave me, and nothing else. No canes, no crutches.
Well here’s the deal: for ethanol. the RFS is the crutch. At first it’s necessary, but if you rely on it forever, you can’t go very far, or very fast. The time has come that our goal for the ethanol industry must be to stand on our own. That’s the only way to get where we need to go.
How do we do that?
By getting rid of all the Environmental Protection Agency regulatory roadblocks that Washington has layered in front of us during the past 20 years, we will then be able to move forward with sunsetting
the RFS.
Which presidential candidate really gets this?
Senator Ted Cruz. He has studied this issue closely himself, and is committed to a real forward- thinking agenda that will help the ethanol industry grow over the next decade:
Why? Because the subject of this letter—Iowa’s agriculture economy—is personal to me. And when agenda-driven political attacks threaten Iowa’s farming communities, I take that very personally and am inclined to take action as well.
That is why I decided to write you this letter today. You have received lots of slick attack mailings against Senator Ted Cruz claiming he is somehow “against the farmer” or “anti-ethanol.” These claims are false. While all these mailings harp on Sen. Cruz’s opposition to the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS), that fact alone does not make him anti-ethanol.
To the contrary, Senator Ted Cruz is pro-ethanol. And in my opinion, he is the forward-thinking leader for Iowa agriculture we need working for us in the White House.
And believe me, I am in a position to judge which candidates will really help Iowa’s economy, and which candidates are just telling us what we want to hear. After growing up on a farm outside Sheldon, Iowa and experiencing the importance of farming on the economy of rural America, I have made it my mission to help sustain agriculture by finding innovative ways to turn grain into renewable energy such as ethanol. I have been involved in ethanol since the very beginning and have built over half the ethanol plants in Iowa.
In short, no one is more personally and financially invested in ethanol than I am.
And I can say the accusations being leveled at Senator Cruz on ethanol are untrue. Some have stated Sen. Cruz won’t even meet with industry leaders. Well, he’s met with me several times, and
he and I have had in-depth discussions on ethanol and the best ways for the federal government to help Iowa’s ethanol industry grow in the future. And let me tell you, this man is not the ideologically-rigid, anti-ethanol demon his opponents are trying to portray him as in all these ridiculous ads.
Is Cruz anti-mandate? Yes. In fact, he is against all federal mandates, including those supporting the oil industry in his home state of Texas.
But does that make Ted Cruz anti-ethanol? No. Not at all.
Anyone who thinks the two are inseparable may not be seeing the big picture for ethanol, or understand what is really going to determine our fate.
The RFS helped ethanol producers gain access to consumers at first, but moving forward, it will not do anything to drive demand in a way that really helps the industry grow in a free market with consumers choosing the fuels they like.
It’s sort of like the recovery I recently made from hip replacement surgery this past Thanksgiving. At first, I needed two crutches just to walk across the room. A month later, I could get around with just one crutch. After a few more weeks, all I needed was a cane. Today, I don’t need anything——I’m walking around on the two feet God gave me, and nothing else. No canes, no crutches.
Well here’s the deal: for ethanol. the RFS is the crutch. At first it’s necessary, but if you rely on it forever, you can’t go very far, or very fast. The time has come that our goal for the ethanol industry must be to stand on our own. That’s the only way to get where we need to go.
How do we do that?
By getting rid of all the Environmental Protection Agency regulatory roadblocks that Washington has layered in front of us during the past 20 years, we will then be able to move forward with sunsetting
the RFS.
Which presidential candidate really gets this?
Senator Ted Cruz. He has studied this issue closely himself, and is committed to a real forward- thinking agenda that will help the ethanol industry grow over the next decade:
- Eliminate unreasonable and unfair caps on the blend rate.
- Remove government restrictions that artificially limit market demand for E15 and E30 blends.
- Ending Catch-22 regulations that nonsensically prevent mid-level blends from serving as test fuels.
- Enforce anti-trust laws to ensure the oil-and-gas industry can’t block access to the market for ethanol producers.
The bottom line is if we can eliminate the regulations holding us back, that will open up a market three times bigger than the RFS. The farmer and the ethanol business in Iowa will have a future we can
plan, without worrying about arbitrary rulings from bureaucrats working at the EPA.
Over the years, I’ve met plenty of candidates who just say they are “pro-ethanol.” They will reflexively support the RFS because they don’t understand the issue and figure it’s the easiest way to get our votes.
Senator Cruz is better than that, and in my opinion, he is the most enlightened, principled ally ethanol has in the entire field of presidential candidates, because he has actually spent the time to learn and understand our issues.
Iowans like you have a serious responsibility to choose wisely in this Republican Presidential Caucus. For my part, I’ve given all the candidates serious consideration, and I wholeheartedly support Senator Ted Cruz, because as president, he will help ensure the ethanol industry in Iowa and nationwide will have a strong and vibrant future.
Thank you for your time today. I hope you will join me and offer Senator Cruz your support in the February lst Iowa Caucus.
Respectfully,
David VanderGriend,
ICM, Inc.
Source:
Letter sent via U.S. Mail to Iowa voters by Keep the Promise I
P.O.
Box 473 * Wall Lake, IA 51466
Paid for by Keep The Promise I. Not authorized by any candidate
or candidate's committee. www.keepthepromise1.com
Paid for by Keep The Promise I. Not authorized by any candidate
or candidate's committee. www.keepthepromise1.com
