WASHINGTON – The American Meat Institute (AMI) and other organizations representing the livestock sector, watchdog groups, environmentalists, hunger groups, tax groups and retailers have called on the new administration to repeal ethanol subsides.
The coalition was announced on Tuesday with a press event at the National Press Club in
“President-elect Obama and the 111th Congress have an opportunity to protect taxpayers and end business as usual,” Duane Parde, president of the National Taxpayers Union, said. “We have spent 30 years and billions of taxpayer dollars subsidizing the production of ethanol with little to show for it.”
The coalition released an Ipsos survey that found that 89 percent of Americans are concerned about the pride of food, including 57 percent who were “very concerned.” According to the AMI, a majority of respondents called for the U.S. Congress to reduce or eliminate ethanol subsidies and mandates.
In recent months, a number of organizations and people have spoken out against ethanol subsidies. They include three Nobel Prize winning economists - Joseph Stiglitz, Paul Krugman and Amartya Sen - as well as international institutions such as the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, the United Nations and the International Food Policy Research Institute.
Source: American Meat Institute
