Photo credit: Dave Davidson (Prezography.com)
(Spirit Lake, IA) Yesterday Ted Cruz’s presidential campaign responded to the false claims from the ethanol lobby that U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) has shifted his position on the Renewable Fuel Standard mandate.
Cruz has consistently supported a five-year phase out of the Renewable Fuel Standard. Cruz first introduced the five-year phase out in 2014.
Cruz publicly called for the phase out at the Iowa Ag summit last March:
But Cruz, who has called for phasing out the RFS program over five years, said Americans are fed up with “career politicians” who pander to voters, especially in places like Iowa, with its outsized role in the presidential nominating process.
Cruz reiterated this strategy in an interview with RFD-TV last September:
And so I’ve introduced legislation to phase out the mandate, not to drop it out immediately, but phase it out over five years, in part to recognize, as you pointed, the investment-back expectations and to give some time in terms of changing the rules.
Further, Cruz has always said government shouldn’t pick winners or losers. Which means government shouldn’t be handing out subsides or creating mandates to or for favored industries, but they also shouldn’t create barriers that prevent industries from having access to and expanding their markets.
To that end, he would instruct the Justice Department to vigorously enforce antitrust laws and he would eliminate the EPA’s regulations that impose a hard wall against the general sale of mid-level ethanol blends, such as E25 (25% ethanol, 75% gasoline). This opens up entire new markets for ethanol. Indeed, his argument is that ethanol manufacturers would more likely be better off without government interference than with the mandates and regulations. Far from a “shift,” this approach is consistent with Cruz’s free market principles that encourage innovation and competition.