Iowa Voters Have Given up on Ethanol; Presidential Candidates Are Following Suit

by Evan Halper (Los Angeles Times) ... Now that fuel, corn-based ethanol, finds itself threatened with a defection that was once unthinkable: Iowa voters.

The electorate here in the early voting state often defined by its vast expanses of corn has long demanded that candidates pledge allegiance to government production mandates for millions of gallons of ethanol, the homegrown product. But as the 2016 White House hopefuls traverse the state, they are seeing that Iowans have grown strikingly ambivalent.

The Republican presidential contender now polling strongest in Iowa, Ted Cruz, is campaigning on an energy platform that would have been a death wish in elections past. Cruz, the U.S. senator from Texas, is an unabashed opponent of giving ethanol any special government help. He derides it as the worst kind of central planning. He champions legislation to wipe out the decade-old Renewable Fuel Standard, which mandates large amounts of ethanol get blended into the nation’s gas supply.

“Voters here are just not that interested in ethanol anymore,” said Steffen Schmidt, a professor of political science at Iowa State University. “You don’t even hear the word come out the mouths of candidates much.”

There is as much buzz on the campaign trail in Iowa about wind power as there is about ethanol.

But ethanol industry leaders in the state say Cruz will pay a heavy price. They have been running radio advertisements for the last couple of weeks that accuse the Texan of hypocrisy, pointing to tax breaks and other government support enjoyed by the oil industry that Cruz favors. Among those targeting Cruz is Branstad’s son, Eric, who formed a pro-ethanol group called America’s Renewable Future.

“Sen. Cruz and anyone else who wants to say this is not an issue in Iowa is mistaken,” Eric Branstad said. “Iowa voters are only now starting to pay attention to the campaign. And they are beginning to learn where Sen. Cruz is on this.” Branstad says his group has persuaded some 50,000 Iowans to pledge to caucus only for candidates who support the fuel standard.

Branstad predicts Cruz’s star will fall as a result of his anti-ethanol crusading. Donald Trump sought this month to regain ground he lost to Cruz by highlighting the Texan’s obstinance on energy policy.

“This could be a real turning point to reforming the Renewable Fuel Standard, or possibly repealing it,” said Daniel Simmons, vice president for policy at the Institute for Energy Research, an advocacy group that receives funding from the network of donors anchored by the Kochs. “For a long time it was thought to be untouchable because of these caucuses.” READ MORE and MORE (Chicago Sun-Times)