Opinion: Ethanol Tax Credits Could Ease Pain at the Pump and Help Climate, Too
by Lindsay Keiser (Detroit News) With prices at the pump almost $1 per gallon higher than they were around this time last year, it’s good to see the Michigan Senate has an opportunity to consider green and often cheaper alternatives: biofuels.
Sen. Kevin Daley, R-Lum, chair of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, proposed legislation that provides income tax credits to fuel retailers that dispense E-15 or E-85 fuel.
The Michigan gasoline sector is already on its knees with a 53% jump in gas prices in October 2021 compared to the previous autumn. It’s time for the Legislature to support tax credits for gasoline retailers that choose to pump lower-cost, environmentally friendly biofuels at their stations.
Currently in the committee and awaiting review, Daley’s bill stands to grant a 5-cent tax credit on E-15 biofuel and an 8.5-cent tax credit on E-85 biofuel. These fuels have higher proportions of ethanol to gasoline than standard fuel at the pump.
That means they don’t emit as much carbon when they’re burned.
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Daley is not the first to suggest incentivizing biofuel distribution at the pump. A Democrat from Iowa, Rep. Cindy Axne, pioneered the bipartisan Low Carbon Biofuel Credit Act in the U.S. House last summer, with midwestern Sens. Amy Klobuchar and John Thune co-sponsoring legislation in the Senate.
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While the federal government dithers, state governments can promote cleaner energy while supporting domestic agricultural resources instead of gasoline imports.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has vowed to instigate a “clean fuels standard” in Michigan by 2050 for the purpose of neutralizing state carbon emissions in her 2022 MI Healthy Climate Plan. Both Daley and Whitmer agree on the benefits of biofuels. READ MORE
Michigan Farm Bureau applauds E15, E85 state tax-credit legislative proposal (Michigan Farm Bureau)
Legislation seeks Michigan tax-credit to boost E15 and E85 sales (Michigan Farm News)
AG GROUPS VOICE SUPPORT FOR MICHIGAN ETHANOL TAX CREDIT LEGISLATION (Brownfield Ag News; includes AUDIO)
