OPINION:
ANALYSIS/OPINION:
Every four years, presidential hopefuls trudge into Iowa, Land of a Thousand Ears, to pay homage to the heartland farmers and their cash crop — ethanol.
But this year, quite a few Republican contenders refused to bow down and worship the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), a federal mandate that Iowans absolutely love.
“Look, I recognize that this is a gathering of a lot of folks who the answer you’d like me to give is, ’I’m for the RFS, darn it,’” said Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, calling the issue the “elephant in the room.”
“That’d be the easy thing to do. But I’ll tell ya, people are pretty fed up, I think, with politicians that run around and tell one group one thing, tell another group another thing,” he said.
With some 900 Iowans in a crowd gathered for the annual Iowa Agricultural Summit, Mr. Cruz stood by his call last week to repeal the RFS, saying he thought demand for ethanol would “continue without the mandate.”
SEE ALSO: GOP presidential hopefuls split over federal biofuels mandate
In fact, Mr. Cruz is the co-sponsor of a Senate bill that would repeal the RFS standard over the next five years, a stance that did not endear him to the farmers in Des Moines. But Washington, he said, shouldn’t be “picking winners and losers.”
“I have every bit of faith that businesses can continue to compete and continue to do well without having to go on bended knee asking for subsidies, asking for special favors,” Mr. Cruz said. “I think that’s how we got in this problem to begin win.”
To understand just how much Iowans love the RFS — which mandates motor fuel contain an ever-increasing volume of renewable fuel, which mostly means ethanol, made from corn — look no further than Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, who opened the summit with this decree: “Don’t mess with RFS!” Whoops and cheers wafted over the crowd.
The feds’ thinking is that using corn as fuel will help wean the U.S. off foreign oil. But some auto manufacturers say the high level of the corn-based additive in today’s gas is damaging vehicle engines. Ethanol packs less power than gasoline or diesel, critics say, making its use more expensive, and growing all that corn to make fuel expends millions of gallons of water — not to mention the emissions it takes to produce.
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who finished second in the Iowa caucuses in 2012, did bow to the corn gods, saying the Renewable Fuel Standard is a way for America to fuel itself. “A country needs to be able to feed itself, fuel itself and fight for itself,” he said.
Jeb Bush was downright wonky on the issue. He walked a tightrope: He praised how the RFS has worked — claiming it has reduced demand for foreign oil and boosted corn-state economies — while saying he still thinks it should be phased out in coming years.
SEE ALSO: Ted Cruz: Don’t let ‘anti-science zealotry’ shutdown GMOs
“The market’s ultimately going to have to decide this,” he told the audience at the Iowa State Fairgrounds. “As we move forward over the long haul, there should be certainty for people to invest,” he said, which will negate the need for a federal mandate. “So at some point we’ll see a reduction of the RFS need, because ethanol will be such a valuable part of the energy feed stock for our country.”
Having his corn and eating it, too. That’s how Republicans win in Iowa.
Another front-runner, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, also treaded lightly. He has been a staunch opponent of federal mandates, but he said ethanol needs government assistance and that “right now, we don’t have a free and open marketplace, and so that’s why I’m willing to take that position.”
Still, he straddled the low-reg requirement for Republican candidates by saying ethanol can one day compete on its own and there will no longer be a “need in the industry to have these subsidies.”
Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry stood strong on his disdain for the RFS. He said states should decide, but added “I philosophically don’t agree that Washington, D.C. needs to be making these decision that affect our agriculture industry.”
But New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, already battling Republicans who say he is not conservative enough, fully embraced the RFS. “That’s what the law requires. So let’s make sure we comply with the law. That should be the minimum,” he said, drawing applause from the corn crowd.
It’s early. March 2015. The Iowa caucuses are nearly a year away. Plenty of time for potential candidates to have an epiphany and see the wisdom of the RFS.
And if the past is any teacher, they will.
• Joseph Curl covered the White House and politics for a decade for The Washington Times. He can be reached at josephcurl@gmail.com and on Twitter @josephcurl.
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