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Just a regular American
It looks like gas may rise an additional 5 cents a gallon permanently because of the ethanol subsidy elimination. Except it may not be that bad because Congress has just opened the door to foreign imports by eliminating the tariff on ethanol. I wonder how many US jobs are going to be lost over that one!
Gasoline could cost 4.5 cents a gallon more starting as early as this week, and it's not because of rising oil prices.
It's because Congress declined to renew the 30-year-old federal subsidy for ethanol, letting it expire Sunday.
Ethanol, denatured grain alcohol used as a proven smog-cutting ingredient, currently makes up 10% of most gasoline-based motor fuel for general use, so-called E-10.
Gas prices to rise as ethanol subsidy ends | The Indianapolis Star | indystar.comHow much the end of the subsidy could add to gas prices, and how soon, is yet to be seen. Ethanol blenders got a 45-cents-a-gallon tax credit, which amounts to 4.5 cents for the amount blended into each gallon of E-10 fuel.
It's hard to calculate the immediate impact. Oil prices and ethanol stocks are in flux. And unknown is the impact of another move by Congress: dropping the 54-cents-per-gallon tariff on ethanol imports. Brazil is a leading global producer of ethanol made mostly from sugar cane.