NCC, USPOULTRY join coalition against extension of ethanol subsidy

The National Chicken Council, U.S. Poultry & Egg Association and several state poultry federations are among a coalition of 90 organizations opposing extension of the blenders’ credit that subsidizes the production of ethanol. 
The groups have sent letters to the leaders of Congress calling on them to let the tax credit expire on schedule at the end of 2011. The ethanol industry is lobbying Congress for an extension. “Congress has the opportunity to end the $6-billion-a-year subsidy to gasoline refiners who blend corn ethanol into gasoline,” said the letter. “At a time of spiraling deficits, we do not believe Congress should continue subsidizing gasoline refiners for something that they are already required to do by the Renewable Fuels Standard.”
In addition to the NCC and USPOULTRY, the letter was signed by the state associations representing the poultry industries in Alabama, California, Georgia, Indiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.