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Let the VEETC Expire: Moving Beyond Corn Ethanol Means Less Waste, Less Pollution and More Jobs
Fact Sheet

Transitioning to low-carbon fuels is crucial to breaking America's dependence on oil and curbing global warming. But while some biofuels reduce pollution, others pollute more than the oil they replace. Unfortunately, the biggest government incentive program for biofuels -- the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit (VEETC) -- fails to differentiate between biofuels, and has wasted $20 billion taxpayer dollars subsidizing a polluting corn ethanol industry. By subsidizing any type of ethanol, the VEETC comes at the expense of supporting clean energy technologies like wind, solar, and advanced biofuels -- made from sustainable crops like willow -- that create more green jobs and far less pollution. Congress is considering a 5-year extension of the VEETC that would cost taxpayers $31 billion. NRDC urges Congress to let the VEETC expire and replace it with a smarter, cheaper, and greener biofuels tax credit that rewards real environmental performance. Get document in pdf.

Let the VEETC Expire
Save Billions in Tax Dollars Better Spent on Non-Polluting Energy Technologies
FAQ

The Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit (VEETC) is little more than a government kickback for big oil to buy and blend corn ethanol that they are already required to purchase under the Renewable Fuel Standard. Over the last five years, we’ve paid oil companies more than $20 billion to obey this law. And now Congress is considering a five-year VEETC extension -- costing U.S. taxpayers another $31 billion. Instead of massive giveaways to big oil companies and old corn ethanol plants, Congress should support emerging and more competitive energy technologies in non-polluting wind, solar, geothermal and advanced biofuels that create many more times the green jobs we need and far less pollution. NRDC urges Congress to stop giving billions to two mature, mainstream, and polluting industries: big oil and old corn ethanol. Congress should allow the VEETC to expire at the end of the year.

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Driving Growth
How Clean Cars and Climate Policy Can Create Jobs
Issue Paper

The American auto sector -- a longtime source of good-paying, high skills jobs -- is struggling under the weight of this recession. Making vehicles here in the United States that are cleaner and more fuel efficient and therefore more attractive amid rising oil prices represents an opportunity to restore Detroit to global leadership while simultaneously reducing imports of foreign oil and curbing global warming. Fuel efficiency is cleaner, cheaper, and faster than drilling to meet our nation's energy needs, and as this study demonstrates, it can also produce tens of thousands of high quality manufacturing jobs here at home. This report, released jointly with the Center for American Progress and the UAW, illustrates the value of adopting comprehensive clean energy and climate legislation to help retool factories to build the next generation of vehicles that will carry our nation toward a cleaner and more secure energy future. Get document in pdf.

Federal Climate Bills Can Retool the U.S. Auto Industry and Make It More Competitive
Legislative Analysis

Comprehensive energy legislation that includes a cap on global warming pollution will speed development of a new energy economy based on efficiency and clean energy. The automobile manufacturing industry can prosper from these changes if it shifts production from gas guzzlers to cleaner and more efficient cars and trucks. The climate protection bills passed by the House and being considered in the Senate can fund a rapid transition to clean vehicle manufacturing. When combined with strengthened fuel economy and pollution standards, the bills can ensure that U.S. manufacturers are producing the next generation of vehicles that consumers want. Get document in pdf.

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