Volume XX No.30: July 24, 2015
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It’s a timeless story of teenage romance: pledges of love, abandoning reason, and rebelling against authority. But it’s not the plot of a John Hughes movie, instead it describes U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack’s love affair with ethanol. Like in any love crush, this two-term governor of Iowa just can’t seem to quit you, ethanol. And so this week, for his ignoring the will of Congress in order to shower the ethanol industry with $100 million to install blender pumps at gas stations, Secretary Vilsack earned a Golden Fleece award.
While the Agriculture Secretary is tasked with representing the interests of all of taxpayers, at times Secretary Vilsack seems to have never left Iowa. He regularly attends ethanol trade conferences and is one of the industry’s most vocal supporters.
