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Congress finished its tax legislation today without including a provision to extend a massive subsidy for corn ethanol that is set to expire at the end of the year.

The subsidy – the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit – has provided the oil and agribusiness industries with $0.45 per gallon of ethanol blended into gasoline, amounting to a total of approximately $6 billion each year.

The elimination of the subsidy, cherished by the once-mighty ethanol lobby, comes after a multi-year campaign to end it waged by Friends of the Earth and an ideologically diverse coalition of allies.

Friends of the Earth biofuels policy campaigner Michal Rosenoer had the following response:

“The end of this giant subsidy for dirty corn ethanol is a win for taxpayers, the environment and people struggling to put food on their tables.

“Corn ethanol is extremely dirty. It leads to more climate pollution than conventional gasoline, and it causes deforestation as well as agricultural runoff that pollutes our water.

“The growing demand for fuel crops also means less land is available for growing food, so food prices are going up. This is something many families simply cannot afford.