Corn-Fueled Cronyism: The Taxpayer Burden of the Ethanol Industry and Its Carbon Cash Grab
Are the billionaires on the planet trying to re-educate the public on what government assistance is with their own money? Maybe not all of them, however, there is one who is.
Let’s clear the smoke and mirrors.
For nearly half a century, the American taxpayer has been made promises in exchange for funding a grand experiment in energy policy called ethanol. Wrapped in patriotic language and sold as a renewable energy solution, ethanol—primarily derived from corn—has cost taxpayers not only their hard-earned money but their right to a free and fair market.
What started as a temporary energy solution during the oil crises of the 1970s has mutated into a labyrinth of subsidies, mandates, corporate welfare, environmental double-speak, and carbon shell games—all enforced through government muscle and political theater.
Now, the Corn King of Iowa is attempting to change the narrative once again for the ethanol industry and billionaires too. Federal-teat-and-trough-sucker Bruce Rastetter is using his influence and social media audience to claim the ethanol industry doesn’t receive any subsidies and anyone who thinks they do, needs to be re-educated.
Rastletter founded Heartland Pork Enterprises, and started and sold 80% of Hawkeye Energy Holdings, one of the largest US ethanol producers. He started "Summit Agriculture Group", which is in the business of carbon capture and storage for ethanol plants and is currently attempting to build a carbon pipeline across the Upper Midwest. He is also a well known megadonor to the Republican Party and has been called an "Iowa kingmaker".
Bruce you have an impressive resume, but I want to be very clear when I say this next statement - you are being very cavalier with other people’s honest labor and the entitlement you are demonstrating is outright insulting.
You are attempting to gaslight the taxpayer with government subsidy semantics and influencer entitlement that outright crosses many lines of decency and ethics. Perhaps even intelligence too.
You want to know the real cost of ethanol? Pull up a chair Bruce, it’s quite the list.
Subsidy #1: The Ethanol Blender’s Tax Credit (VEETC)
Price Tag: $45 BILLION
From 1978 to 2011, Uncle Sam handed out $0.40 to $0.45 for every gallon of ethanol blended into gasoline. Ostensibly to help “kickstart” the market. It became a long-term crutch. The only thing it stimulated was dependency.
Free Market Translation: If you need 33 years of subsidies to stay competitive, you’re not competing—you’re surviving off the taxpayer.
Subsidy #2: Crop Insurance & Disaster Payments for Corn Farmers
Price Tag: $25 BILLION (insurance) + $15 BILLION (farm payments/disaster relief)
Government-induced corn inflation has turned farmers into ethanol sharecroppers. By incentivizing monoculture and overproduction, Washington created a system where failure is rewarded and risk is socialized.
Free Market Translation: If a crop can't survive without taxpayer-funded weather protection, it's not sustainable—it's subsidized fiction.
Subsidy #3: USDA & DOE Research, Development, and Refinery Support
Price Tag: $13.5 BILLION
Billions poured into research labs, universities, and biorefineries—often through non-competitive grants, loan guarantees, and cozy political arrangements.
Free Market Translation: Real innovation doesn’t need a government-funded science fair. It needs a consumer, not a congressman.
Subsidy #4: Ethanol Infrastructure Grants
Price Tag: $1 BILLION
Need a special gas pump to push ethanol into the market? No problem—taxpayers foot the bill.
Free Market Translation: When your product can’t use existing infrastructure, it’s not scalable. If it was truly revolutionary, the private sector would build the pumps.
Subsidy #5: Mandated Market (The Renewable Fuel Standard)
Price Tag to Consumers: $120 BILLION in fuel efficiency losses
Ethanol has less energy than gasoline. A gallon gets you about 33% fewer miles. That’s a hidden tax every driver pays at the pump. But Congress mandated it anyway.
Free Market Translation: When government forces a product on consumers that’s less efficient and more expensive, that’s not policy—it’s coercion.
Intangible Drain #1: Lobbyists and Political Muscle
Price Tag: $500 MILLION
Groups like the Renewable Fuels Association, Brighter Future Alliance, Growth Energy and the Corn Councils spend millions to ensure subsidies stay in place. It’s legal bribery under the guise of “advocacy.”
Free Market Translation: If your business plan starts with “hire lobbyists,” you're not building a product—you’re buying protection.
Intangible Drain #2: NGO Support and PR Echo Chambers
Price Tag: $3.5 BILLION
From think tanks to university “climate” departments to agriculture non-profits, a network of public-private echo chambers push ethanol policy using taxpayer dollars.
Free Market Translation: These aren't neutral science institutions. They're taxpayer-funded hype machines.
Intangible Drain #3: Federal Regulatory Army
Price Tag: $8 BILLION
Dozens of federal agencies are involved in managing the Renewable Fuel Standard, Low Carbon Fuel Standards, tax credits, verification processes, and enforcement.
Free Market Translation: A real industry doesn't need this much oversight. If it did, it wouldn't exist without the state.
Subsidy #6: Carbon Capture for Ethanol
Price Tag: $12 BILLION and growing
The latest racket: capture the carbon from ethanol fermentation and bury it underground, all funded by taxpayers under the illusion of "saving the planet."
Free Market Translation: This isn’t carbon management—it’s carbon laundering.
Subsidy #7: IRS Section 45Q Carbon Credits
Price Tag: $15 BILLION (projected through 2030)
Ethanol producers now cash in on up to $85 per ton of carbon captured. You pay for it with federal debt and inflation.
Free Market Translation: It’s not about carbon. It’s about credit—tax credit.
Subsidy #8: Carbon Verification, Modeling, and Auditing
Price Tag: $5 BILLION
A whole industry has sprung up to make sure ethanol qualifies for credits. Life-cycle models, software audits, carbon brokers, and environmental consultants—all paid for by you, either directly or indirectly.
Free Market Translation: Bureaucracy breeds bureaucracy. And you fund every layer of it.
That’s two-and-a-half times what the U.S. spends annually on the entire Department of Energy. That’s more than the GDP of Greece. And there may be more indirect and supportive subsidies not included too.
Who Wins? Who Pays?
Winners:
Big ethanol producers with government contracts
Carbon capture companies backed by private equity and public subsidies
Lobbyists and NGOs playing both sides of the green field
Politicians cashing in on votes from farm states
Losers:
The taxpayer
The small farmer without political clout
The motorist forced to pay more for diluted fuel
Anyone on the receiving end of an Ethanol Gaslighter
The free market, which hasn’t had a say in decades
Chuck’s Challenge: Open the Books. End the Mandates. Let the Market Work.
If ethanol was truly the fuel of the future, it wouldn’t need subsidies, mandates, or federal PR campaigns. The market would already demand it. Wouldn’t you agree Bruce since the industry doesn’t get any money granted to them from the government.
I’ll even take it one step further to save money to the consumer. A professional gaslighter will redirect all the energy of the conversation to the exact numbers in subsidies above and the semantics of words like mandates, subsidies and other acronym’d direct payments into an exhaustion. So let’s skip all that and save the taxpayers some time, money and mental health.
Rather, I would offer you this statement to consider Mr. Rastletter - ethanol is a cautionary tale—a product made profitable by political design, not by economic value or environmental virtue.
This isn’t renewable fuel. It’s renewable dependence. And it’s long past time for a reckoning.
End the mandates. End the subsidies. Open the books. Return energy to the people, not the politicians.
That’s not a radical idea—it’s the American one.
Chuck Carbondale has worked at the intersection of communications and the energy industry for over 25 years. He has crafted messaging strategies for industry leaders, independent operators, and public utilities alike. Known for his sharp insight and unflinching analysis, he brings a seasoned, behind-the-scenes perspective to energy policy, market dynamics, and the evolving role of public perception. A staunch advocate for transparent communication and free market principles, Chuck’s work bridges boardrooms, work sites, and policy forums with equal fluency.
Everyday your story is being told by someone. Who is telling your story? Who are you telling your story to?
Email your sustainable story ideas, professional press releases or podcast submissions to thecontentcreationstudios(AT)gmail(DOT)com.
CLICK HERE FOR SPECIAL PARAMOUNT + DISCOUNT LINK
Paramount+ offers its subscribers a plethora of quality content.
From instant classic films to banger TV shows like 1883 and Tommy Boy, there’s no shortage of entertainment to explore.
How about Dexter Resurrection? It’s getting fabulous reviews.
Start Streaming Today!
CLICK HERE FOR SPECIAL PARAMOUNT + DISCOUNT LINK
