America’s Renewable Future hits hard at Cruz’s anti-RFS stance

In Iowa, America’s Renewable Future (ARF) newest radio ad highlights Sen. Ted Cruz’s hypocritical position on oil subsidies support at the expense of the unsubsidized Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). The ad has drawn a plea from the Cruz campaign to be taken down, but the campaign’s letter provides further example of Cruz’s efforts to deceive Iowans about his support of oil subsidies.

Cruz is claiming that subsidies exclusive to the oil industry, like intangible drilling costs, “are analogous to ordinary business expensing that every other industry gets”. He is calling subsidies by another name and hoping Iowans don’t catch on. And now that he’s been caught, he’s claiming that he wants to get rid of oil subsidies, but he’s repeatedly told Iowa farmers and plant managers that those subsidies don’t exist. Cruz is trying to have it both ways, acting like a typical politician, and it’s Iowa farmers who will suffer.

The speech in which Cruz mentions his support of ending “enhanced oil recovery credits for producing oil and gas from marginal wells” is meaningless considering that those provisions are inconsequential and taxpayers would see “no revenue effect” from them according to the Joint Committee on Taxation.

“This attempt is yet another example of Cruz lying to Iowans, only this time he’s been caught,” said ARF State Director, Eric Branstad, “He has personally introduced legislation to repeal the RFS, but none to repeal the billions in subsidies to the oil industry. In fact, he’s voted repeatedly against measures to close tax loopholes for oil and gas.”

Cruz has close to a million dollars personally invested in oil companies, which is roughly equivalent to the over $1 million in campaign contributions he has received from the oil industry. The Super PACS propping up his campaign have received over $25 million from oil interests.