Agreement Reached on Ethanol Taxes

Thu Nov 6, 3:23 AM ET
By H. JOSEF HEBERT, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - If there is a linchpin holding together a broad, sweeping energy bill, many lawmakers — Republicans and Democrats alike — believe it can be found in one word: ethanol.



So an agreement reached Wednesday between House and Senate Republicans over corn-based ethanol taxes is being viewed as a breakthrough toward getting energy legislation through Congress and sent to President Bush (news - web sites) before Thanksgiving.


A final conference report, merging House and Senate versions of the bill, could be approved within days, participants in the talks said, although some issues still remained.


The ethanol tax dispute had stalled the House-Senate energy talks for more than two weeks, prompting direct intervention by the White House, which does not want to see the energy legislation derailed. Bush last week called it a matter of national and economic security.

Amid prodding by Vice President Dick Cheney (news - web sites), two warring GOP legislators — one from the Farm Belt, where ethanol is strong, and the other from a California region of oil wells — came together on the issue after weeks of sometimes bitter exchanges.

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