IOWA CAUCUSES

Iowa biodiesel plant manager confronts Ted Cruz

Jennifer Jacobs
jejacobs@dmreg.com
Republican Sen. Ted Cruz arrives Thursday, April 2, 2015, at a town-hall style meeting in Des Moines.

B ankston, Ia. – U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz was confronted by an Iowa biodiesel businessman Wednesday night who thinks the Texas Republican is being hypocritical on his energy stances.

"He's blowing smoke," Tom Brooks, general manager of Western Dubuque Biodiesel, told The Des Moines Register after he chatted with Cruz at an event at a winery in the hills near Dubuque.

Aides for Cruz said Thursday that he supports ethanol, but he favors phasing out all energy subsidies and preferences, including the Renewal Fuel Standard. The mandate sets the amount of renewable fuels that must be blended into the nation's motor fuel supplies.

Wednesday, as Cruz mingled with the audience at the Dubuque County GOP fundraiser, Brooks said he politely asked why he contradicts himself: Cruz says he doesn't think the federal government should pick winners and losers in the energy market, yet he supports oil subsidies even as he opposes the Renewable Fuel Standard.

"I said, 'Why are you picking Big Oil as a winner?' " Brooks said. "His comment was that Big Oil doesn't get subsidized."

Brooks said he held up his cellphone and showed Cruz a website that says the American Petroleum Industry has gotten $4.8 billion a year in tax breaks. One source for that information was a Mother Jones article about subsidies meant to encourage businesses to manufacture in the United States and not overseas.

"I said, 'The renewable fuel industry gets nothing. It doesn't cost the country anything.' He asked me to send him the information about those tax credits and he'll look into it," Brooks told the Register.

Ethanol industry backers point out that the oil and gas industry made up the second largest contributors to Cruz's campaign committee between 2011 and 2014, according to opensecrets.org. And they note that Politico reported last month that Cruz has hundreds of thousands of dollars invested in oil and gas stocks, according to financial disclosure records. He or family members bought $50,000 in stock in Chevron, $15,000 in ExxonMobil and at least $50,000 in Plains GP Holdings, a company that transports oil and gas liquids, Politico said.

In response, Cruz spokeswoman Catherine Frazier said he believes ethanol and biofuel will remain competitive components in the energy sector.

"Ethanol should have full access to the market, and the antitrust laws properly prevent any barriers to access," Frazier said. "Additionally, Sen. Cruz strongly supports free trade and expanding markets for ethanol and American farmers worldwide. Far too many politicians tell one group one thing, and another group another. Iowans can trust Sen. Cruz that he will tell the truth and do what he says he will do."

Brooks, who was invited to the Cruz event by organizers with America's Renewable Future, a bipartisan pro-Renewable Fuel Standard organization, said he agrees fundamentally with some of what Cruz says, but thinks his argument on ethanol and oil is hollow.

"I used his own words on him, and he's blowing smoke," he said.