Vote Should Be Step Toward New Policy | The Wheeling Intelligencer

Sen. Joe Manchin is right: A U.S. Senate vote to end government subsidies for the ethanol industry is good news, but it is only a first step.

In a measure that still could be reversed later this summer, senators voted 73-27 to end about $5 billion a year in subsidies for ethanol. Manchin, D-W.Va., voted to end the support, as he had in a separate vote earlier in the week. Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., who voted in favor of subsidies earlier in the week, joined Manchin in saying no to them Thursday.

Indeed, the vote was important. But as Manchin noted in a press release, "Now that the Senate has taken this important step, it is time to craft a responsible energy plan that uses all of our vast domestic resources" - including coal.

Amen to that.

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