What a difference a day can make in the US Senate.

Yesterday senators grumbled about obscure procedural issues as they shot down a bid to end a government subsidy and import tariff for corn ethanol. The vote was 40-59. Today, with the obscure procedural issues behind them, the senators did an about-face with a landslide 73-27 vote that could herald the beginning of the end of government support for corn ethanol in the United States.

The amendment would raise $6 billion annually by eliminating a tax credit of 45 cents per gallon (12 cents per litre) as well as a separate tariff of 54 cents per gallon (14 cents per litre) on imported ethanol. However, while significant politically, the amendment was added to an economic development bill whose prospects are unclear at best. And although President Barack Obama has made reducing energy subsidies part of his international platform, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the administration opposes simply cutting off government support for the ethanol industry.

Many factors are at play. Lawmakers are looking for ways to close the budget deficit, and critics argue that the ethanol support is particularly wasteful. Those pushing the bill say that some 40 percent of the US crop is going to ethanol, which accounts for just 10 percent of the nation’s fuel. This pushes up the price of food internationally while providing questionable benefits in terms of greenhouse gas emissions. Moreover, the US government already requires refiners to blend ethanol into the fuel supply.

Senator Tom Coburn, an Oklahoma Republican who cosponsored the amendment, called the vote a major victory for taxpayers. “In light of today’s lopsided vote, I urge my colleagues in the House to eliminate this wasteful earmark and tariff at their earliest opportunity,” Coburn said in a ”https://coburn.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ContentRecord_id=00a03ba6-0d05-4499-99a4-4f4c20212c0b">prepared statement.