Ethanol Smear Campaign Exposed in Roll Call Magazine

[HoosierRon]

Ethanol Smear Campaign Exposed

In a prepared floor statement on Thursday, Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa told his colleagues that “this anti-ethanol campaign is not a coincidence. It turns out that a $300,000, six-month retainer of a beltway public relations firm is behind the smear campaign, hired by the Grocery Manufacturers Association.”

That information was reported Wednesday in the Capitol Hill publication Roll Call, which obtained confidential documentation of the effort.

“Rising food and fuel prices have led the biofuels industry to take a beating on Capitol Hill the past few weeks,” the article stated. “But the pummeling hasn’t been by chance — it’s part of a concerted effort spearheaded by the Grocery Manufacturers Association and the Glover Park Group. GMA has been leading an ‘aggressive’ public relations campaign for the past two months in an effort to roll back ethanol mandates that passed in last year’s energy bill.”

Among the documents obtained by Roll Call was the GMA’s proposal request “to build a groundswell in support of freezing or reversing some provisions of the 2007 Energy Bill and for the elimination/reform of ethanol subsidies and import restrictions.”

Glover Park Group’s proposal response included the number one objective to “obliterate whatever intellectual justification might still exist for corn-based ethanol among policy elites.”

[shabodah]

If only this was the only ethanol smear campaign out there.

Isn't it strange how nine months ago OPEC flatly said they were afraid to rise the price of gasoline because they didn't want to increase the rate of E85 development, and then after they've got the consumer brainwashed into thinking E85 is a bad idea the price of a barrel of oil doubles?!?!?

PS- A barrel of oil was $27.53 when GW took office.

[Elk]

With the price of gas. I think it’s hit the point where Ethanol doesn’t need government help anymore.

[ctaylorzl1]

Originally Posted by Elk

With the price of gas. I think it’s hit the point where Ethanol doesn’t need government help anymore.

It dosent need their help, but it also dosent need their hurt! There are loks of officials at the capital that are against ethanol, and it worries me what they could do to it! McCain is convinced that ethanol is the only cause of high food prices(from what I have read), it kinda scares me what he might do to the ethanol programs. Not that the govt should have any real buisness to do with it anyway! If farmers want to see their grain to make fuel, weather it be corn for ethanol or soybeans for biodiesel, and someone it willing to produce it as such, that is our rite to do so! I just hope these "smear campaigns" dont pickup any followers.

[ctaylorzl1]

Here is a article I read today that is kinda relivant to the thread:

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. — Illinois Corn Growers Assoc. (ICGA) officials were quick to denounce a proposal by Republican senators to waive the nation’s Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS), saying such action is ill-advised and would have serious repercussions that would only push fuel and food prices higher.
“This is bad policy and tantamount to waving the white flag in the battle to make our nation less dependent on unstable and unfriendly governments,” said ICGA President Art Bunting, a corn producer from Dwight, Ill. “The primary influence on higher food prices right now is $120-barrel oil.”
Twenty-three Republican senators – including presidential candidate Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) – asked Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Stephen Thompson to use his authority to waive the RFS because of its “unintended effect on food prices.” The EPA has 90 days to respond to the letter from the legislators.
The ethanol program “has contributed to pain at the cash register, at the dining room table and a devastating food crisis throughout the world,” media sources quoted McCain as saying.

article continuted @:
http://www.farmworldonline.com/News/...sp?newsid=6061

[PA Dweller]

Originally Posted by Elk

With the price of gas. I think it’s hit the point where Ethanol doesn’t need government help anymore.

Then why do I need to drive 100 miles or more to find Ethanol? I realize E85 gets lower fuel economy than gasoline, but with gas approaching $4 a gallon its becoming a more attractive alternative every day. At least for me.

[Elk]

Originally Posted by PA Dweller

Then why do I need to drive 100 miles or more to find Ethanol?

I’m going to say production hasn’t caught up with demand. Or in other words pumps are still limited because there isn’t enough Ethanol to feed them.

[PA Dweller]

Originally Posted by Elk

I’m going to say production hasn’t caught up with demand. Or in other words pumps are still limited because there isn’t enough Ethanol to feed them.

It seems like they are putting the refueling stations in all the wrong places, most Ethanol stations are out in the Midwest. Hopefully production will catch up soon.

[HoosierRon]

Originally Posted by Elk

I’m going to say production hasn’t caught up with demand. Or in other words pumps are still limited because there isn’t enough Ethanol to feed them.

You are correct. The federal mandate actually is worthless because refiners are buying more ethanol than required by the mandate. They are doing this because ethanol is cheaper than gasoline. But there is not enough to go around. As a result, ethanol gets used closest to the point of production.

But production is increasing very rapidly. The number of E85 stations will continue to increase. Just give it time.

[Clownzilla]

Ethanol will be the first mainstream alternative automotive fuel regardless of action by anti-ethanol lobbyists. Oil prices have reached a point to where NOBODY can stop this freight train of energy independence. This oil price hike is a blessing in disguise for consumers and a nightmare for oil producers. Just give it time......

[plane]

I am shocked. Absolutely shocked that this has happened.

Unfortunately for the spinmeisters, ethanol is only going to become more important in meeting our transportation fuel needs.

[AndrewGS]

I read about this in an email from the National BioDiesel Board.

More proof that our lives are controlled by lobbyists.

[MadeinDetroit]

I have been reading this site for years and this article made me sign up.

This is so un-nerving. There is a station that I pass daily that has E85. My G6 does not support it however I WISH it did. I would surely pay $3.00 for a gallon of gas over $3.90 (Michigan). Perhaps it would equal out due to the less mileage out of E85 but I surely would support it!

I urge anyone who CAN use it, DO IT!

The Volt will be great. Making cars lighter and smaller will be great. The idea of Turbocharging and Supercharging smaller displacement in more mainstream cars is a good idea. However, biofuels and alternate fuels need to be supported NOW rather than waiting for a change.

[nailhead425]

People are getting bent out of shape because ethanol dramatically reduces carbon emissions from vehicles (carbon cycle), it reduces our dependence on foreign governments, and most importantly it brings life back to rural areas.
Both parties are profoundly guilty in the Ethanol smear, both do their own damage, and both parties have loyal voters in Ethanol producing states that will vote them out if they don't support the local economy.

Corn used for ethanol can still be used for feed and that is the overwhelming majority of the crops use. Sweet corn, pop corn, corn meal are small portions of the total corn crop.

The rise in food prices is no-doubt largely due to the increase in the cost of diesel fuel, fertilizer, and transportation costs.

Originally Posted by shabodah

PS- A barrel of oil was $27.53 when GW took office.

The cost of oil cannot be simply placed at GW's foot. Remember that we had a mid-term election in 2006 where the other party ran on a platform of reducing the cost of fuel, increasing consumer confidence, and a new direction at home and abroad.

Clearly the article supports that the Ethanol war is a high-stakes one.

[johnstarnes]

PS- A barrel of oil was $27.53 when GW took office.[/quote]

I SO wish that the Freedom of Information Act could make public, and BEFORE the elections, the full transcripts of Cheney's secret meetings with top oil energy CEOs in the early days of the Bush/Cheney regime. To go from $27 to $124 a barrel after those meetings and initiating a war now clearly admitted to be based on oil, is, for me, a real head scratcher. But I bet that dude from Exxon with the bizarre Jabba-The-Hut-Turkey-Wattle neck ain't complainin' with his half BILLION dollar take home pay in ONE year! I just hope that cellulosic ethanol can play a helpful stop gap role as we devise a hydrogen and solar economy.