Ethanol proponents and progressive activists vowed Tuesday to ramp up their campaign to overturn President Obama’s proposal that decreases ethanol concentrations in the nation’s gasoline supply for the first time ever.
John Soltz, co-founder and chairman of VoteVets.org, said at a telephone news conference Tuesday that his organization has the resources to protest the decision announced Friday by the Environmental Protection Agency, citing a network of more than 350,000 supporters. He said his organization has spent more than $10 million in 2010 for media campaigns to increase adoption of ethanol, which is easily the most widely used biofuel in the U.S.
These figures could continue to increase as both VoteVets.org and Americans United for Change, the other organization on the phone call, engage in more grass-roots organizing, while creating more free media accounts and taking out more paid ads. Both organizations, either separately or together, plan to campaign in key states.
“In the governor’s race in Virginia, we didn’t have ads when [Republican gubernatorial nominee Kenneth T.] Cuccinelli, for example, was running,” Mr. Soltz added. “We had a retired two-star general talking about our dependence on foreign oil. We have an overdependence on oil in an asymmetric battlefield.”
Jeremy Funk, the communications director for Americans United for Change, said the oil industry is attempting to stamp out ethanol adoption before it becomes an industry standard.
“The oil industry didn’t go to Congress to try and repeal the renewable standard. They didn’t go to the EPA to weaken it. They aren’t concerned about the amount of ethanol on the market,” Mr. Funk said. “They are very concerned that, as long as ethanol is prosperous, there will be more development of advanced biofuels. They are trying to strangle the biofuel industry at the crib to put it at its knees.”
The EPA assembled a report in response to the unexpected slow demand for gasoline among consumers. Under the updated Renewable Fuel Standard, refiners would have to blend 15.2 billion gallons of renewable fuels into the nation’s gas supply — a 17 percent decrease from the original 2007 congressional mandate.
The EPA is concerned that the current production of ethanol will overtake consumer demand. The report concludes that current mandates are too high and not economic.
Opponents of increased ethanol gasoline blends have cited the potential for car engine damage.
AAA President and CEO Bob Darbelnet welcomed the EPA’s proposal, explaining that increased ethanol mixtures would increase gasoline prices and lead to the premature introduction of E15 — gasoline with 15 percent ethanol.
“While we would like to increase the use of alternative fuels, it is a plain fact that the Renewable Fuels Standard’s original targets are unreachable without putting motorists and their vehicles at risk,” Mr. Darbelnet said in a Friday AAA press release.
Most vehicles on the road today can use E10 fuel without any engine or fuel line modifications. However, more than 90 percent of vehicles are not approved to use E15 fuel.
The EPA proposal is in the Federal Register, where it will undergo the mandatory 60 days of public comment before a final draft is released early next year.
• This article is based in part on wire service reports.
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