Posted on: March 29, 2012 in Ethanol

The following is a response to a FOX Tampa Bay news story that came out earlier this week.

What happened to fair and balanced reporting at FOX?  Tampa residents desire the truth and facts about ethanol.  The consumer segment FOX aired March 27^th entitled “The Price You Really Pay at the Pump” failed to include any facts or even interviews which countered a tortured and contrived conclusion on ethanol and the price of gasoline.

Here is what FOX doesn’t want its viewers to know:

1.     A study conducted by two economists and released by the Center for Agriculture and Rural Development (CARD) found that ethanol reduced wholesale gasoline prices by an average of $0.89 per gallon in 2010.  It also found that ethanol reduced gasoline prices by an average of $0.25 or 16% over the entire decade of 2000-2010. 

2.    Let’s drive that point home a little further. Using data from the Federal Highway Administration, Environmental Protection Agency, and Department of Energy, we find that the average American household consumed 900 gallons of gasoline at an average price of $2.74 per gallon in 2010. That means the average family’s annual gasoline bill was $2,470, but it would have been closer to $3,270 without the use of ethanol.  The fact that ethanol use saved the average American family more than $800 is definitely worth a FOX mention.

3.    And speaking of driving, the gas mileage reduction associated with E10, the standard ethanol blend found at most Florida gas stations, is approximately three percent.  That is a reduction equal to or less than driving on poorly inflated tires. The FOX segment also fails to mention that ethanol is a natural, high octane booster that helps keep your engine components clean and improve winterization.  In fact, as the auto industry prepares to meet new higher gas mileage requirements in 2016, they are turning to ethanol as a possible answer.  It is by design that many race cars run on E100, E85 and even E15 which consumers in Florida may soon have access to.

FOX, had they chosen, could have also told the story of a fuel that is 100% homegrown and produced by 90,200 proud employees in biorefineries spread across 29 states that in turn supports over 311,000 jobs indirectly across the economy.  They could have also explained that every American President since Nixon, regardless of political party, has supported ethanol as a means to reducing this country’s dependence upon foreign oil thus strengthening our economic and national security.  In 2011, ethanol helped reduce the need for 485 million barrels of imported oil…more than we buy from Saudi Arabia in year.

Next time FOX decides to do a story on ethanol, we hope they will give us a call and do justice to a true American success story, Ethanol. 

Sincerely,

Christina Martin
Executive Vice President

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