In case you don’t have time to the entire one hour press conference from last week, here’s a six minute summary. This “Ethanol Report” podcast features comments from the four agriculture and ethanol industry leaders who participated in a press conference on April 30 about the role of biofuels in food price increases. Featured are former Agriculture Secretary John Block, National Corn Growers Association CEO Rick Tolman, National Farmers Union president Tom Buis and RFA president Bob Dinneen.
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Ethanol Report 12 (5:45 MP3 file)
As the House Subcommittee on Energy and Air Quality heard testimony regarding the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) on Tuesday, oil hit yet another record high of $122 a barrel.
RFA president Bob Dinneen reminded the committee of that several times during the hearing, having to correct his own pre-prepared remarks. “Mr. Chairman, the RFS made sense when you passed it in December and prices were $90 a barrel,” Dinneen said. “It makes more sense today with crude oil prices at $120 a barrel. I’m sorry, just while this hearing has been going on, the market has increased and we’re now looking at $122 a barrel oil.”
“Ethanol is the only tool we have today that can address the nation’s most serious economic issue – our dependence on imported oil and the rising price of gasoline and crude oil,” he said.
Listen to Bob’s testimony here: Dinneen Hearing Testimony (6:00 MP3 file)
It was publicity hound P.T. Barnum who is credited with the quote “I don’t care what they say as long as they spell my name right.” Wonder if his name was as hard for the media to get right as “Dinneen.”
Bob’s name is frequently spelled “Dineen” by the media - like this recent Reuters story. Now seriously, they could spell Urbanchuk right but not Dinneen?
When I was in Journalism school back in the old days, it was considered a major fact error to get someone’s name wrong. And in today’s world of the internet, double-checking is just a click away.
In fact, the article was written by one person and edited by another. Someone should have been able to check.
The good news is, it was a positive article making RFA’s point that a waiver of the RFS would increase gasoline prices even more. So, in this case, Bob probably doesn’t care that they spelled his name wrong - the message was more important.
Update: Just noticed that the AP story on today’s hearing about the RFS by the House Subcommittee on Energy and Air Quality also spelled Bob’s name wrong, even though it is spelled correctly on the witness list. Sorry, but as a journalist that really bothers me.
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