Renewable Energy Coalition Launches National Ad Campaign Defending Ethanol and Biodiesel

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Renewable Energy Coalition Launches National Ad Campaign Defending Ethanol and Biodiesel

Ads to Appear April 24th in Several Major Newspapers

CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO, Apr. 24 -/E-Wire/-- The Renewable Energy Action Project (REAP), a national coalition of environmentalists, local governments and small renewable energy producers, launched a national ad campaign today to set the record straight on the use of renewable fuels.

Critics of renewable fuels, led by Senators Dianne Feinstein (CA) and Charles Schumer (NY), have called the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) in the Senate Energy Bill a "dangerous move.' But REAP claims that Feinstein and Schumer are paving the way for a far more dangerous scenario, including ongoing use of the gasoline additive MTBE.

"The RFS is a critical piece of a much bigger puzzle,' said Brooke Coleman, REAP's director, "which includes putting an end to an environmental disaster in MTBE. Pulling the entire provision apart is just what the MTBE industry wants,' added Coleman.

REAP completely dismisses claims that ethanol is unnecessary. "What proponents of the RFS are trying to do is ensure that U.S. produced renewable fuels, and not just more foreign oil, are part of the solution to replace the 11 percent volume and octane of MTBE. In light of global warming and September 11th, I'd say that's a good policy decision,' Coleman said.

The alternative is increasing our dependence on foreign oil and inviting the use of more untested gasoline additives. "In the 1920s the oil industry gave us lead, in the 1980s they chose benzene, and in the 1990s MTBE,' said David Morris, Vice President of the Institute for Local Self Reliance, a member of REAP. "Why should we trust them to do better the fourth time?' Ethanol, he added, has been in use for decades in the Midwest without the public health concerns of petroleum additives.

REAP's members find scare tactics about an ethanol-related energy crisis even more perplexing. "The U.S. is currently 98 percent dependent on oil to meet our transportation needs. Common sense dictates that we should diversify our transportation fuel supplies,' says Carol Werner, Executive Director of the Environmental and Energy Study Institute. "The country needs a vision for the 21st Century that embraces renewable energy rather than regressing to failed policies of the past.'

Bluewater Network, a REAP founding member, takes issue with Feinstein's characterization of ethanol as fleecing American consumers. The group's Campaign Director Elisa Lynch points out that if ethanol is not used to replace MTBE, oil is the only alternative. "Oil costs Americans at least $15 billion in subsidies annually, not including overseas military deployment to protect oil supplies, to ethanol's $1 billion,' says Lynch. "Oil is clearly the more expensive option for U.S. taxpayers.'

Renewable Energy Action Project

Brooke Coleman, REAP, [REDACTED-PHONE],

David Morris, ILSR, [REDACTED-PHONE],

Carol Werner, EESI, [REDACTED-PHONE]

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