Ethanol Tirade
Posted: October 19, 2007
Remarks by Renewable Fuels Association president Bob Dinneen this week at the Cellulosic Ethanol Summit in Washington DC apparently ruffled some feathers.
Not that I really want to give this any publicity, since it thankfully has gotten little, I do think it deserves a post because it indicates the level some people are going with the ethanol debate.
The Institute for Energy Research - which “conducts historical research and evaluates public policies in the oil, gas, coal, and electricity markets,” according to its website - issued a “press release” via PR Newswire that is actually an editorial, not news. Perhaps that is why no legitimate news source has picked it up.
In the very first sentence they lose all credibility by spelling Dinneen’s name wrong. The tirade not only attacks Bob for “urging Congress to pump billions of subsidies into ethanol” - which, of course, he did not say - it also disparages the potential for cellulosic ethanol, quoting an article from self-described “muckraker” Robert Bryce that “cellulosic ethanol is akin to the tooth fairy; it’s an entity that many believe in, but no one ever actually sees.” (From the Energy Tribune)
At the same time, the essay says, “We should be looking to innovators and entrepreneurs to develop the next great technological breakthroughs in energy — not to lobbyists seeking more handouts in Washington.” That is exactly what was going on in Washington DC this week when Dinneen made his comments. Innovators and entrepreneurs in the field of cellulosic ethanol were getting together and discussing ways to develop new breakthroughs.
No one denies that ethanol has its shortcomings, and no one in the industry believes that ethanol is the one solution to our energy independence. But most of us in the industry do believe that good old American know-how will find the breakthrough to make cellulosic ethanol commercially viable and that it will help increase our energy independence and strengthen our economy.
Many of us also believe in God, even though we have never seen Him face to face - and who says there isn’t a tooth fairy?
Corn Commentary » Blog Archives » Radio Ethanol Debate Said,
October 29, 2007 @ 8:33 am
[...] (EPIC) and Robert Bryce, managing editor for the Energy Tribune. You might remember him from a previous post where he compared cellulosic ethanol to the tooth [...]