Say WHAT??!!!
Posted: March 13, 2008
An oil company executive this week whined that they are being unfairly attacked by the media.
Say what?!
According to a Reuters report, from the National Petrochemical and Refiners Association meeting in San Diego, Valero Energy Corp Chief Executive Bill Klesse “blasted U.S. policy makers, the U.S. Congress, the press and environmentalists for conducting a “serious attack” on the oil industry while ignoring problems associated with ethanol.”
“Where is the investigation into corn prices and farm prices and land speculation? Of course, that would not be politically acceptable,” Klesse said, noting oil companies routinely face scrutiny when fuel prices rise.
He went on to say that federal mandates to increase ethanol use along with tax credits for ethanol producers are making an uneven playing field.
“All of these programs are just a huge transfer of wealth from our industry to the Midwest farms,” Klesse said.
In the spirit of fighting fallacies with facts, 
the Renewable Fuels Association responded with a “fact check” to Klesse’s comments.
Fact Check: According to a report in BusinessWeek, the nation’s petroleum industry is spending millions of dollars, together with livestock and food processing interests, to tarnish the public image of ethanol. BusinessWeek’s David Kiley writes, “Efforts range from funding studies that bash the spread of ethanol for driving up the price of corn, and therefore some food, to not supporting E85 pumps at gas stations.”
Fact Check #2: According to Milton Copulos (The Hidden Cost of Oil) at the National Defense Council Foundation, America spends nearly $140 billion a year in military protection of the oil shipping channels out of the Middle East. The less than $4 billion spent in incentives to companies like Valero to blend ethanol pales in comparison. (“The Contribution of the Ethanol Industry to the Economy of the United States“)