Anti-Ethanol Poll Clearly Shows Bias
Posted: June 10, 2008
The National Center for Public Policy Research, a Washington, D.C., “think tank,” has released the results of a poll it commissioned surveying public attitudes about the renewable fuels standard. The press release headline states “Farm-Belt Voters Favor Eliminating or Scaling Back Corn Ethanol Mandate, New Poll Finds.”
So, haw many “Farm-Belt Voters” were surveyed for this poll? 500? 1,000?
How about … 40. Of the 802 voters surveyed, only 5 percent were what the pollsters considered farm belters.
But what is truly ridiculous here is the transparency of the bias. Question Three of the poll gives a brief version of boths sides of the issue. But notice how the bias is toward one side:
“Supporters of this corn ethanol mandate say that the law promotes America’s energy security, reduces greenhouse gas emissions, and provides financial benefits for farmers and agricultural businesses.”
“Opponents of this corn ethanol mandate say that ethanol production is increasing food prices, produces more net greenhouse gas emissions than conventional gasoline, and contributes to world hunger by converting food to fuel, while doing little to promote energy security. It has been estimated converting the entire U.S. corn crop to ethanol would reduce gasoline consumption by only a few percentage points.”
And then Question Four adds information about the disputed land use research:
“Two new studies, one from Princeton University and the other from the University of Minnesota in cooperation with the Nature Conservancy, found that ethanol contributes more greenhouse gases than conventional gasoline to the atmosphere, while expanded ethanol production encourages habitat destruction.
“Now knowing this, do you believe the ethanol mandate should be…”
No attempt whatsover is made to offer an opposing viewpoint.
Well, it is a political season, and the pollsters are based in Washington, so maybe this survey is just one example of what we have to look forward to in the months ahead. But it’s a shame they stoop to this and cannot rely solely on arguing the facts.
Josh Mitchey Said,
June 19, 2008 @ 3:58 pm
Washington has been bashing ethanol since it’s become more of an issue. I believe lobbyists for the oil companies are making sure these types of reports are made available to media. Like this article says, we may have this to look forward to. If only Washington would support ethanol production instead of fighting it, we’d be alot farther ahead! Hopefully there will be a turnaround soon!
Polling the Corn | Constant Conservative Said,
December 1, 2009 @ 1:39 pm
[...] poll on the blog of the National Corn Growers Association a few months ago, the following question was asked: So, haw many “Farm-Belt Voters” were surveyed for this poll? 500? [...]