WASHINGTON, DC — Growth Energy, the coalition of U.S. ethanol supporters, responded today to an inaccurate report, financed by Chevron and published by oil industry associates at Rice University. The report mischaracterizes ethanol’s ability to create jobs, cut greenhouse gas emissions and lessen America’s dependence on foreign oil.
In specific responses to media inquiries, Growth Energy pointed out:
• The conclusions in the Baker Institute report – to continue our nation’s addiction on dangerously expensive, high-carbon foreign oil – are in direct contradiction with the conclusions of numerous independent, government and academic reports, including the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the Department of Energy, the University of Nebraska, the Windmill Group, and others.
• From job creation to eliminating 13 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions and the need to import more than 320 million barrels of oil annually, ethanol’s positive impact on the United States is undeniable.
• According to a recent Sandia National Laboratory and General Motors report, The 90 Billion Gallon Biofuel Deployment Study, biofuels could replace nearly a third of current U.S. gasoline use by the year 2030.
• In 2008 alone, ethanol production contributed $65.6 billion to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product, and generated more than $11.9 billion in federal tax revenues. The estimated cost of the two major Federal incentives in 2008 totaled $4.7 billion. Consequently, the ethanol industry generated a surplus of $7.1 billion for the Federal treasury.
• What the opponents of ethanol don’t want discussed are the hidden costs of continuing our addiction to foreign oil – whether that’s the estimated $50 billion a year spent on protecting oil shipping routes, to the $100 billion a year that we move out of the U.S. economy to the economies of nations that do not share American values or interests.
• It is also worth noting that a recent GAO study found that since 1968 the oil industry has received more than $150 billion in tax breaks, subsidies and incentives. Domestic support for ethanol has been less than a tenth of that total, despite the fact that it is an emerging technology that will create U.S. jobs, lower greenhouse gas emissions and make America less dependent on foreign oil.
• An Iowa State University research team that invested farm subsidies, farm income and ethanol mandates, incentives and tariffs also concluded that U.S. ethanol policies saved the U.S. government as much as $2.65 billion in 2007 alone because farmer support payments were reduced due to the increased market for ethanol.
About Growth Energy
Growth Energy is a new, proactive group committed to the promise of agriculture and growing America’s economy through cleaner, greener energy. Growth Energy members recognize America needs a new ethanol approach. Through smart policy reform and a proactive grassroots campaign, Growth Energy promotes reducing greenhouse gas emissions, expanding the use of ethanol in gasoline, decreasing our dependence on foreign oil, and creating American jobs at home.