WASHINGTON – (April 12, 2012) Earlier this week, U.S. Senate Candidate and Indiana State Treasurer Richard Mourdock made several false claims about ethanol and its impact on gasoline prices. Last night, during a debate with Sen. Dick Lugar, he repeated several of those fallacies. Growth Energy CEO Tom Buis made the following statement in response:
“I don’t know where Mr. Mourdock is getting his facts, but he’s been fed misinformation. In fact, he’s got the facts backward – ethanol actually keeps gas prices down at the pump, instead of raising them, as he claims. Wholesale ethanol is trading at a full dollar less than wholesale gasoline, and every drop of ethanol in gasoline saves consumers money. Additionally, ethanol contributes $520 million dollars annually to Indiana’s Gross State Product and generates $3.4 billion in economic activity every year. Instead of targeting ethanol made in Indiana from crops grown by Indiana farmers, Mr. Mourdock ought to be advocating using even more ethanol; which will lower gas prices to Hoosier consumers, reduce our dependence on foreign oil, create jobs in Indiana that can’t outsourced and improve our environment.