By now it shouldn’t really surprise any of us to hear the lies and misinformation about ethanol coming from the oil companies. But an oil industry trade group recently stooped to a new low, equating ethanol to the fuel additive MTBE. MTBE is proven to contaminate ground water and is suspected to cause cancer. Right on, oil companies! Ethanol and toxic MTBE are exactly the same. (Insert sarcasm here.) 

It would appear that the oil industry believes that the average American has the intellect of a flea. The industry, in this case represented by the American Fuel & Petrochemical Association, must think that their argument that implies ethanol is likely to cause as much damage as MTBE will slide by with not so much as a sideways glance.

Well if it looks like a duck and acts like a duck and sounds like a duck, well then, it’s probably a duck. That’s the lesson that should be applied here. The AFPA claim is illegitimate. But hey, let’s not let a few facts get in the way.

Fact: Ethanol is a renewable fuel source derived from plants.

Fact: Ethanol is biodegradable.

Fact: Ethanol has never polluted a beach due to a massive spill.

Fact: Ethanol is actually consumed as a beverage in its non-fuel form.

Fact: Ethanol has been rigorously tested to prove its safety as a fuel.

Fact: MTBE is manufactured by oil companies for oil companies.

Fact: Ethanol is a competing product to petroleum and MTBE.

Fact: Oil companies don’t like competing products (like ethanol).