American Coalition for Ethanol sends letter to EPA supporting E15 in all vehicles, proper labeling efforts, consumer choice

American Coalition for Ethanol letter to EPA supports E15 in all vehicles, proper labeling efforts, and consumer choice

Sioux Falls, SD (December 16, 2009) – The American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) today wrote to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lisa Jackson, outlining its support for the use of E15 in all vehicles and providing guidance on how to roll out pump labeling for when E15 reaches retail stations.

“While ACE strongly preferred that EPA would have announced approval of the use of E15 in all motor vehicles on December 1, we also recognize the Agency was under extraordinary pressure from special interests that oppose biofuels to reject the waiver outright. In the letter dated November 30 explaining EPA’s decision, we are very gratified that the Agency refuted these critics of ethanol, affirming ACE’s long-held position, saying that ‘it is clear that ethanol will need to be blended into gasoline at levels greater than the current limit of 10 percent.’ This statement and others contained in your response encourage us that the approval of up to E15 is inevitable – a matter of when, not if,” Brian Jennings, Executive Vice President of ACE, stated in the letter.

ACE is the nation’s largest ethanol advocacy organization, with nearly 1500 members nationwide who collectively represent nearly 1 million grassroots employees and individuals.

“If EPA approves the use of E15 in newer vehicles by mid-year 2010, it will be a step in the right direction, but ACE will continue to note that the data supports the use of E15 in all vehicles. It has been pointed out that the data available to date does not contain any ‘showstoppers’ regarding the use of E15 in vehicles older than the 2001 model year. Surely we can all agree that if the data supports the use of E15 in all vehicle engines, than dividing the vehicle fleet will only cause unnecessary confusion for motorists and complications for petroleum marketers,” ACE stated.

ACE emphasized the importance of proper labeling at the pump when E15 does reach retail stations. “With regard to labeling, our initial primary concern would be to ensure labels are informative rather than inflammatory. If a labeling program is to be implemented, the label should not be a ‘warning’ label, as was prevalent at the roll-out of E10,” ACE stated. “We urge EPA to take special consideration to ensure labeling, if implemented, is done correctly.” ACE noted that significantly different perceptions consumers would have from labels stating “For use in 2001 or newer vehicles” versus “Do not use in vehicles manufactured before 2001” or “May cause damage to older vehicles.”

In conjunction with the Renewable Fuels Association, the National Corn Growers Association, and leading corn-growing states, ACE has launched the “Blend Your Own Ethanol” campaign to work with petroleum marketers nationwide to answer questions about ethanol blending and about using blender pumps to offer more fuel choices to motorists. In its letter to EPA, ACE also noted its ongoing work with the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS), the Petroleum Marketers Association of America (PMAA), the Society of Independent Gasoline Marketers of America (SIGMA), and key Members of Congress to address any liability concerns petroleum marketers may have when offering higher ethanol blends.

“It is ACE’s strong contention that E15 should not be the highest and final mid-level blend of ethanol permitted to be used in the motor fuel supply,” ACE stated. “Ultimately we need to provide a range of choices for consumers. Lurching from the E10 blend wall to the E15 blend wall to the next blend wall is unintelligent and unsustainable. Instead, ACE advocates for consumers to be able to use E10, E15, E20, E30, E85 or ‘ethanol-free’ gasoline, and we believe that when consumers are finally given these meaningful choices through blender pumps, they will select the fuel that works best in their vehicles.”

Read the full ACE letter here: http://www.ethanol.org/pdf/contentmgmt/ACE_Response_to_EPA_on_E15.pdf

ACE members include farmers, ethanol producers, industry suppliers, rural electric co-ops, the agriculture community, and others supportive of ethanol. Learn more about ACE at www.ethanol.org or about the BYOethanol campaign at www.byoethanol.com.

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The American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) is the grassroots voice of the U.S. ethanol industry, a national trade association for the ethanol industry with nearly 1,500 members nationwide, including farmers, ethanol producers, commodity organizations, businesses supplying goods and services to the ethanol industry, rural electric cooperatives, and individuals supportive of increased production and use of ethanol. For more information about ethanol or ACE, visit www.ethanol.org or call (605) 334-3381.

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