Veterans’ ad backs fuels mandate
Source: Written by Donnelle Eller, Des Moines Register • Posted: Tuesday, January 7, 2014
A gas pump that includes E85. / REGISTER FILE PHOTO
A national veterans group today launches a new TV ad in Des Moines and Washington, D.C., supporting the federal mandate for the amount of renewable fuels that must be blended into the U.S. fuel supply.
VoteVets.org, a Portland, Ore.-based group with 360,000 backers, said it’s spending $110,000 to air the ad.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposed in November cutting by 3 billion gallons the required amount of renewable fuels that would be blended into the U.S. fuel supply this year. It would reduce corn-based ethanol use by about 1.4 billion gallons.
The EPA is taking comments until Jan. 28 on reducing the Renewable Fuel Standard, unleashing massive lobbying efforts from renewable fuels supporters, including Iowa congressional leaders, Midwest governors and industry leaders, and opponents, including the American Petroleum Institute.
Proponents of the mandate say it reduces dependence on foreign oil, creates U.S. jobs, and supports the next generation of renewable fuels technology. Opponents say the market is unable to absorb more ethanol use without higher blends.
Today’s TV ad features Iraq War veteran Michael Connolly, a former Iowan. He says one of the best ways to support veterans is to back renewable fuels such as ethanol. “More renewable fuels like the kind grown here in Iowa means we use less foreign oil. And that means less money for our enemies.”
The group said in a news release: “Although the United States often does not directly buy oil from hostile nations, like Iran, America’s dependence on oil drives up demand, and prices of oil on the world market, which benefits all oil-rich nations.”
“Those oil dollars allowed Iran, for instance, to produce and ship explosively formed penetrators (EFPs) to Iraqi insurgents, who used them to target our troops,” the group said. The EFPs are used as roadside bombs in Iraq.
View the ad at www.youtube .com/watch?v=5cqc2-D51Iw.