Early last week, in an article in Reuters, Jack Gerard, chief executive of the American Petroleum Institute, used an analogy that likened the Renewable Fuel Standard to cancer. I&rsquo;ll just let that soak in for a moment.
The Sept. 24 article was about signs that may signal a shifting focus on &ldquo;reforming&rdquo; the RFS, rather than repealing it. Gerard was talking about the renewable identification number (RIN) market when he said that he believed Congress shouldn&rsquo;t examine the RIN system without also doing something with the RFS, comparing the first scenario to putting a band aid on cancer. "We believe we need to eradicate the cancer and that's the Renewable Fuel Standard."
It seems to be a poor choice of words for API, a Big Oil lobbyist. To me, it&rsquo;s something like if McDonalds were to draw a comparison between the farm bill and the obesity epidemic. Redirect much?
I&rsquo;m not the only one that thinks so, either. Brian Jennings, executive vice president for the American Coalition for Ethanol, sent out a press release the next day, asking for an apology. &ldquo;That is an unfortunate analogy coming from the top lobbyist for Big Oil, whose members sell a product that causes cancer,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve never suggested ethanol is a cure-all, but the RFS has proven to be a very effective treatment to the damage done to our environment and economy by oil. &nbsp;Cancer is a tragic and deadly disease affecting too many American families, we ask that API and its members apologize for making this offensive comparison.&rdquo;
I did some searching on the internet and found that the <a href="http://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancercauses/othercarcinogens/intheworkplace/benzene" target="_blank">American Cancer Society</a> says benzene, a gasoline additive, is a known carcinogen, as noted by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, the National Toxicology Program and the U.S. EPA. In a list of various ways for limiting exposure to benzene, the American Cancer Society gives this advice. &ldquo;Try to limit gasoline fumes by pumping gas carefully and choosing gas stations with vapor recovery systems that capture the fumes. Avoid skin contact with gasoline.&rdquo;
Steve Vander Griend, chair of the Technical Committee for the Urban Air Initiative,&nbsp;addressed this issue in a recent <a href="http://www.ethanolproducer.com/articles/10216/epa-report-on-pollutants-ethanol-is-flawed-white-paper-says" target="_blank">white paper, released by Ethanol Across America</a>.&nbsp;&ldquo;Oil is refined into various groups of hydrocarbons including polluting aromatics, which are then formulated to provide fuels such as RBOB (reformulated blendstock for oxygenate blending),&rdquo; he wrote in the paper. &ldquo;Aromatic hydrocarbons, which are a source of octane for refiners, are toxic and often carcinogenic.&rdquo;
Vander Griend, who is a fountain of knowledge on fuel quality issues and has been known to send out fuel samples for testing, has concerns about what the oil industry is selling consumers at the gas pumps. &ldquo;I think too many people think gasoline is like a can of Coke,&rdquo; he told me. &ldquo;They think there&rsquo;s going to be so much sugar, so much carbonation and they expect this kind of taste. Gasoline is not like that. Gasoline is a mixture of 100, 200 different hydrocarbons and you&rsquo;ll still end up with 50 or 100 unidentifieds. It may only end up being 2 or 3 percent but there still unidentifieds.&rdquo;
Vander Griend found Gerard&rsquo;s cancer comparison almost unbearable and said he&rsquo;d love to have a chance to debate the facts with API. Especially considering the fact that ethanol is something people regularly drink. &ldquo;[It&rsquo;s] time to remind API not to play with a double edged sword,&rdquo; he said.
It shouldn&rsquo;t be that shocking that a representative of Big Oil would use such an inappropriate analogy when talking about the RFS. After all, blaming renewable fuels for problems the oil industry actually causes is a favorite move from their playbook. Still, it's irksome to say the least.&nbsp;

A representative of Big Oil recently made an offensive and ridiculous comment about the RFS. 

News flash: Gas contains known carcinogens

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