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Ganesan, Arvin[Ganesan.Arvin@epa.gov]
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Mon 7/15/2013 9:39:45 PM
APl's latest biofuel warnings aim for motorists' wallets

APl's latest biofuel warnings aim for motorists' wallets

By Erica Martinson
7/IS/13 S:38 PM EDT
The American Petroleum Institute is blending warnings about two separate biofuels mandates in
its latest attempt to drum up public opposition to the renewable fuel standard.
Anti-RFS
that the petroleum group launched Monday spend most
of their time warning motorists that they will face damaged engines and voided auto warranties
because of a related biofuels initiative - the EPA' s decision to allow IS percent "EIS" ethanol
blends in gasoline.
"Your engine won't like it, but your mechanic will,'' the ads say, while a mechanic in the
broadcast spots tells the audience that "I take cash or check."
"Only the president can fix the mandate for higher ethanol,'' says the narrator of the TV ad.
The ads don't clearly distinguish between the two programs: the RFS, which requires refineries
to blend increasing amounts of ethanol with gasoline, and the EPA's decision to allow gas
stations to serve EIS fuel despite oil and auto industry concerns about possible damage to older
cars. The two initiatives are related in that production of EIS may be needed to meet the volumes
of biofuel blending that the RFS law requires the EPA to set.
The API campaign comes in the face of uneven
on the Hill for repealing the law
that requires the EPA to set escalating mandates for blending of ethanol into gasoline. Members
from some com-heavy states are less supportive of a repeal, and House Energy and Commerce
Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) hasn't signed on as co-sponsor of a repeal bill.
So in the meantime, API wants the EPA and the White House to scale back its 2013 and 20I4
volume mandates to keep the amount of ethanol blended into gasoline under I 0 percent matching the ethanol percentage found in standard "EIO" gasoline blends. It also wants the
administration to waive the 2013 mandate for production of cellulosic ethanol.
"We want to keep Congress focused on this,'' API downstream group Director Bob Greco said
Monday. "We want to keep the administration focused on this."
The EPA's final rule setting the renewable fuel standard for 2013 is under review at OMB, and
API has a meeting scheduled there next week, Greco said.
API says the industry isn't interested in changing the law - only repealing it -but that in the
immediate future, the EPA has the power to avoid an impending "blend wall." That's the point

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where lowered U.S. gasoline use and the increased ethanol blending mandates cross, leading to
the RFS requiring more ethanol production than can be met by current gasoline demand. If that
happens, the industry is threatening to reduce gasoline production, which it says could boost
prices for consumers.
"I think we have gotten the sense from the administration that they recognize the impending
blend wall,'' Greco said.
But the EPA didn't suggest lowering the ethanol standard in the proposed rule it issued earlier
raising the volume mandate for
this year for the 2013 requirements. Instead, the agency
all types of biofuels compared with the 2012 requirements.
API says the industry faces an even bigger problem with the ethanol mandate in 2014, although
the EPA hasn't released a proposed rule for that year yet. "They' re drafting something now that
should have been out now,'' Greco said.
White House.
Since last year, OMB has taken visits from several com-based
that showed up
with an official from Sen. Chuck Grassley's (R-Iowa) office. Also meeting with OMB were
~'-'===-"'=~L' the
biofuels producer=~=-~==~=,

Growth Energy CEO Tom Buis, a biofuels advocate, accused API of focusing on profits over
science with its new public campaign.
"This is just more of the same from Big Oil,'' he said. "They will stop at nothing to maintain
their near monopoly on the liquid fuels market, even if it means saddling consumers with ever
increasing prices at the pump."
Biofuels advocates say DOE testing of EIS disproves the oil industry's warnings about engine
damage.
"This is nothing more than a diversion from what is really on motorists' minds. Notice how this
'new campaign' comes on the heels of a gas price increase of 3.2 cents last Friday, the largest
one day spike in five months, and predictions from AAA of another expected increase of 0 .10 to
0.15 cents in the coming days,'' Buis said.
Greco said the timing of API' s advertising campaign is unrelated to the recent spike in gasoline
pnces.
In an email to POLITICO, an EPA spokeswoman noted that OMB is expected to release the final
2013 volume standards as soon as August.
"EPA recognizes the blend wall is a complex issue and received feedback from a number of

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stakeholders during the comment period for the proposed 2013 RFS volume standards,''
spokeswoman Alisha Johnson said. "We will carefully consider the comments before issuing a
final rule and developing the proposals for 2014 standards."
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