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August 6, 2008
Biofuels keeps over $500 per year in consumers’ pocket and out of big oil profits.
Public companies have a commitment to their investors to drive shareholder value upward. The oil industry is certainly no exception, and in fact Big Oil has shown a long-standing propensity to do just that. After all, they market a product that has seen ever increasing demand all over the world for decades with very little competition from other products. Who knew these companies actually had a well developed strategy to keep new products at bay, or even completely out of the picture. Recent news regarding the soaring profits of companies like Exxon Mobile and Chevron is certainly no surprise to consumers; drivers have been paying the outrageous price at the pump for months now. What is a surprise is that the oil companies expected to make even more, and actually missed Wall Street expectations so their share prices dipped in the marketplace.
Renewable fuels, especially ethanol, are playing a key role in keeping the price at the pump lower for consumers. Does Big Oil appreciate it? Not in the least. Their advocates and a well funded public relations machine is throwing everything except the fuel pump itself at ethanol in order to confuse and misinform the public. Consumers save an average $536 per year by having a biofuels product like ethanol available them, whether it is an e10 or e85 blend of standard fuel and ethanol. Cleary a portion of that is coming right out of the oil company’s profits and they don’t like it much.
We all applaud a company that returns value to its shareholders, but when it comes from the overall good of consumers and impacts our country’s energy independence and security, we simply should not stay on the sidelines. The renewable fuels industry is focused on providing one clear deterrent to rising fuel costs, ethanol.
About EPIC:
The Ethanol Promotion and Information Council is an alliance of ethanol producers and industry leaders who have come together to spread the word about the benefits of ethanol through information and promotional programs. EPIC is a nonprofit organization and is overseen by an 11 member board of directors. Visit www.DrivingEthanol.org for more information about EPIC.
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