Tuesday, November 20, 2012

D.C. Public Relations Firm Gives EPJ the Thumbs Up


Finally on the right side of an issue, and D.C. takes immediate notice. Just received this email.

Hi Robert,

I hope this email finds you well. My name is Maura Kinney and I work at Edelman Public Relations. I am reaching out today on behalf of SmarterFuelFuture.org, a website intended to raise awareness about the economic, environmental, hunger and engine performance implications of current U.S. biofuels policy.  I’d like to offer you a story idea that your Economic Policy Journal readers will find timely.

Particularly, I wanted to follow up after seeing yesterday’s EPJ post by Dave Juday about the cost of Thanksgiving dinner and share a related infographic.

Nearly 88 percent of American families are expected to eat turkey on Thanksgiving. But, as highlighted in yesterday’s EPJ post, the American Farm Bureau Federation’s survey found that turkey dinner and all the fixings for 10 people will cost $49.48 in 2012. While this is not a drastic increase over last year, Thanksgiving will cost about 35 percent more than it did when the Renewable Fuel Standard was first passed in 2005.

The RFS—a policy that, as you know, has effectively monopolized 40 percent of the U.S. corn crop for use in ethanol—has negative implications for the U.S. economy and this beloved Thanksgiving tradition.

Prioritizing fuel over food also has real impacts on global poverty rates, ournational security and the prices we pay at the supermarket. Additionally, recent calculations show that the U.S. is losing a million jobs this year—along with $30 billion in economic growth—because we shifted too much of our corn into ethanol.

As I noted above, we just produced an infographic that details the widespread impact of the RFS on the food spectrum and the cost of Thanksgiving dinner in particular.

Please let me know if you have any questions about this infographic or if you would like to speak to someone about the economic implications of the RFS. I’m happy to help.

Thanks, Robert.

Best regards,
Maura

3 comments:

  1. >Finally on the right side of an issue, and D.C. takes immediate notice. Just received this email.

    You must be gaining critical mass, they are now trying to assimilate EPJ.

    On a more serious issue note, Ethanol is a disgusting boondoggle. It destroys auto, motorcycle, boat engines, fuel systems, parts. The cost to produce in terms of water use, land, processing adds great cost to the price of fuel. As the PR maven points out it takes corn crop out of production that could be used for feed stock and other food related uses. And to stick a needle in the voodoo doll, they are soon mandating E-15, meaning 15 percent ethanol blend, over an already high 10 percent amount. It is so destructive they will require pumps that can handle a 10 Percent blend for older vehicles, motorcycles, select engines, and others will have to go with 15 percent. There will be a four gallon fuel minimum to 'clear' the fuel line out, so the 15 percent mix does not foul up a 10 percent mix user.

    Yes, our EPA and our totalitarian government at work!

    I want a new country, I am sick of a society where we now waste most of our time dealing with issues that never should have seen the light of day. Oh, but the PR Maven makes a very nice living (as do many in DC) on all of this, so it will continue until everyone departs for less intrusive geography (which is and will happen).

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  2. I go 10 miles out of the way to get no ethanol fuel. It's worth it.

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  3. The funny thing is that even if you believe carbon emissions cause global warming, when you look at ethanol production as a whole (not just products of combustion but also emissions in growing and manufacturing) it has more greenhouse gas emissions associated with it than fossil fuels. Even a government-mandated study in California has found this to be the case.

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