Anti-ethanol ad comes to ethanol-friendly Indiana

WASHINGTON – The fight against ethanol has come to one of the biggest ethanol-producing states.

A weeklong cable and broadcast ad campaign alleging ethanol increases greenhouse gas emissions and food prices started Tuesday in Indiana, which ranks 4th for ethanol production in the United States.

"Ethanol mandates were supposed to be part of a clean energy future," the ad says. "Mounting scientific evidence has revealed the inconvenient truth. Increasing ethanol mandates can actually make things worse. Tell Congress and the administration to end ethanol mandates."

The Environmental Protection Agency will decide by the end of the month how much ethanol – much of it made from corn -- must be blended into the country's gasoline supply through 2016. The EPA has proposed lowering the amount put in place by Congress in 2007 because of slower-than-expected growth in cellulosic ethanol, lower gasoline consumption than had been predicted and spotty acceptance of higher-ethanol blends such as E15 and E85.

The EPA's pending decision has set off a fierce battle with corn growers and the biofuels industry on one side, and the oil and gas industry and other business interests, environmental advocates, hunger activists and fiscal watchdog groups on the other.

The biofuels industry charges in their advertising that "the oil industry is lying about biofuels."

"Oil companies like Exxon have been lying about climate change for decades," says the ad, which is paid for by Fuels America, a coalition of agribusiness groups and companies whose members include DuPont, Monsanto and the National Corn Growers Association.

The anti-ethanol ads that began in Indiana Tuesday were sponsored by the American Council for Capital Formation, a free enterprise group that's part of a coalition fighting the ethanol mandates that includes oil companies, snack food companies, dairy producers and other interest groups.

The ads previously ran in Ohio, Vermont, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Washington, D.C. Indiana is the first state among the top five corn producers to be included in the ad campaign.

The Indiana Corn Growers Association immediately charged that the ads -- which they said came from "mega oil companies" -- are deliberately misleading, including ignoring the fact that corn prices are lower than they were when the blending standard went into effect so can't be responsible for raising food prices.

"Hoosiers know we need less dependence on foreign oil and more production of cleaner-burning, homegrown energy," said Indiana Corn Growers Association President Herb Ringel, a farmer from Wabash.

Indiana’s ethanol production has increased more than 13-fold since 2000, and contributes more than $3.5 billion in economic activity and revenue to Indiana, according to the association.

"Governor Pence and Lieutenant Governor Ellspermann encourage all Hoosiers to use biofuels because they are a renewable source of energy, reduce our dependence on foreign oil, provide cleaner air and create jobs for Indiana workers and new markets for Indiana farmers," according to an Indiana biofuels Website jointly sponsored by the state, agricultural interests and clean fuel promoters.

USA TODAY reporters Christopher Doering and Deirdre Shesgreen contributed to this story.