Since World War II, a recession has followed 11 of the last 12 episodes of high oil prices. Some people like to blame other factors, but it is quite obvious that oil controls all other markets, including food prices.
The scariest part of oil’s power is that we are dangerously dependent on petroleum from volatile areas of the world. Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus has said, “When we did an examination of the vulnerabilities of the Navy and Marine Corps, fuel rose to the top of the list pretty fast. We simply buy too much fossil fuel from actual and potentially volatile places.”
Without the 14.3 billion gallons of domestic ethanol used in the U.S. in 2014, the United States’ net import dependence would have stood at 35% instead of 28%. In effect, the ethanol produced in 2014 displaced an amount of gasoline refined from 512 million barrels of crude oil – slightly more than the amount of oil imported annually from Saudi Arabia.
It is time that we explain why we are not supporting the energy security provided by American Ethanol. It is a shame that we continue to be tricked by the greedy oil industry who uses multi-million dollar campaigns to pollute the facts. Ethanol also has created over 13,000 jobs in our state alone. Ethanol is an environmentally friendly American produced renewable resource, and It’s time we stand for American Ethanol by supporting the Renewable Fuels Standard.
— Jason Greve, Ohio Corn and Wheat, Shelby County Producer
