The Ethanol Papers - Paperturn manuscript - Flipbook - Page 557
HOW THIS BOOK REVIEW CAME ABOUT
I’ve come across Robert Bryce’s name over the past few years as I’ve researched aspects of the oil industry and alternative fuels. I’ve read a couple of
his articles and heard him interviewed on the radio. But it wasn’t until a recent
radio interview with Mark Mills, a colleague of Mr. Bryce from the Manhattan
Institute of Policy, that I really took notice of what Manhattan Institute and its
“experts” were saying about oil and alternative fuels.
In the past, I’ve had considerable disagreement with some of the folks at the
CATO Institute, another organization that professes right-wing-ish, conservative, open market, libertarian perspectives like those generally espoused by
Manhattan Institute. As I’ve chronicled on The Auto Channel website, I’ve found
that CATO’s Jerry Taylor and Richard Rahn support an energy policy that to me
is as far from being “open market” and libertarian as Earth is from the Andromeda galaxy. So I wanted to see how Manhattan Institute’s policies compare with
CATO.
I was unaware of GUSHER OF LIES until the other day when I received a reply
from Mr. Bryce to an email I sent him. In my email I wrote:
“I'm wondering if you've ever had the chance to actually research what
you say about ethanol and E15 or if you are merely repeating the information points sent to you by one of the oil industry public relations groups.
I realize that it might appear as if I am simply being confrontational, but
I'm not trying to be. I'm seriously asking how you have come to the opinions that you have.
“In my own experience with covering the automotive world for nearly 30
years I didn't start out with any agenda regarding fuels…But in my personal research of ethanol, which includes purchasing a non-flex fuel vehicle so that I could experiment with using various blend levels of ethanolgasoline, I can tell you that the problems you write about are false.
“In addition, your apparent recitation of issues related to using corn for
the production of ethanol lacks basic business acumen. Perhaps business has not been a focus for you, and therefore the principles of production have not been apparent. But if you're going to attack the use of corn
you should make an attempt at understanding the business side.”
