Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) President and CEO Bob Dinneen dismissed a push poll released today by the American Petroleum Institute (API), which claimed that a majority of voters are concerned about using ethanol in their engines and are opposed to the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). Dinneen called the poll utterly dishonest and noted that the questions are so biased with prejudicial lead-in text that the data cannot be considered remotely credible.
Commenting on the absurdity of the poll questions, Dinneen stated that framing their misplaced narrative about food versus fuel, engine damage, and gasoline price impacts as questions, while blatantly ignoring all the facts to the contrary, assures a predetermined result that adds nothing to the public discourse.
Dinneen said the RFA has been conducting its own monthly surveys throughout the year to ask respondents their opinions about ethanol and the RFS. He noted the RFA surveys, which have been conducted by Morning Consult, have consistently shown strong support among the public for the RFS. November’s survey asked 2,001 (twice the number surveyed by API) registered voters for their opinions on biofuels and the RFS. Dinneen pointed out that RFA’s questions were straightforward and balanced, as opposed to those posed by API. When asked in the RFA survey whether they supported the RFS, 62 percent of respondents indicated that they supported the RFS, while 16 percent of respondents indicated they opposed the program. In fact, the RFA poll found that a majority of voters (52 percent) think the RFS should be expanded!