American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) Response to Time Magazine

To the editor:

The cover article on biofuels by Michael Grunwald raises important issues that deserve a thorough and balanced discussion. Unfortunately, his piece utterly fails to achieve that important goal. 

Relying upon recently published studies that have been discredited by numerous scientific reviewers, Grunwald misrepresents the facts by inexplicably linking demand for corn-based ethanol in the U.S. to clearing of the Amazon rainforest - leading to more global warming.  This is an especially bizarre conclusion in light of the fact that Brazilian deforestation dropped to a 20 year low in 2007 at the same time U.S. ethanol production reached an all-time high. According to the National Institute of Space Research, deforestation in the Amazon has decreased by two-thirds since 2004, just as U.S. ethanol production began to grow significantly. In other words, statistics indicate that Amazon deforestation is decreasing as ethanol production increases – a truth perhaps too inconvenient for Mr. Grunwald to acknowledge in his article.

In reality, there is no evidence linking current rates of land clearing in the tropics with increased biofuels production in the U.S. Grunwald neither quotes any of the experts who disagree with his basic plot line, nor does he note the fact that the primary culprit in Brazilian deforestation is its cattle industry, followed by subsistence farming, infrastructure development, urbanization, and logging. 

If TIME magazine really believes we can drill and import our way out of our energy security problem, then it is out of touch with reality and with the American public who has grown fed up with sending $1 billion per day to dangerous foreign nations. Ethanol is a necessary part of the U.S. energy mix. Without it, America's dependence on foreign oil will continue to grow and we will turn increasingly to drilling and mining for oil in truly environmentally damaging ways.

Brian Jennings, Executive Vice President

American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE)