Bikers, Boaters, Oil Companies Join Fight Against U.S. Biofuels Program

摘要

Count bikers, boaters and, to hear some say, even God, among those who oppose the U.S. law that forces refiners to use corn to make gasoline. In more than 413,000 public comments to the Environmental Protection Agency, ethanol opponents are battling it out with oil producers and farmers in a bid to reshape the 2007 law. The agency, which in May proposed lowering the amount of ethanol that refiners must use in gasoline, is expected to release final targets Nov. 30. The plan has drawn passionate responses from both sides. "If God meant corn to be used for fuel, he would have made it flammable in its natural state," said Kathleen Baker of Clarkston, Wash., one of at least 23 people who invoked the Holy Spirit in comments to the EPA. Tom Morgan, from Mondamin, Iowa, wrote that the ethanol mandate helps to defund "terrorists" by reducing dependence on foreign oil.