A poll commissioned by the oil industry revealed that voters are concerned about President Trump’s plan to allow gasoline with higher ethanol volumes to be sold year-round.
The poll was released on Monday by the American Petroleum Institute (API) as part of its opposition to the president’s proposal announced earlier this month.
Poll workers told voters that E15 — gasoline with up to 15 percent ethanol — could be sold in the summer months under Trump’s proposal, and the fuel “has been shown to damage vehicle engines and fuel systems, and most cars on the road today are not designed to run on E15.”
When voters were asked “how concerned” they would be with Trump’s plan, 79 percent said they were either “very” or “somewhat” concerned, while only 17 percent said they were “not very” concerned or not concerned.
API said the results show that voters don’t like the idea.
“Consumers are speaking loud and clear,” said Frank Macchiarola, API’s vice president for downstream operations.
“These numbers reinforce the need for the administration to reconsider this decision to allow year-round sale of E15,” he said. “American families should not have to be burdened with an unexpected car repair bill because of a fuel that our government essentially pushed into the marketplace against the clear letter of the law.”
The Renewable Fuel Association slammed API’s poll.
“API’s newest poll is so manipulative it can’t even be called a ‘push poll.’ It’s more like a ‘shove poll’ that bullies respondents into answering the questions exactly the way API wants them answered,” said Geoff Cooper, RFA’s president. “These results are meaningless and do nothing to objectively represent consumer opinion on E15.”
Cooper reported that all cars made in 2001 or later are legally allowed to use E15.
Trump instructed the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) this month to repeal current standards that prohibit E15 sales during the summer. The ethanol industry has been pushing for the change, but the EPA had previously resisted, noting air pollution and legal concerns.
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