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Tell Congress What You Think

Don't stop now.
Tell your Senators and Congressperson what
you think.  Pick the points that express your
opinion and Voters Voice will create
a personalized, professional, persuasive letter
from you to your elected representatives. 

Your letters will be created and emailed back to you
for your approval and signature. 

Please select the top 3 reasons you are against more ethanol development through The American Fuels Act.  Then finish your letter order with your identifying information.  These items are required to set up your personal letterhead and verify your correct Congressional rep.

I AM AGAINST THE THE AMERICAN FUELS ACT BECAUSE:
Once you submit your request above, Voters Voice will email your customized letters to you.  We recommend that you actually print out your letter, sign it, and then send it via "snail mail," which is still given the most weight in political correspondence.
1. It’s the wrong strategy. Ethanol is a tiny drop in a huge bucket. Even if we diverted the entire corn crop to ethanol, it would only supply about 16% of our annual fuel needs. We need to get our head out of the sand and go get the oil we know is waiting offshore and in Anwar and embedded in tar sands and shale.

2. It’s not cost effective. It takes almost as much energy to make ethanol as it saves in oil. The net energy benefits are just too small. Then, when you fill up, you can see your mileage go down by as much as 15%. That makes it an even more expensive proposition for consumers who will wisely choose other fuels.

3. It’s driving companies out of business and into inflationary spirals. Farmers who raise livestock are facing cost increases on every front. From small farms and ranches to giants like Butterball and Sara Lee, the double surge in production costs and transportation costs is causing great economic hardship. As consumer prices reflect these increased costs, we’re fueling an inflationary cycle that affects every American.

4. Ethanol actually adds to overall fuel costs. Ethanol isn’t cheap. That’s the reason we’ve been subsidizing it all these years. If we really want ethanol, it would be smarter just to remove the 54 cent tariff on imports. Plus, every new regulation the government adds makes it more difficult and expensive for everyone to do business. The Federal Reformulated Gasoline standards should be simplified, not made more complex. Bottom line, we’re making it more expensive than it has to be. How can that possibly serve our national interests?

5. There’s no infrastructure. We can’t use any of the existing pipelines. Ethanol is too heavy. So it will have to be shipped by rail or trucked to locations, an ironic situation given the high cost of fuels these days. Plus millions of pumps in gas stations across the country would have to be added or upgraded. Or drivers will have to waste fuel looking for an E-85 pump. It’s just not practical or prudent.

6. The reduction in emissions is negligible. There’s a lot of debate about just how much – or rather how little – greenhouse gases are really decreased due to ethanol. While some elements like Benzene might be reduced, Nitrogen Oxides and Volatile Organic Emissions (VOCs) might even be higher than gasoline. Add to that the land we’re stripping of forests so we can grow sugar cane and other fuel feedstock and you may even get a negative environmental impact.

7. Subsidies are just corporate welfare. Last year we spent $7 billion to get 5 billion gallons of ethanol and we’re on track to spend as much as $25 billion by 2017 – All that and less than 2% of our cars and trucks can even run on E-85. We’re creating a false market that will never be able to sustain itself – just the opposite of the free market system that made us the world’s business leader.

8. We’re robbing the Highway Trust Fund. All these so-called incentives are coming at the expense of our highways and bridges. The $7 billion or more we’re paying in subsidies is $7 billion less going to much needed repairs. Do you think the fact we’ve been doing this for 30 years might be the reason our infrastructure is in such bad shape? We have to ask ourselves – which is more important – developing ethanol or protecting public safety?

9. It’s hurting our food supply. Not only has the cost of corn shot through the roof, other crops like oats, wheat and soy are more expensive because more of the land has been switched to corn. The feed for livestock has also soared, which is sending up the price of eggs, meat and dairy. In other words, ethanol is having a trickle up effect on food prices and stealing resources from our food supply.

10. It’s time to freeze ethanol mandates, not expand them. With a global food shortage and the highest U.S. food inflation in 15 years, we need to look where we’re going before we drive off a cliff. Besides, is this really where we want to invest our money? Or would it be better spent pursuing less costly alternatives? Whatever we do, we must stop this ethanol-caused inflation before it makes eating a luxury and driving a memory.

Your name (as it should appear on your letterhead and signature line)

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Your e-mail address

Should we also generate letters to the Finance and Readiness Committees?
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Here is the order of importance generally given to communications with elected officials.

1. Personal, printed letter
2. Telephone call
3. Personal Email
4. Form letter or form Email
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© Voters Voice, Inc. 2008