This article is published as a response by the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association to this report by Boat US.
It is disappointing that BoatUS, once a reliable organization looking out for boaters, has turned into a (paid?) mouthpiece for the American Petroleum Institute (API).
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It further undermines BoatUS when they regurgitate API’s attack claiming Iowans don’t choose biofuels, which was based on cherry-picked data over a year out of date. Why did API/BoatUS ignore the new data? Maybe because they didn’t want to report these current facts:
• In the last year, E15 sales in Iowa surged over 400 percent.
• During the same period E85 sales grew by over 50 percent.
• Iowa stations that offer the choice of E0 and E15 sell more E15.
• Since 2012, E0 sales in Iowa have dropped by 26 percent to their lowest recorded level.
Those facts don’t support API/BoatUS’ ridiculous allegation that Iowans prefer gasoline without ethanol. The truth is over 90 percent of Iowans choose an ethanol blend for their vehicles, and increasingly they choose higher blends like E15.
For boaters, it’s important to know that every boat engine has been approved to run on E10 for the past 30 years. E10 is boater’s most cost-effective, environmentally-friendly fuel option. In fact, every Crappie Masters Tournament winner for the past three years has used E10. API is simply trying to scare boat owners as part of their efforts to maintain their fuel monopoly.
What API doesn’t tell you is that its members ban their branded stations from offering E15. They know their only way to maintain market share is to prevent consumers from having a choice. API is scared to death to compete with E15 that is lower-cost, cleaner-burning, and higher octane than E0.
While it is true that E10 is the highest ethanol blend approved for marine use, API would rather outlaw the choice of E15 to drivers than trust boaters are smart enough to read a fuel pump label. So next time API attempts to spread misleading ethanol information, we hope BoatUS will put the facts ahead of insulting boaters across the nation. E10 is good for boat engines, good for boaters’ pocketbooks, and doesn’t pollute the clean water boaters rely on.
For more information, contact the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association
