The Ethanol Papers - Paperturn manuscript - Flipbook - Page 363
Ethanol Honesty Is The Best Energy Policy
Originally published January 30, 2015
It's always very troubling when a person touted as having high proficiency in
one area tries tackling something in which they have zero proficiency. I think
this may be the situation with Debbie Carlson, a professional writer who typically
pens financial articles. Two days ago, TheGuardian.com published her story
titled "Energy hypocrisy: Ethanol isn't a good fuel, but it's not going away anytime soon." Ms. Carlson apparently failed to investigate the subject sufficiently.
To be fair, if fair is the correct word to use, the genesis of Ms. Carlson's article
may not have come from an original inspiration; it may have been initiated via
a solicitation from an interested subjective party. These kinds of solicitations
usually come to freelance writers and speakers with suggested phrases and
key points that must be addressed in the presentation. Because these solicitations often emanate from what seem like respectable middlemen and public
relations companies, the freelancer often does little or no independent factchecking, choosing to just rely on the veracity of the information provided.
Given the large number of inaccurate statements in Ms. Carlson's article, it
probably wasn't her investigative skills that were at fault.
My problem with Ms. Carlson's article begins with the title. There are two reasons for this: First, it's untrue, ethanol is an excellent fuel. Second, she included
nothing within her story to support calling ethanol a bad fuel.
