Why Bother With Facts?

  • Tuesday, 20 January 2015 00:00

It's no big secret that the anti-ethanol crowd play very loosely with facts. But there has to be a limit. Don't these folks know that just about anyone with a smartphone can check up on their claims within seconds?

The latest bit of tripe from the anti-ethanol / anti-fact gang comes courtesy of Smarter Fuel Future - a group aligned with the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers, marine and off-road vehicle associations and a number of dairy and poultry groups. The usual suspects.

The group's latest diatribe is targeted at E15 (special thanks to the RFA for alerting us on it). Attacks on E15 aren't new. But what's shocking is the shoddy manner in which Smarter Fuel Future misuses facts to support its claims.

As shown from the screenshot below, the group tries to use a statement by Toyota, which it correctly identifies as the producer of the best-selling car in America, the Camry.

 

Smarter Fuel Future 

The quote the group references is not in any Toyota owner's manual but was part of the carmaker's response to Chicago's WGN TV in December and in particular, on the use of E15 in its legacy vehicles. But since Smarter Fuel Future cited the Camry in particular, here's what the Camry's 2014 manual says.

Camry fuel

Of course, all Smarter Fuel Future had to do was check Toyota's official website where manuals for all its vehicles are available. And in case you're wondering, the owner's manual for the 2015 Camry says the same thing about E15. For the record, the EPA has approved the use of E15 in cars 2001 and newer and one of the cars in our fleet is a 2006 that has run 35,000 miles on E15.