Big Oil Rolls Out Al Gore to Torpedo Ethanol

To persuade President Obama to abandon ethanol, the oil industry and its allies will try a new television advertising pitch, starting today: Ethanol is worse for the climate than gasoline.
Photographer: Scott Olson/Getty Images
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Climate change has a new evangelist: Big oil.

In its bid to roll back government mandates for the use of biofuels, petroleum producers have run out a series of arguments: It harms engines; it raises food costs; it’s bad for boats; and the mandate is government interference in the economy.