Big Oil is out in full force this week attacking homegrown biofuels like ethanol and calling for an end to the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS).

Perhaps it was the nice spring weather that brought the oil industry out of its hibernation. Maybe it was the fact that six of the nine republican presidential hopefuls expressed support for the RFS at an Iowa ag forum over the weekend.

Or maybe Big Oil is getting desperate. Their profits are down, consumers are still demanding cleaner burning, homegrown choices at the pump, and ethanol continues to cut into the oil industry’s monopoly on America’s fuel tanks.

This week also marked the 102nd anniversary of Big Oil tax breaks, which were first adopted during the Wilson administration and remain in effect today. Instead of throwing a party to commemorate the occasion, the oil industry decided to lash out against biofuels, the only real threat to Big Oil’s government-supported monopoly.

Whatever the reason, Big Oil ratcheted up the misinformation, half-truths and talking points disguised as independent studies this week.

• There was this op-ed in the New York Times, which was written by the author of a Manhattan Institute report on “The Hidden Corn Ethanol Tax.” Turns out the author, Robert Bryce, has heavy ties to the oil industry. The Manhattan Institute has received $635,000 from ExxonMobil and nearly $2 million from the Claude R. Lambe Charitable foundation, where Big Oil powerhouse Charles Koch and his wife sit on the board of directors. It isn’t the first time Bryce has shilled for Big Oil in the New York Times and regurgitated long disproven myths about renewable fuels.
• The Wall Street Journal trashed ethanol, questioning why we need the RFS to mandate 10 percent ethanol in our fuel supply. Of course the Wall Street Journal — a longtime shill for the oil industry — didn’t mention anything about the billions in tax breaks enjoyed by the oil cartels.
• Even former Tonight Show host Jay Leno penned an anti-ethanol tirade in Auto Week magazine. Leno’s outburst was strange since he previously expressed support for farmers and homegrown biofuels. Writing on the E-xchange blog, syndicated car show host and auto technician Bobby Likis refutes Leno’s misguided rant. Likis also says the article reeks of B..O., aka Big Oil.

Several biofuels leaders held a press call on Wednesday morning to set the record straight about the blatantly false claims made earlier in the week about ethanol. The call was also an opportunity to highlight how the RFS has benefited America’s economy and the air we breathe. A summary of the call can be viewed here.

One would think Big Oil would be in a more festive mood this week, given spring is finally here and they’re celebrating 102 years of taxpayer subsidies.  Instead, the oil industry was its usual bitter, bullying and misguided self.

Rest assured, as long as Big Oil keeps making desperate and misguided claims about ethanol and homegrown biofuels, we’ll keep refuting them.