Bipartisan Senate group, the Ethanol Six, denounces Grocery Manufacturers “smear campaign” against biofuels

A bipartisan group of six US Senators held a press conference yesterday to denounce the Grocery Manufacturers Association for engaging what they termed a “smear campaign” against ethanol, and called on the association to cease funding a campaign aimed at fostering a “global center-left coalition” against biofuels. “They need to blame someone for high grocery bills,” said Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA), while Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE) added “someone decided to add ethanol to the members of the axis of evil.” Senators Kit Bond (R-MO), Byron Dorgan (D-ND), John Thune (R-SD) and Ken Salazar (D-CO) also participated in the news conference. The audio from the news conference is available here.

Sen. Grassley recently posted documents from the Grocery Manufacturers Association anti-ethanol story on his website. The documents are the original request for proposal from the lobbying group, and the response by Glover Park. The Grocers hired Glover and Dutko Worldwide for $300,000 to create a public perception of a link between biofuels and rising food prices.

Documents obtained by and published in Roll Call identify that the Grocery Manufacturers Association has launched a massive, global PR campaign, pledging to assemble a “global center-left coalition” including hiring “trusted third-party experts” to link ethanol mandates to global hunger, food industry job losses and inflation.

“GMA has concluded that rising food prices … create a window to change perceptions about the benefits of bio-fuels and the mandate,” said the organization’s Request for Proposals sent to PR firms.

The firm eventually hired by the GMA, Glover Park, said that it would employ an “urgent and remedy-based messaging strategy” to convince lawmakers that food prices is a “‘Now’ issue that is fast reaching crisis proportions for American consumers,” and said it would produce an “online, viral campaign” to link ethanol and food prices.

The GMA issued the RFP in March to, quoting from the RFP, “build a groundswell in support of freezing or reversing some provisions of the 2007 Energy Bill and for the elimination/reform of ethanol subsidies and import restrictions.” Subsequently the Governors of two states and 24 Republican Senators, including presumptive Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain, called for a freeze. The GMA is a backer of McCain’s campaign, and the two Senators who received the most financial support from the GMA’s political action committee in this election cycle are among the 24 who signed the call for a biofuels review.

The GMA hired Andy Wright, former chief of staff to Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.), to oversee a grassroots program to discredit biofuels.

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