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American Lung Association
The mission of the American Lung Association is to prevent lung disease and promote lung health. Established in 1904, the ALA is the oldest voluntary health organization in the United States, with a National Office and constituent and affiliate associations around the country.
The ALA has concluded that the automobile is still the single biggest source of air pollution, despite the progress that has been made in lowering dangerous tailpipe exhaust emissions. And air pollution is a killer, accounting for about 60,000 premature deaths each year as compared with about 40,000 deaths annually as a result of traffic accidents; concluding the need for more effective methods for cleaning up the air.
ALA believes using alternative fuels also reduces the need to import oil. The United States uses 25 percent of the world's oil supply, but only produces about 10 percent of it. Most alternative fuels in the United States are produced here; increasing their use could mean more jobs for Americans, a better balance of trade, and less dependence on foreign oil.
ALA recognizes alternative fuels as including electricity, ethanol, methanol, natural gas, and propane. They believe each one has advantages and disadvantages, but all of them have the potential to produce less pollution than gasoline or diesel fuel.[1]
Sierra Club
The Sierra Club works to promote solutions to global warming using current and cutting-edge technology that will reduce our use of fossil fuels. They believe that by switching to energy efficient vehicles and using clean, renewable energy that global warming pollution can be curbed, consumers can save money and reliance on oil can be curtailed.
The Sierra Club recognizes that ethanol plays an important transitional role in the country’s energy policy and the nation’s effort to help solve global warming. Renewable fuels, like ethanol, will reduce dependence on imported oil and reduce the U.S. trade deficit. The production and use of ethanol displaces crude oil needed to manufacture gasoline.
The Sierra Club views corn ethanol as only a first step in the renewable fuels evolution. Ethanol is not perfect, but it is dynamically evolving and providing significant benefit to California and the environment. Ethanol is the only commercial-ready renewable fuel that Californians can use to immediately reduce the environmental impact of fueling our gasoline cars.[2]
Natural Resources Defense Council
NRDC is an environmental action organization using law, science and the support of 1.2 million members and online activists to protect the planet's wildlife and wild places and to ensure a safe and healthy environment for all living things.
The NRDC supports the use of ethanol as part of the solution for ending dependence on oil and stopping global warming. NRDC research shows that liquid motor vehicle fuels made from plant matter, such as ethanol, butanol, and biodiesel, can be a large and important tool for ending our dependence on oil and stopping global warming.
The NRDC has made recommendations for making ethanol a safe and realistic fuel alternative. Their recommended guidelines for state-level ethanol management include the following: prioritize aggressive measures to promote ethanol use in high blends, especially in areas that fail to meet ozone standards; provide the maximum flexibility to refiners to blend ethanol in the winter, when smog formation is not a problem; opt out of the provision that allows conventional (i.e., non-reformulated) gasoline to have higher vapor pressure (and thus higher evaporative emissions) when blended with ethanol. [3]
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