Never Bring A Rapier To A Gun Fight

Read the full reply of Robert Rapiers editorials by CLICKING HERE

Marc Rauch

By Marc J. Rauch
Exec. Vice President/Co-Publisher
THE AUTO CHANNEL

I have a friend in the petroleum oil business. I know this may surprise many people who read my articles and editorials in which I try my best to smack the heck out of the oil industry, but I do have a friend in the industry. His name is Robert Rapier, he's a chemical engineer, and he has had a long career in the energy business. If you do a search of his name, you will be impressed by his credentials...frankly, I am.

Two weeks ago, Robert wrote an editorial for Forbes titled "ETHANOL INDUSTRY IN FREE FALL SINCE PRESIDENT TRUMP'S INAUGURATION." I read the article and thought about it. It didn't stir anything inside me because I've read other headlines and stories similar to this since Donald Trump was elected president - it seems like someone is always claiming that Trump has set something or other into a "free-fall." I'm not typically alarmed by the "free-fall" alarms, so I brushed this one off.

Then, two days later, Robert followed up with another ethanol story, "THE PROBLEM WITH THE ETHANOL INDUSTRY."

I've been in business now for 50 years - half a century. I've worked closely with companies in all types of industries, and with companies of all sizes - creating business plans, marketing plans, sourcing manufacturers, production plans, advertising plans, and then directing the implementation of those plans. So, without even reading the story I thought to myself: "Every industry has problems, why shouldn't the ethanol industry?" Funnily enough, as I read the article, I noted that Robert agrees that all industries have problems, and he says so in the second paragraph.

I continued reading, and in the very next paragraph I read something that I don't agree with. Robert wrote:

"the business model of the ethanol industry...is to get the federal government to force consumers to use their product."

I felt that this is a myopic view of the ethanol fuel industry and the reason/need for why we have an ethanol fuel industry at all. I read more, and found some additional points of disagreement. I started to craft a reply.

I'm well aware of Forbes anti-ethanol history (with a dogged unwillingness to publish counter pro-ethanol text), and so despite Robert's assurances that he is not anti-ethanol, I'd say that Forbes views Robert's editorials as being anti-ethanol enough to meet their criteria for bashing ethanol.

However, before I got very far in my reply, Robert published a third ethanol article, then a fourth, then just two days ago, a fifth. This fifth article begins with Robert writing, "I hadn't intended to write another ethanol column so soon..." I have no idea if there will soon be a sixth and seventh, but I think he's presented enough at this point for me to offer my perspective. I'm in the midst of my writing my full reply, and I'm hoping to have it finished by Monday, August 26th.

In the meantime, our E-Team staff (E for ethanol, of course) created a humorous, yet deservedly cynical response to Robert's pentalogue of questionable ethanol stories. I think it's too good to wait till Monday, so I unveil it to the world now:

(Click the page images below to enlarge them)

My reply will be published Monday.