What do ethanol and Anthony Wiener have in common? No, this is not a bad Wienergate joke off the Internet, but a serious question. You see there is actually a connection. Tom Buis, with Growth Energy, told me recently that the troubles of Congressmen Wiener have had the result that the media is making fun of someone else instead of ethanol.

Buis said, before Wienergate, the drumbeat of criticism of ethanol in the media and in Congress was relentless. In response to this, leaders in the ethanol industry have made a major policy and tactical shift in their efforts to move the renewable fuel into the mainstream of the fuel market.

The U.S. gasoline business is controlled by the big oil companies. They make the policy, control the distribution, and - as we all know too well - set the price, all while making billions of dollars in profits. In order to break into this monopoly, the ethanol industry convinced Congress to create a subsidy to allow ethanol to buy its way into the fuel market.

Critics have charged the ethanol producers are getting rich off these subsidies when, in fact, the tax credits do not go to ethanol companies but rather to the oil companies. But, as ethanol has gained more and more market share, big oil has decided it does not want to play this game anymore and is now calling for an elimination of the VETC, or ethanol tax credit.

Instead of fighting what would surely be a losing battle, ethanol leaders have decided to agree and have called for an elimination of the tax credit. Instead the ethanol sector is asking for market access. It wants to see the funds previously be used for the tax credit being used to fund ethanol and flex-fuel pumps at retail stations nationwide. This would give consumers the choice of what kind of fuel they put in their vehicles.

Another idea being suggested by ethanol supporters is a country of origin label on your fuel pump which would allow motorists to choose imported oil, US oil, or US ethanol. This is, of course, opposed by the oil industry because most Americans would not choose to use oil imported from Saudi Arabia, Libya, or Venezuela. And, given a choice, a growing number of Americans would choose to fuel up with U.S.-produced, renewable ethanol. But big oil supporters are not likely to give consumers that choice.

This switch to emphasizing market access and building up the infrastructure is a new twist for ethanol. It also represents a shift from pushing E-85 to pushing what are being called mid-level blends. Research has shown that an E-30 blend of ethanol is cheaper and more environmentally friendly than E-10 and can be used in any vehicle, not just flex-fuel cars. E-30 also does not have the reduced miles per gallon effect that E-85 has.

While I applaud this new approach, retooling all the gas pumps in the nation is a mammoth undertaking, one that will be fought every step of the way by the oil companies and the Middle East potentates who are getting fabulously wealthy on U.S. dollars. It is time U.S. leaders and U.S. consumers get some backbone and put a stop to this oil monopoly. They must demand more access to other fuel choices. They must demand that U.S. oil be produced.

The United States has had serious energy crises for the past 40 years, but nothing has been done to address the problem. This is primarily because oil companies do not want the problem addressed. Ethanol is not a perfect fuel; and, in the long run, it is only part of the energy solution.

But it is the only new fuel source that has come to the market in the past 40 years.

Wienergate will fade from the headlines, but our energy crisis will not. It is important that we stand up and demand greater access to renewable energy. We must insist that our leaders stop caving in to oil interests and make the real and effective changes to break the hold imported oil has on our fuel industry.

The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of Farm World. Readers with questions or comments for Gary Truitt may write to him in care of this publication.