Business Week is reporting that Big Oil is trying to put the brakes on ethanol.

In the October 1 edition on-line, the article entitled “Big Oil’s Big Stall On Ethanol” claims that oil companies “seem determined to fight the spread of E85, a fuel that is 85% ethanol and 15% gas.”

At the same time the industry is collecting a 51 cents-per-gallon federal subsidy for each gallon of ethanol it mixes with gas and sells as E10 (10% ethanol and 90% gas), it’s working against the E85 blend with tactics both overt and stealthy. Efforts range from funding studies that bash the spread of ethanol for driving up the price of corn, and therefore some food, to not supporting E85 pumps at gas stations. The tactics infuriate a growing chorus of critics, from the usual suspects—pro-ethanol consumer groups—to the unexpected: the oil industry’s oft-time ally, the auto industry.

Ethanol industry supporters should be pleased that the media has taken an interest in this.