POET and other leading ethanol producers from around the country announced the launch of a new organization, Growth Energy, at a press conference at the National Press Club today.

“The organization will be dedicated to promoting clean, green ethanol as America’s best renewable fuel that is high-tech and homegrown, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and the nation’s dependence on foreign oil,” said POET CEO Jeff Broin.

Answering questions about why yet another organization for ethanol was needed, “We believe the more associations, the better,” Broin said. He denied that there is any dissatisfaction with the way current organizations, such as the Renewable Fuels Association, have been working to promote biofuels.

The organization has already launched a new advertising campaign and released a policy paper aimed at dispelling the myth perpetuated by the food industry that ethanol is responsible for increased food prices. “When oil and commodity prices rose in early 2008, Big Food reflected their higher prices almost immediately,” said Dave Vander Griend, CEO of ICM. “Today corn prices have dropped by more than half, oil prices have tumbled to less than 65 dollar a barrel, yet food prices continue to go up and so do the mega profits of the major food companies.” Vander Griend says the data in the policy paper released by Growth Energy proves that “food prices and ethanol production are not strongly linked.”

The main companies behind the formation of the new organization are POET, ICM and Fagen – the three largest ethanol plant build/designers. These three companies organized the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council (EPIC) in 2005 and indications are that EPIC may now become part of the newly formed Growth Energy.

Listen to press conference here: [audio:http://www.zimmcomm.biz/poet/growth-energy-edit.mp3]