Just when you thought it couldn’t get any lower, Big Oil manages to take it to another level… a much lower level. In a story from Reuters, the American Petroleum Institute’s Jack Gerard is quoted as comparing the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) to cancer.

While talking about how Congress should address ethanol Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs), Gerard is reported saying, “It’s a little like putting a band aid on cancer. We believe we need to eradicate the cancer and that’s the Renewable Fuel Standard.”

The outrageous comparison drew the ire of Brian Jennings, Executive Vice President for the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE), who called for an apology:

“That is an unfortunate analogy coming from the top lobbyist for Big Oil, whose members sell a product that causes cancer. We’ve never suggested ethanol is a cure-all, but the RFS has proven to be a very effective treatment to the damage done to our environment and economy by oil. Cancer is a tragic and deadly disease affecting too many American families, we ask that API and its members apologize for making this offensive comparison.”

There ya’ go, Big Oil. Stay classy.