Big Industries Joust Over Energy Prices

US industries are at each other’s throats over energy policy as each sector tries to protect its own interests. A prime example came last year, when Dow Chemical's push for tougher automobile fuel-economy standards—which would help keep a lid on Dow's oil expenditures—ran afoul of automakers, who stand to suffer from such legislation and are huge Dow clients.

Dow eventually backed off, but other industries spar on. Biodiesel producers are battling makers of a meat-based fuel for federal dollars. Oil companies have taken up Dow’s fuel-efficiency cry against automakers, who in turn are demanding more ethanol pumps from oil. As Dow’s chief told the Wall Street Journal, in a global push to solve energy, “someone wins, someone loses.”