WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Petroleum Marketers Association of America (PMAA) is lending its voice to support the efforts to gain tax parity for E85. The trade group has joined the Coalition for E85 to help educate policymakers about the alternative fuel.

The coalition is a group of retailers, producers, equipment manufacturers and others in the industry formed to a campaign to protect the 2,500 small businesses that have invested in the ethanol fuel and halt a multimillion dollar tax hike on consumers, as CSNews Online previously reported.

"If we don't enable E85 to compete with gasoline, we could see the entire flex-fuel industry disappear," said Dan Gilligan, president of PMAA. "Our members, automakers and nine million American drivers have invested in E85 infrastructure and flex-fuel vehicles. With E85 so close to self-sustainability, these investments must be protected."

E85 is the most widely adopted alternative fuel, according to PMAA. It is derived from ethanol, but is not a fuel additive. As defined by the Energy Policy Act of 1992, E85 falls into the alternative fuel category with compressed natural gas, propane and hydrogen. Those fuels receive a 50-cent-per-gallon tax credit as part of the Alternative Fuel Credit and E85 should receive the same tax treatment, the trade group said.

In addition to PMAA, the Coalition for E85 includes Propel Fuels, Protec, Clean Fuels Development Coalition, Pearson Fuels, AMERigreen, Petro Serve USA and multiple ethanol industry associations.