A new Associated Press investigation finds that the push to produce corn-based ethanol has fallen short of clean energy expectations and appears to be causing more environmental damage than promised.

The ethanol industry claims the AP relied on disproven myths, skewed data and outright fabrications.

The AP says its investigation is based on government data, interviews and observations. It highlights what many researchers have published in peer-reviewed journals and is consistent with reports by the Environmental Protection Agency.

The investigation finds that farmers rushing to plant more corn wiped out millions of acres of conservation land, destroyed habitat and polluted water supplies with fertilizer use. The consequences are so severe that environmentalists and many scientists have now rejected corn-based ethanol. The Obama administration stands by its policy.

Ethanol supporters are pushing back hard at the AP report. In a release on its Web site, the Renewable Fuels Association calls the story a “smear.”

“A new Associated Press (AP) story on the environmental impacts of corn ethanol uses disproven myths, skewed data, and outright fabrications to suggest biofuels and the Renewable Fuel Standard have not lived up to their promise.”

The RFA says the lead AP reporter responsible for the story interviewed RFA staff on multiple occasions.

“RFA provided indisputable facts, peer-reviewed studies, and government data documenting ethanol’s positive impacts.”

“Yet, the AP consciously chose to ignore this material and instead opted to publish a salacious and terribly unbalanced account of the effects of corn production and ethanol on the environment.”

RFA offers its response to the article here.

Congress is working to do away with requirements that oil companies blend ethanol into their gasoline, something Big Oil is supporting.