The EPA wants to put a time bomb in America's gas tanks

Get your facts right Mr. Morriss. As a professor I would think you would expect that of your students. The EPA is not considering a change that would REQUIRE a 15% blend of ethanol in your gasoline. It is considering a proposal to ALLOW up to a 15% blend. There is a big diffeerence. For those of you that would just as soon send your dollars to the middle east, you can continue to use a higher blend of gasoline. For those of us that prefer to use homegrown fuel in our vehicles, we will be relieved of the 90% gasoline mandate. I would prefer to use a 20-30% blend but am not allowed to do so.

That would be great. I'd love to run 20-30% fuel that would cause just as much loss in miles per gallon. What's even better than the damage it can cause to fuel systems is the phase separation that sets in if you let it set for any extended period.

Sending our money to the middle east is way less risky.

If you want to quit sending your money to the middle east, burn natural gas in your vehicle. All that is lacking is the fueling infrastructure which would be cheaper than building ethanol plants. All of the car manufacturers have the technology and the large fleets are already using it.

My question about the ethanol experiment is when there is a bad crop due to weather do we take food off the table (which is already happening) or do we take fuel out of the cars?

Steve, you obviously don't understand the situation. As has already been stated, natural gas would solve the "middle east" problem you see.

The ethanol idea is an illegitimate child born in Washington DC. The compound is corrosive and destructive to all types of engines.

The grain that it takes to fill one car could feed a family for a week in some areas of the world. The energy needed to refine that food into automobile fuel offsets any energy savings.

The ethanol hysteria is born of ignorance, politics, and rabid environmentalism which cares not one whit for clean air and water, but is more concerned with regulation.

This would be a win-win for the current Democratic Congressional and Senatorial inhabitants.
On the one hand, they can show solidarity with their farm state and environmental lobbyists and on the other, they can provide their trial lawyer lobby with a large number of class action lawsuits.
Then, they'll look to the auto makers and demand more "eco-friendly" cars be manufactured.
A win-win for everybody but us.

It is a shame that you see things from one angle only. Have you heard about the ethanol program in Brazil?!? A success for more than 30 years!!!

Did you ever consider the damage the dependency US has on the middle east countries that "run the show" on oil production and exploration (in all senses of the word)?? US is the only country that I am aware that sponsors its nemesis by buying their oil.

Ethanol CAN be good if you don't listen to the oil producers only. There is always something that can be done if you tell the car manufacturers that this is where you are going and give them some time to react and produce the right cars. STOP SAYING NO!!!

sidnei wrote:

It is a shame that you see things from one angle only. Have you heard about the ethanol program in Brazil?!? A success for more than 30 years!!!
Did you ever consider the damage the dependency US has on the middle east countries that "run the show" on oil production and exploration (in all senses of the word)?? US is the only country that I am aware that sponsors its nemesis by buying their oil.
Ethanol CAN be good if you don't listen to the oil producers only. There is always something that can be done if you tell the car manufacturers that this is where you are going and give them some time to react and produce the right cars. STOP SAYING NO!!!

Yes, the Brazilian ethanol program has reportedly been successful. That is, at least, until the price of gasoline and ethanol near the same cost to the consumer. The Brazilians then switch back to gasoline since they get better mileage, by about 10-15%, using gasoline instead of ethanol. They "vote" with their money just like we do.

Sidnei, if you can tell me how the oil producers are causing ethanol to damage car engines and drive up the price of food, I will play on your team.

Brazilian ethanol has been a success, for sure, and for two chief reasons. First, they went through the painful process of switching over to cars that could handle the fuel. It is easier in a country where only the upper and upper middle classes have cars, and then only have one. In our country, where the average comes close to one car per person, it is much more difficult. Secondly, sugar cane is the basis for their ethanol, and is really the only good answer. But since not many Americans grow sugar cane, and we are in an embargo against our nearest neighbor who does, that will not happen.

If we could make our ethanol from sugar cane instead of corn, I would be on board.

If you merely want ethanol in order to "punish" those big, mean ol' oil companies, I have to ask you: is it worth it for the damage and the food crisis it will cause?

I am extremely angry that the Ethanol people are trying to shove 15% down our throats by the force of law. Our cars, boats, lawnmowers, edgers, etc are not made for 15%. If you do this, the American people will rise up in anger against the Corn Farmers and the Ethanol Industry.

A better option would be to start mandate that all new cars be E85 or E100 Flex Fuel Vehicles next year, not the 2012 Bull@#$%. Then to get people to use E85, put a credit on each gallon of E85 that make it cheaper than regular gasoline. Then we could start mandating that Corn Ethanol be made with Natural Gas fired plants instead of Dirty Coal.

Another option is to give a better credit (maybe $2/Gallon) for CE85, that is Clean Ethanol 85% made from Sugarcane, Sweet Sorghum, Jatropha, Cellulose, etc that actually use less energy to make than they produce. Import it if we have to.

I am all for Ethanol, but E15 is Nazi-like.

This is another example of ignorance in our government. Why do we elect so many ignorant people to our government. None of these people have any common sense. It's all about greed and corruption. This mess starts at the white house and goes down. When our engines start blowing up, then we can have another revolution in this country. The politicians better wake up because they are going to be out of a job pretty soon. The EPA has been warned about this and they better heed it.

CHICAGOANINTEXAS said... "This would be a win-win for the current Democratic Congressional and Senatorial inhabitants."

Problem is, I've seen Republicans, Minnesota Gov Tim Pawlenty,(I call him "40 Proof Pawlwenty") and S. Dakota Senator John Thune for two, who have both stated that up to 20% ethanol should be allowed to support the industry.

I'd gladly pay premium prices it I just had a choce to buy 100% pure gas for my older car, and gasoline lawn equipment.

And this whole "middle East" thing, come on. We do import 60% or thereabouts, but half that comes from Mexico and Canada.