National E-15 Mandate Coming?
My radio partner Jazz Shaw has a post up regarding a little heralded push nationwide to mandate ethanol use.
As the Rochester, Minnesota Post Bulletin reports, a major manufacturer of ethanol, is hoping for a government waiver which will allow more ethanol to be blended into the gasoline you purchase at the pump.
This move is (not surprisingly to most Minnesotans) being pushed by the ethanol industry and their cheerleaders lead by MN Governor Tim Pawlenty.
Ten governors representing the Midwest Governors Association (MGA) recently issued a letter to U.S. EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson voicing their support for the E15 waiver currently being considered by the agency...The letter was signed by Rounds, Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn, Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, Iowa Gov. Chester J. Culver, Kansas Gov. Mark Parkinson, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, North Dakota Gov. John Hoeven, Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland, Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle, and Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm.
Governor Pawlenty has been a long time very vocal advocate for corn based ethanol much to the chagrin of more than a few of his erstwhile supporters (myself included). AAA, Kevin Ecker and I have more than a couple of archived posts on the subject.
This latest push has gathered some rather odd political bedfellows as Jazz points out.
The coalition signing on to protest this exemption is a rather unusual one. It includes several automotive and manufacturing interests, such as the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, but also the Friends of the Earth, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Sierra Club, Clean Air Watch and the American Lung Association.
Side Note To AAA - I wonder what ALABob has to say about this corporate about face.....
Behind this push is a face familiar to many Minnesotans...
The chairman of the agriculture committee in the U.S. House of Representatives wants to mandate that the ethanol blends in gasoline be raised from the current 10 percent to 15 percent. Collin Peterson (D-MN) comes from a state that grows a lot of corn and produces a lot of ethanol. Minnesota already has more E85 stations than any other state.
I should add that the reason for that (Minnesota having more E-85 stations than any other state) is due in large part to the above mentioned Governor Pawlenty. But I digress...
Congressman Peterson has taken a couple of votes now, that combined with this are guaranteed to make the cost of bringing goods to Minnesota. Given that unemployment in certain parts of his district is running at 10-12% I can't imagine that these moves are going to sit well with his constituents.
There are (as AAA, Kevin and I have long maintained) major problems with increasing the amount of corn ethanol in our gasoline....
Not everyone is lining up behind this idea, though. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has strongly opposed the granting of such a waiver, saying that many cars currently in service will experience failures of on-board pollution diagnostic systems, and could potentially lead to increased harmful emissions.
Automobile manufacturers tell the story...
At Honda, which makes a wide range of engines for products from minivans to power generators, the concern is that the effects of a big increase in an additive like ethanol are unknown, said Edward B. Cohen, vice president for government and industry relations at American Honda. “The impact can be on the emissions system, like the catalytic converter,” he said. “It can be on the various tubes or couplings that are part of the fuel system, and it could affect the performance of the vehicle, particularly cold starting.”
Honda can design engines to run well on new gasoline blends, Mr. Cohen said. The issue is the legacy fleet, whose engines were designed over two decades for varying requirements. There is no single answer, Mr. Cohen said, to the question of how E15 would affect them.
But that will not stop those (like Rep. Peterson) who want to dictate from on high every minute aspect of your life. This, like many other proposals from the Obama Administration, needs to be stopped. If it isn't it will be just one more unfunded mandate from the feds to the overworked, overtaxed Americans - those few of us that still have jobs (for the moment) that is...
Cross posted at Ladies Logic where your comments are welcome.
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