Jun 01 2009
Ethanol & the Things I Could Do With It
This goes on the list of things that piss me off. Thank goodness in this country, we’re allowed and even encouraged to disagree with our leaders, because otherwise everything would be much further along the path to hell in a handcart.
I read an article by Ed Wallace at BusinessWeek here that has be dazed and confused and definitely bothered. Evidently, lobbyists are trying to increase the federal mandate on the amount of ethanol in fuel from 10% to 15%. This will void factory warranties on every gasoline car on the road, because, surprise, surprise, ethanol ruins engines. It’s a slightly basic compound and in great quantities, it eats small holes in fuel lines, and destroys fuel pumps. Studies are also showing that it ruins fuel mileage, thus cancelling out any benefit we might get of it being cleaner burning, and that people with higher concentrations of ethanol in their fuel mixture are turning out in droves for engine repairs. Now, I’m all for subsidizing farmers, because I don’t relish the idea of paying $7 for a potato or $5 for a carrot at the supermarket, but I think it’s pretty clear that the ethanol experiment has failed. Rather than gearing up for a subsidy that is clearly not working, subsidize those same farmers to grow produce for human consumption, or feed for livestock, poultry or fish. Investing in alternative forms of energy for vehicles is fabulous, and I think we should do that too, but it makes much more sense to pour that money into electric cars than ethanol, which is going to do nothing but hurt everyone in the long run. Write your congressmen.
