Quote:
Originally Posted by Kevin
this has to be a ploy by the oil companies, although they could be in bed with the corn lobby....more ethanol = less mpg
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Why would the oil companies want you to run E15?
Also, I believe the blame for this still goes back to W. In the 2005 energy bill, there is a requirement for gasoline to be sold with a certain amount of "renewable" energy, aka ethanol.
Calendar year: .................................................. ......Applicable
.................................................. .............................volume of
.................................................. .............................renewable
.................................................. .............................fuel
.................................................. .............................(in billions of
.................................................. .............................gallons):
2006 .................................................. .................... 4.0
2007 .................................................. .................... 4.7
2008 .................................................. .................... 5.4
2009 .................................................. .................... 6.1
2010 .................................................. .................... 6.8
2011 .................................................. .................... 7.4
2012 .................................................. .................... 7.5
from pg 477:
http://www.epa.gov/oust/fedlaws/publ_109-058.pdf
This is why you saw E10 become so common year-round, whereas before it was generally only in "high density" areas and at certain times of year (usually summer) as part of the EPA's reformulated gasoline (RFG) program. Ethanol is an oxygenate, like MTBE, except MTBE has fallen out of favor for RFGs because apparently it can contaminate ground water.
Anyway, in order to meet those targets for "renewable" fuel sold with gasoline, E10 became pretty much standard everywhere. However, each year the target ramps up. Once we are all using E10, how do you reach the next target level? Gasoline consumption doesn't rise at the rate the amount specified in that chart. Is E15 the next step? I sure as hell hope not, but I wouldn't be surprised.
Interestingly, RFG became a thing as part of the 1990 Clean Air Act, which passed under a different President Bush.
I am no Obama or Pelosi fan, in fact I'm 180-degrees opposite. But this kind of crap doesn't just come from uber-lefty lunatics. Take something like the Clean Air Act, it probably seemed somewhat innocuous at the time, but now we are facing a world where the gasoline we are sold can kill our cars. Why is any of this stuff within the realm of regulation by the federal government? As a consumer, why can't I just buy whatever the hell I want?