Ethanol Rant Part Two...

[motordavid]

Another Ethanol rant installment...besides the detrimental effects on mpg and car systems, it is literally hell on my 3 scoots. Can hardly wait for E15.

The Politicos, (read corn belt gang), can't get enough of it and seem to enjoy cramming it down our throats and wagging their fingers in bad science while they do it. Add in the nearly clueless EPA, and it is a nightmare that isn't going away, imo.

From yesterday's WSJ:
The Ethanol Enforcers

Even mandates and subsidies aren't enough for the political fuel

In its zeal to impose the ethanol boondoggle, Congress has mandated it, subsidized it, and protected it from competitors. Now some Senators are siccing prosecutors on those who still won't get on their ethanol cornwagon.

That's the gist of a recent letter from Iowa Republican Charles Grassley and Minnesota Democrat Amy Klobuchar, demanding the Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission investigate the oil industry for "anticompetitive practices aimed at blocking market access for renewable fuels." That's Senatorial Cornspeak for saying oil companies should have to put their gas stations in the service of Big Ethanol.

Congress's 2007 Renewable Fuels Standard mandates the blend of 36 billion gallons of renewable fuels (ethanol) annually into the nation's gasoline supply by 2022. But gasoline consumption remains flat. Refiners are thus crashing against the 10% "blend wall"; beyond that concentration in gasoline, ethanol begins to damage motors.

So now ethanol's promoters are scrambling for new outlets, pushing for more pumps that supply straight 85% ethanol, or "E85." Problem is, few retailers want to sell it. Installing E85 equipment is costly, while "flex-fuel" cars that can use E85 account for less than 3% of the U.S. fleet.

Faced with market reality, the ethanol squad has now seized on the case of a lone Kansas Phillips 66PSX +0.03% franchisee who sells E85 ethanol. The franchisee also began selling E15 (gasoline with 15% ethanol), which reduced the amount of Phillips 66's own gasoline on offer (and exposed Phillips 66 to liability for any E15 damage to engines).

According to the Renewable Fuels Association, Phillips 66 insisted that the franchisee use at least one of its tanks to sell Phillips' premium gasoline. Phillips 66 refused to comment on a private customer arrangement, though it "strenuously" denies it is trying to frustrate ethanol use.

No matter. The two Senators are howling that Phillips 66's demand that its franchisee carry premium along with regular may amount to "a tying arrangement in violation of the Sherman [Antitrust] Act." (Tying is when customers are forced to purchase related products.) The Grassley-Klobuchar letter mirrors a March complaint from the Renewable Fuels Association that demands the FTC, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Departments of Agriculture and Energy investigate the "unlawful conduct" of the oil industry in "blocking the introduction of cheaper, cleaner, and renewable alternatives."

The only purpose of these letters is to intimidate. (The Kansas gas station took the easy step of breaking ties with Phillips 66 and is now selling non-branded product. So much for an antitrust situation.) Having mandated huge volumes of a fuel that has little willing market, the ethanol lobby is bullying auto makers to warranty cars that use damaging E15, pushing legislation to require more flex-fuel vehicles, and now using the threat of investigation to force the oil industry into selling a rival product. All this for a fuel that raises gas and food prices and has no anti-pollution benefits.

If ethanol is the miracle its supporters claim, it shouldn't need a mandate or subsidies. And it shouldn't need to bully the oil industry to do its selling for it.

Review & Outlook: The Ethanol Enforcers - WSJ.com