Obama curbs ethanol in blow to corn growers

Politico ^ | 11/30/15 | ALEX GUILLÉN

[USS Alaska]

But the mandate is still popular in Iowa, home of the nation's first presidential caucus, where corn and ethanol...

Ethanol ruins small engines, is more expensive that gasoline, has a larger carbon footprint than the same amount of gasoline, and is only in use because I'm being ROBBED of my money and it's being given to corn farmers.

Gummint subsidies are wealth transference from tax payers to special interest groups of all stripes, from welfare queens to corn farmers.

Both groups hate being called welfare recipients, but that's really what they are.

FREELOADERS.

[ExTxMarine]

The mandate IS the subsidy!

Since gasoline manufacturers are MANDATED to put ethanol into the gas supply, ethanol suppliers are more than willing to grow and provide the product, because they have a Government-FORCED buyer!

Just like the health insurance companies; of course they liked ObamaCare, they were gaining millions of Government-FORCED buyers!

The environmental savings, which this was suppose to produce is negligible, so there really is NO benefit to the consumer to use ethanol blended gas. The ONLY benefit is to the ethanol suppliers, due to the Government mandate! This kind of CRAP MUST END!

[Original Lurker]

It was about $2.50 per gallon, cheaper than premium.
My V6 Acura TL doesn’t like anything but premium but she seemed to purr like a kitten on the cornless gas..

I was quite pleased.

[thackney]

I’m not claiming the mandate is okay. But it is better today than we were required to use, AND paid 51 cents per gallon from the taxpayers.

[Boomer One]

Ethanol free gas costs 10-20% more based on my buying experience in Virginia and Florida. I gladly pay the difference for my small engines but find our regular cars don’t notice a difference.

[Marko413]

Ethanol-blends deteriorate almost the moment they are pumped, and can break down in the fuel tank causing: Rust Corrosion Gum/Varnish Build-up And the longer these blended fuels sit in the fuel tank, the more damage they can do, resulting in: Starting issues Rough running Severe engine damage https://www.briggsandstratton.com/us/en/shop/why-genuine-parts/fuel-treatment I use their additive in the gaslonine I store.

This exactly. I started hearing early on from commercial fisherman and folks that run summer camps how the ethanol deteriorates so quickly and eats up the seals on the engines.

[ExTxMarine]

I agree; I wasn't attacking you - sorry if it came across like that. I just wanted to be sure that ALL Freepers understood how ethanol blending really works. It is another Government-FORCED, "free market" failure! The free market created a product, that was supposed to help us cut our need for Middle Eastern oil, and would be easier on the environment. So, like always, the Government thinks that a little of something voluntary is even BETTER when a lot of that something is FORCED.

The fact that it ruins engines, and doesn't do ANYTHING for the environment will NEVER out score the easy votes that this mandate secures, so we will forever be stuck with this albatross in our gas supplies.

[Nifster]

well gosh...so nice to know we won’t be burning as much of our food as we did last year

[Blennos]

What was the price like? We have just gotten the 'right' to buy ethanol free in Maine, but from the few I've seen, the price is almost double the 10% ethanol gas.

The price I paid recently for 93 ethanol-free gas here in High Point, NC was $2.65 per gallon.

[Blennos]

If ethanol as a fuel were "good" for us, it would not require any subsidies or mandates. As it is, it reduces mileage, raises costs and does not improve air quality (which was the original rationale for its use). Nor is there any shortage of gasoline that justifies using ethanol as an "extender". Ergo, there is no legitimate free market rationale for maintaining ethanol as a fuel.

You've got it exactly. Well stated.

[GreyFriar]

You are correct about Flex fuel engines being more than a couple of years old, but are ALL car engines currently or in the last few years, Flex fuel engines? When I bought my Saturn Vue in 2007, the Flex Fuel engine was an option to get, but not the standard engine offered.

[G Larry]

For the wrong reasons he did the right thing.

[Blennos]

That [the Government getting out of our lives] isn't going to happen, My FRiend. In fact, before very long, they will tell us when we can go to the toilet, how long we can stay in there, what we can do when we get there, what brand of toilet paper to use, how much, and which direction to wipe. In short, the Government, through its agents wants to and will control every aspect of one’s life. From the most simple endeavor to the most complicated endeavor. Why? Money. There are too many parasites living high on the hog from tax money confiscated at the point of a gun.

You're right, of course. It was merely an idle wish. The invasion of our privies has already begun with the mandated 1.5 gallon flush toilets. I now have to flush three times when using the toilet so solid waste doesn't clog up the drainage pipes. So every trip to the loo costs 4.5 gallons instead of the previous 3.

[EQAndyBuzz]

“The Obama administration delivered a blow to the corn industry on Monday, easing the amount of ethanol the nation must consume below the levels Congress had set nearly a decade ago — and potentially laying a political stumbling block for Hillary Clinton in Iowa.”

I think this is designed as a way to give the establishment campaign ads against Cruz.

[thackney]

but are ALL car engines currently or in the last few years, Flex fuel engines?

It would be hard to claim all, but I don't think on the majors it is optional with gasoline engines. I know looking at larger SUVs and Trucks this year it wasn't in the models I looked at. I ended up buying a used 2012 F250. The gasoline option was Flex Fuel. I still haven't replaced the Expedition yet.

[thackney]

I think this is designed as a way to give the establishment campaign ads against Cruz.

How is reducing the ethanol requirement from the 2007 law against Ted Cruz?

[9YearLurker]

Yep—and ethanol isn’t the worst of what the ag lobby has done to us.

Just look at what the food pyramid and decades of pushing low-fat, high-carb diets at us. They’ve bought off various medical and disease associations, too, such that the vast majority of doctors in the country continue to push unhealthy diets, and drugs to counteract those unhealthy diets, on their increasingly obese patients.

[thackney]

For the wrong reasons he did the right thing.

What reason did he make the change? For years the industry has been petitioning the government to reduce it due to the blending wall at 10%.

[cuban leaf]

I suspect he had no choice. I’m reading that many countries oil reserves are filled to capacity - they can’t buy any more because there is nowhere to store it. It means that if private demand is unchanged we could see a huge drop in prices.

[upchuck]

Stop burning our food supply.