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The great rethink of ethanol
Washington Examiner ^ | Dec 19, 2017 | Wayne Allard

Posted on 12/19/2017 8:58:28 AM PST by george76

For the first time in years, there is an emerging consensus that the biggest racket in national politics deserves to end.

Earlier this month, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and 10 other Republican senators held a luncheon summit at the White House with President Trump with the goal of drastically reforming the Renewable Fuel Standard, the federal mandate that annually funnels $13.5 billion from the wallets of American fuel and food consumers into the coffers of agribusiness giants.

Before the national nightmare of Obamacare, there was the RFS, the most sweeping and intrusive federal intervention in the American economy undertaken in modern history. Enacted under President George W. Bush in 2005 and expanded in 2007, the RFS requires that biofuels, mainly ethanol, be increasingly mixed with gasoline in greater proportions each year until 2022.

Every November, the EPA is required to announce that it is mandating even higher levels of ethanol in our fuel supply. Recently, the Trump Administration and EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt bravely defied cronyism by freezing the current RFS levels for 2018 — a first step in relieving Americans of this Washington-built burden.

What was the thinking behind this monumental government directive, this freakish experiment in state-planning that arbitrarily picked winners and losers? Its proponents — namely Big Corn and hard-line environmentalists

...

Burning ethanol adds more hydrocarbons to the atmosphere than burning gasoline and, in turn, creates more air pollution. Meanwhile, fertilization from increased corn acreage is driving nitrogen and phosphorus runoff into lakes and streams. Blends excessively high in ethanol are destroying engines and fuel systems while the forced diversion of corn into the fuel markets is raising the cost of food.

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonexaminer.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Crime/Corruption; Editorial; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: Colorado; US: Illinois; US: Iowa; US: Kansas; US: Nebraska; US: South Dakota; US: Texas
KEYWORDS: 115th; allard; bigcorn; biofuels; corn; cruz; energy; epa; ethanol; obamacare; rfs; scottpruitt; tedcruz; trumpepa; wayneallard
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1 posted on 12/19/2017 8:58:28 AM PST by george76
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To: george76

Corn is for cows, not cars !


2 posted on 12/19/2017 9:01:43 AM PST by tomkat
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To: george76

About time. One of the biggest scams in D.C., and it ruins small engines.


3 posted on 12/19/2017 9:01:54 AM PST by Timocrat (Ingnorantia non excusat)
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To: george76

Finally some common sense rears it’s head!...................


4 posted on 12/19/2017 9:03:25 AM PST by Red Badger (Road Rage lasts 5 minutes. Road Rash lasts 5 months!.....................)
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To: george76

Regrettably I don’t see it happening. You might as well give Iowa away to the democrat presidential nominee.


5 posted on 12/19/2017 9:03:39 AM PST by McGruff (Lock Her Up! In a Padded Cell!)
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To: tomkat

....and hogs and cornbread........................


6 posted on 12/19/2017 9:03:59 AM PST by Red Badger (Road Rage lasts 5 minutes. Road Rash lasts 5 months!.....................)
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To: george76

agribusiness welfare!!

Any small engine mechanic will tell you the ethanol damages the engines.


7 posted on 12/19/2017 9:05:21 AM PST by elpadre (AfganistaMr Obama said theoal was to "disrupt, dismantle and defeat al-hereQaeda" and its allies.)
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To: Timocrat
and it ruins small engines.

I think it's hard on all diesels, large and small, because ethanol attracts water.

8 posted on 12/19/2017 9:05:59 AM PST by SeeSharp
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To: george76

All ethanol derived from corn shall henceforth be stored in white oak barrels which, having been scorched in the inside, are to be kept sealed for a minimum of 18 months or 2 summer seasons which ever is the longer time.


9 posted on 12/19/2017 9:06:16 AM PST by Cletus.D.Yokel (Catastrophic, Anthropogenic Climate Alterations: The acronym explains the science.)
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To: lonevoice

Yes!


10 posted on 12/19/2017 9:06:49 AM PST by Pride in the USA
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To: george76

Steve Hilton spoke about this boondoggle last week———a real wakeup call for me.

.


11 posted on 12/19/2017 9:07:35 AM PST by Mears
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To: McGruff
You might as well give Iowa away to the democrat presidential nominee.

They usually do a pretty good job of that themselves:



12 posted on 12/19/2017 9:09:18 AM PST by tomkat
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To: tomkat

I fully support the conversion of corn to ethanol. I further support the aging of said ethanol in charred oak barrels ...


13 posted on 12/19/2017 9:12:05 AM PST by NorthMountain (... the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed)
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To: McGruff

Trump won Iowa and said he opposed ethanol.


14 posted on 12/19/2017 9:13:42 AM PST by txrefugee
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To: george76

Just do it.


15 posted on 12/19/2017 9:14:08 AM PST by MileHi (Liberalism is an ideology of parasites, hypocrites, grievance mongers, victims, and control freaks.)
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To: george76

Butanol is a much better fuel. It can be made from non food plants and the non eatable portions of food crops. It also has a better btu content is hydrophobic.


16 posted on 12/19/2017 9:14:11 AM PST by taxcontrol (Stupid should hurt)
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To: Timocrat

I was in my local John Deere/Stihl/Ariens dealership last week. In addition to TRUEFUEL, there are now about 7 other brands of NON-ETHANOL fuel that they had for sale. Every manufacturer (Stihl, Briggs & Stratton, etc.)now has their own brand of non ethanol fuel. This is in addition to the 5-10 fuel stabilizers that are available to add the unleaded fuel with the 10% Ethanol.

So, there is a whole industry that has grown from mandating Ethanol blended in our gasoline. I am in NH. There are very few local filling stations that offer non ethanol fuel. The only one close to my location is a company that sells 110 octane leaded racing fuel @ $9/gallon. It is still cheaper than buying Truefuel in 1 quart cans @ $6.95 each.


17 posted on 12/19/2017 9:15:24 AM PST by woodbutcher1963
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To: taxcontrol

Cruz won the primary opposing ethanol I do believe. Good news is it’s ONLY 4 electoral votes. Good news is that I believe Iowans are America firsts. Do it gradually. Guess that means we’d need Grassley to stay there and croak in office.


18 posted on 12/19/2017 9:17:13 AM PST by DIRTYSECRET (urope. Why do they put up with this.)
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To: tomkat

Cows shouldn’t eat to much straight corn. To many starches. Corn that has been digested via ethanol (DDG) or other corn processing makes for a much better feed.

I misspent my youth in the ethanol industry. Enjoyed the challenge, but it was working for the government without the benefits. The best plants were those who were primarily supplying feed to cattle. Rather than just tune for ethanol production, you were shooting to improve the ration for the herd/s. So the goal was to make better feed (and CO2) with the ethanol as a byproduct.

However, at the end of the day, most companies were living off the subsidy. My old firm went bankrupt almost two years ago because they didn’t fill out the grant paper work correctly. Their business was “good”, but they couldn’t survive in ethanol, solar, and wind without those grants.

Similar reason why I suspect Tesla is going to fail. They are dependent on outlawing internal combustion engines.


19 posted on 12/19/2017 9:17:51 AM PST by redgolum
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To: george76

Corn is FOOD,

NOT “Fuel”!

Ethanol reduces gas mileage such that “pollutants per mile”remains unchanged.

Ethanol is more expensive to produce and we have plenty of petro.


20 posted on 12/19/2017 9:18:41 AM PST by G Larry (There is no great virtue in bargaining with the Devil)
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