More than one major transportation-based
industry in America besides Detroit is on the ropes.
For the fourth time in our history
the ethanol industry has come undone and is quickly failing nationally.
Of course it's one thing when Detroit collapsed with the economy; after
all, that is a truly free-market enterprise
and the economy hasn't been good. But the fact that the ethanol industry
is going bankrupt, when the only reason
we use this additive is a massive government mandate, is outrageous at best.
Then again, the ethanol lobby
and refiners have a solution to ethanol's failure in America:
Hire retired General Wesley Clark as your point man and lobby the government
to increase the amount of ethanol
in our fuel to 15%. The problems with that proposition are real—unlike ethanol's
benefits.
First, the primary job of the
Environmental Protection Agency is, dare it be said, to protect our environment.
Yet using ethanol actually creates more smog than using regular gas, and
the EPA's own attorneys had to admit
that fact in front of the justices presiding over the Third Circuit Court
of Appeals in 1995 (API v. EPA).
Second, truly independent studies
on ethanol, show that ethanol is a net energy loser. Other studies suggest
there
is a small net energy gain from it.
Third, all fuels laced with ethanol
reduce the vehicle's fuel efficiency, and the E85 blend drops gas mileage
between
30% and 40%, depending on whether you use the EPA's fuel mileage standards
(fueleconomy.gov) or those of the
Dept. of Energy.
Fourth, forget what biofuels
have done to the price of foodstuffs worldwide over the past three years;
the science
seems to suggest that using ethanol increases global warming emissions over
the use of straight gasoline.
Just these issues should have kept ethanol from being brought back for its
fourth run in American history.
Don't let anybody mislead you:
The new push to get a 15% ethanol mandate out of Washington is simply to restore
profitability to a failed industry. Only this time around those promoting
more ethanol in our gas say there's no scientific
proof that adding more ethanol will damage vehicles or small gas-powered
engines. With that statement they've gone
from shilling the public to outright falsehoods, because ethanol-laced gasoline
is already destroying engines across
the country in ever larger numbers.
Last July was bad enough for
motorists on a budget—gasoline prices had shot up to more than US$4 a gallon.
But for some the pain in the pocketbook was about to get worse. At City
Garage in Euless, Tex., for example,
the first of numerous future customers brought in an automobile whose fuel
pump was shot. A quick diagnosis
determined that that particular car had close to 18% ethanol in the fuel.
For that unlucky owner, the repairs came
to nearly $900. The ethanol fun was just beginning.
City Garage manager Eric Greathouse
has found that adding ethanol to the nation's gasoline supply may be a foolish
government mandate, but it has an upside he'd rather not deal with. It's
supplying his shop with a slow but steady stream
of customers whose plastic fuel intakes have been dissolved by the blending
of ethanol into our gasoline, or their fuel pumps
destroyed. The average cost of repairs is just shy of $1,000.
It gets better. Scott Morrison
is the owner of the City Garage chain in North Texas and he related the story
of his technical
director's run-in with ethanol; in December he filled up his E85 Flex
Fuel Chevy Suburban at the Exxon station in Ovilla,
just south of Dallas. His Suburban died on the spot, because even an E85-equipped
vehicle will not run on the 100%
pure ethanol that Exxon station was pumping that day. In that case it was
not Exxon's fault but a mistake at the distribution
center, and Exxon (XOM) quickly made good for the cost of repairs.
On Jan. 16 of this year, Lexus
ordered a massive recall of certain 2006 to 2008 models, including the GS
Series, IS
and LS sedans. According to the recall notice, the problem is that "Ethanol
fuels with low moisture content will corrode
the internal surface of the fuel rails." In layman's terms, ethanol causes
pinpoint leaks in the fuel system; when leaking
fuel catches your engine on fire, that's an exciting way to have your insurance
company buy your Lexus.
Using ethanol will cost Toyota untold millions.
Though the media is ignoring
it, one can easily find many stories on BMW blogs relating similar problems
with fuel systems
damaged by the use of ethanol.
Certainly that was the case with
Christi Jordan and her 2007 Mini. For weeks it was difficult to start; Moritz
BMW in Arlington,
Tex., inspected it and found severe carbon buildup inside the engine. On
her second trip to the mechanics they decided to
test the ethanol content of Christi's fuel and found it was much higher
than the federally mandated limit of 10%.
This time the fuel pump had been destroyed by the ethanol. The repair bill
came to $1,200:
As in all cases where vehicles are damaged by ethanol, legally the factory
warranty no longer applied.
Jim Keppler, Moritz's fixed operations
director, said he's had at least 10 other cases of ethanol poisoning in Minis
over the past six months. Christi was one of the lucky ones; Moritz covered
her repairs. But there's no telling how many
motorists across the nation have had to pay for fuel pumps, or fuel systems,
that ethanol damaged.
Most were probably unaware of the real culprit behind the breakdown, because
virtually no repair shop tests the level of
ethanol in the gasoline when these fuel system problems occur.
And there are active lawsuits
from boat owners; ethanol broke down the resins in their fiberglass gas tanks,
destroying
their marine engines. Additionally, those who deal in small gas engines
for lawnmowers, edgers, and weedeaters have
quickly learned that, as Briggs & Stratton's Web site warns, "Ethanol-blended
gasoline can attract moisture, which leads
to separation and formation of acids during storage. Acidic gasoline can
damage the fuel system of an engine while in
storage. B&S strongly recommends removing ethanol-blended fuels from
engine during storage."
Like motorists, if landscaping
tool owners put gasoline with more than 10% ethanol in their small engines,
that immediately
voids any factory warranties. In the case of the Lexus recall, using just
a 10% ethanol blend was found to be destroying many
of these engines also.
It now appears that in just a
few years since the government forced ethanol use on the country, engine and
fuel system
failures caused by ethanol are causing major damage to more and more new
and used vehicles. This means the hapless
owners are not only paying for snake oil in lower fuel efficiency and more
smog, but pay again when it damages their
vehicles and lawn mowers.
We seem to have forgotten, but
the promise of turning over farmland for fuel production was to reduce our
nation's demand
for imported crude. But until this massive economic slowdown, even while
the ethanol mandate was being ramped up we
were increasing our imports of foreign oil.
Translation: The entire politically
stated purpose of using ethanol had already been proven to be a false one
before the
program even got fully under way.
No surprise there. The premise
that ethanol could give America the freedom to one day stop importing oil
has always
been fraudulent. Another fun fact: If we outlawed gasoline and diesel, thereby
removing every last car, truck and SUV
from our highways—no vehicles anywhere on any road in the country—America
would still have to import oil because
we would still use more crude than domestic production can supply.
Why is that? Crude oil is also
used to make fertilizers, aviation fuel, home heating oil, and many other
products.
Not to mention polyester suits for car salesmen.
Pushed into it by the corn growers'
and ethanol refiners' lobbying organizations, today the EPA is starting to
go through
the public comment phase on increasing the level of ethanol in our gasoline
from 10% to 15%.
Time and time again we have heard from these groups, who now claim that
there is zero scientific evidence that a 15%
blend of ethanol would do any damage whatsoever if the mandate for ethanol
were raised. As with all statements made
by vested interests, few outsiders have actually taken the time to look
and find out whether this statement was true.
In fact, it's false.
Not one mechanic I've spoken
with said they would be comfortable with a 15% blend of ethanol in their personal
car.
However, most suggest that if the government moves the ethanol mandate to
15%, it will be the dawn of a new golden
age for auto mechanics' income.
One last thought:
Most individuals who have had to repair their fuel systems in recent years
never had the gasoline tested to see if the
ethanol percentage might be the problem. Today most repair shops and new-car
dealers are still not testing for ethanol
blends. They're simply repairing the vehicles and sending their unhappy
and less wealthy customers on their way.
But, where dealer and repair shops are testing the gasoline, ethanol is
becoming one of the leading culprits for the damage.
Sadly, when a truly bad idea
is exposed today, Washington's answer is to double-down on the bet, mandate
more of the
same, and make the problem worse. Only this time around motorists will be
able to gauge the real cost of ethanol when
it comes time to fix their personal cars.
