Sunday, March 20, 2011
Stop the ethanol scam
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Fred Muldrew
Muldrew, of Vinton, is retired from management of a major oil company.
Gasoline is on its way up to $4 a gallon because of the problems in the Middle East, the news media say. It's just another excuse for the oil companies to get richer. Ethanol was going to be the answer to solve our oil shortage problems. Stop the scam and get rid of ethanol in our gasoline.
I recently saw an article that talked about Adolf Hitler's Schutzstaffel commandeering the entire European potato crop in 1944 and turning it into ethanol to fuel V2 rockets. With their foreign oil sources interdicted by Allied advances, the Germans resorted to replacing imported oil supplies by converting civilian food stocks into ethanol.
The Nazi terror weapon turned out to be a military disaster that consumed huge quantities of resources. Beyond the 7,500 civilian and military personnel who were killed by the weapon, untold thousands more civilians died of starvation and malnutrition in order to feed the vengeance weapon.
Are we driving down much the same road with the current ethanol program in America?
The first mandated 10 percent ethanol in a gallon of gasoline raised the cost at the pump around 5 cents per gallon. The following facts show it was another excuse for the oil companies to scam the public, and the government to back them up.
With 10 percent ethanol in gasoline, most vehicles will lose two to three miles per gallon. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure the outcome. If your vehicle has a 20-gallon fuel tank, you will lose 40 miles on a tank of gasoline. Therefore, we aren't saving any oil consumption and could be increasing it. For example, a Chevrolet Impala rated at 19 mpg city and 29 mpg highway using gasoline is reduced to 14 mpg city and 22 mpg highway using E85.
Ethanol has been proven to be harmful to boats, lawn tractors, lawn mowers, power tools and vehicles over 6 years old. There was an article in The Roanoke Times that stated several boat engine manufacturers, power tool manufacturers and some in the auto industry have a lawsuit against the federal government over ethanol in gasoline ("Refinery group sues over ethanol ruling," Jan. 4 news story).
The use of corn to make ethanol has caused the price of food to increase drastically. The cost of corn has gone up, forcing farmers to pay double for grain to feed livestock. Some Third-World countries claim people are starving because of a shortage in the corn market and the increase of the cost of corn.
As far as the environment goes, there have been several articles on the controversy as to ethanol doing more harm than good. Even former ethanol champion Al Gore changed his mind. He once insisted the more we can make this home-grown fuel a success, the better off our farmers and our environment will be. He has since called the fuel a mistake.
Annual federal subsidies to corn ethanol cost around $5 billion to the taxpayers. The oil companies get 45 cents per gallon for blending it into gasoline supplies. You can't beat that. They raised the price to the consumer and make money from our government. Think of that when you pay your taxes and fill up at the pump.
Ethanol is extremely dangerous as a fire hazard. Ethanol is hauled via railroad and tank trucks. You most likely pass the trucks every day and don't know of the dangers. Ask your local fire department. It burns invisible because it's a form of alcohol. It is much more flammable than gasoline. I don't know of many fire departments that have the special foam to combat an ethanol fire. The foam is extremely expensive.
Bottom line is the oil companies get richer at the expense of you and me, while our government continues to subsidize the corn farmers and oil companies. Now the government wants to increase ethanol to 15 percent per gallon. It just doesn't learn. If our government wants to cut the budget, it can quit subsidizing the oil companies and stop ethanol from being added to our gasoline.
