The Obama administration is exercising a demand for greater ethanol content in gasoline for newer cars. This could greatly benefit corn growers, however, it has been strongly opposed by automakers, livestock ranchers, oil refiners, and some public-health advocates. The Environmental Protection Agency is planning to announce that ethanol levels will be approximately 15% in gasoline blends of vehicles made since 2007. This is an increase over the previous 10% that gasoline blends contained.
There is strong criticism of this because many officials claim that there is not sufficient research for this change in ethanol levels. The opposition to this movement has also said, “Allowing 15% ethanol blends for some cars but not others could confuse customers at the pump”(Wall Street Journal). The EPA has said that gasoline pumps should be well labeled to reduce the possibility that drivers will use the wrong fuel in their cars. Another concern for the ethanol industry is that the 45 cent a gallon excise tax credit, which helped increase the demand for ethanol is going to expire at the end of 2010.
It seems as though this movement by the Obama administration is illogical and therefore, consumers will not respond well to this change in ethanol content. The slow economy will not urge consumers to buy new vehicles that will allow for this change in ethanol content in gasoline blends. At a time when other alternative energy resources are the main focus, ethanol is not viewed as one of them because it does not yield as much energy as other resources.
Source: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703440004575548883403355828.html?KEYWORDS=auto%20industry
I agree with your thought that the 5% increase of ethanol in gasoline will not be helpful. With the direction that the economy is currently taking towards hydrogen cars, all-electric cars, hybrids and more, I feel that any shift in focus will only be a distraction towards any actual improvement. Also, the fact that there is not enough research is a huge deterrent because one cannot make such a huge move without information to back it up. It could backfire really bad. And when purchasing gas, people are usually in a rush and they will be confused as to which one they can and should buy for their respective vehicles. Overall, we will run into many problems if Obama follows through with this plan.
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