In a concise letter to the heads of the US Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Energy, and Department of Agriculture as well as to the White House, a broad and diverse coalition of major consumer and industry associations has implored the EPA to slow down as it heads towards what seems to be a quick decision on allowing E15 (85% gasoline, 15% ethanol) blends to be sold at fueling stations for use in all vehicles—even those not originally designed for use with ethanol.
The letter writing coalition* represents virtually every retail gasoline provider, virtually every automobile manufacturer and a large majority of motorcycle, marine, and non-road equipment manufacturers in the US.
The EPA already allows the use of up up to 10% ethanol blends (E10) in all gasoline-powered vehicles and many states have adopted their own rules regarding the subject. Owners of small engined machines have been generally resistant to the ethanol blends, saying that higher amounts of ethanol can harm them.
Obama’s auto emissions standard is a landmark success in improving fuel efficiency. But American consumers haven’t yet bought into the idea of a fuel-efficient car.
From our friends at ZapRoot: Farmers take it to the extreme to protect their crops. The Auto Alliance has jump on the green bandwagon. These Guys are Full of **it returns.
You look west to see a barren landscape, tumbleweed breezing lazily through the charred remains of a forest. The rust laden skeleton of what used to be a city echoes the promise of a future long gone. You are fighting out your days amidst gunfire and tribal warfare in armor composed of animal fur and long deserted hockey pads. Ironically water isn’t the most important liquid on the planet that spins where the Earth once spun. You begin to wash the grease smears off your face in a shallow pool…
…oh wait, am I jumping the gun here?
While our gas crises hasn’t quite reached ‘Mad Max’ proportions yet, things are close enough that the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers will make this September “Green Check-Up Month.” After countless years of making oversized and inefficient autos, Ford and Chevy are now going to tell us how to save gas.