Ethanol Levels in Gasoline May Be Going Up

Like it or not, you may soon have more corn in your tank. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has approved raising the allowable ethanol content of gasoline from 10 percent to 15 percent, and automakers are unhappy about it.

The automakers say the extra squirt of corn juice could harm engines, damage emission control equipment and put a big dent in the driveability of at least some cars.

The EPA announced today that it will allow the higher ethanol levels for use in vehicles made since 2007. For cars made between 2001 and 2006, the agency is  awaiting the outcome of additional research.

It's not quite clear just how the various blends will be sorted out in actual practice. Will service stations have to add more pumps? Will consumers be able to remember which blend was right for their car? Will pricing vary from one blend to another?

Answer: Nobody seems to know.

"Thorough testing has now shown that E15 does not harm emissions control equipment in newer cars and light trucks," said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson. "Wherever sound science and the law support steps to allow more home-grown fuels in America's vehicles, this administration takes those steps."The agency's interest in the matter is clear: It is legally charged with reducing emissions, encouraging the use of renewable fuels and so forth. But who else is in favor of further diluting petroleum fuels?

Why, corn farmers of course. In fact, out in the Farm Belt, folks had been up in arms because the EPA was still sitting on its hands. Rep. Kristi Noem (R-S.D.) had called for EPA head Jackson to resign and make room for someone who'll bring home the bacon corn farmers are demanding.

Environmental groups are also generally in favor of greater use of ethanol, although there are some misgivings here and there about whether growing more corn is a good use of the nation's tillable soil.

And then there are the opponents who, besides the car manufacturers, include the oil industry and cattle ranchers. Since corn is stuffed into cattle to fatten them up quickly, the cattlemen fear that grinding up more corn for ethanol will increase their feed costs.

And consumers? They're largely unheard from on the issue but higher corn prices translate very quickly into higher grocery prices since just about everything we eat is either made out of corn or gorged on the stuff before being ground up and turned into hamburger.

One well-known ethanol lobbyist is none other than Gen. Wesley Clark, one of the many hopefuls who sought the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination. He now heads something called Growth Energy, an ethanol trade group that has been petitioning the EPA to shuck its concerns and get on with adopting higher ethanol levels for gas.

While all of the political maneuvering goes on, the Energy Department is conducting tests to determine the effect higher ethanol levels would have on cars' engines, fuel tanks and other components.

Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), who heads the House Enery and Commerce Committee, had asked the EPA to delay making a decision until it has "sufficient test results" to ensure that E15, as it's called, won't harm cars, and today the EPA said it had amassed sufficient evidence, at least for newer cars.