The ethanol boondoggle is getting worse
Ethanol gas is hard on small engines, chain saws, outboard motors, snowmobiles, lawn mowers, weed whackers and the like. Ask any small-engine technician. Ethanol gas will clog up a carburetor, among other things. Truth is we have been burning corn as a way to accommodate an agricultural surplus and please the Corn Lobby and the Green Movement.
Studies reveal that New England’s use of ethanol gas is creating a major transfer of wealth to the corn-growing Midwest. As the New York Times reported, “Ethanol gas is a boon for Iowa and a boondoggle for the rest of the country.”
Additionally, it is doing nothing to help the environment. Studies show that ethanol does not reduce carbon emissions and, in fact, will double greenhouse emissions over 30 years. It costs us more for corn flakes and we get a third less gas mileage to boot. Did you know that the higher the level of ethanol in your fuel, the more likely you are to destroy your engine? When levels go above 10 percent ethanol, fuel burns hotter and often reduces engine life.
So, why, with gas prices going through the roof, would the Biden administration suddenly loosen up the rules and promote the summer use of ethanol that is 15 percent corn instead of the earlier 10 percent! Has Washington lost its mind? It won’t save us money at the gas pump, as Biden contends. With ensuing reduced gas mileage it will cost us all even more.
Biden is not the only ethanol pusher in the nation’s capital. Former president Donald Trump was also big on putting corn in your gas tank. Irrespective of political persuasion, it just seems like the people in the Swamp have lost touch with the real world. It may be as simple as this: It is unlikely that either Joe Biden or Donald Trump ever had to fuss with an obstinate outboard motor or a coughing lawn mower with a gummed up carburetor, or ever worried about declining gas mileage in the family buggy.
By the way, from what we have seen the adding of 5 percent more corn to your $5 a gallon gasoline has received scant attention from the news media. It sort of slid under the back door like a sneaky snake in a Stephen King movie.
The good news is that, if you are willing to search about, you can find filling stations that offer ethanol free gas, at a higher price of course.
The author is editor of the Northwoods Sporting Journal. He is also a Maine Guide and host of a weekly radio program “Maine Outdoors” heard Sundays at 7 p.m. on The Voice of Maine News-Talk Network. He has authored three books. Online purchase information is available at www.maineoutdoorpublications.com.