ADMINISTRATION GENIUSES AT WORK – AT 10:59 A.M. ET:  From the Omaha World-Herald: 

WASHINGTON — A new, higher-ethanol blend of gasoline could be available soon at a gas station near you.

Before you hit that new E15 pump, consider this: Using the Midlands-made fuel could void your vehicle's warranty, according to letters from a dozen automakers that a Wisconsin congressman released Tuesday.

Ford, Toyota, Chrysler and others criticized the federal government's moves to allow the sale of the 15 percent ethanol blend and said warranties on the cars and trucks they produce might be voided if owners use it.

The administration might have checked on this before acting.  But who in Washington knows from this private-industry stuff?

Their letters came in response to inquiries from Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., who is seeking to block the introduction of E15, which contains 50 percent more ethanol than the common E10 blend that consumers know.

The Environmental Protection Agency, under Clean Air Act waivers, has studied and approved E15 to be sold for use in cars and light trucks as old as model year 2001. The agency last week announced an orange and black label to be used at pumps that sell the 15 percent blends.

Probably took a year, and a team of outside consultants, to develop the orange and black label.

The automakers said the EPA proposal to allow the sale of E15 fuel could damage engines and fuel-supply systems in vehicles made to run on gasoline with a lower ethanol content.

Correct.  A Honda service expert told me that ethanol, even at the current level, is bad for cars.

“While Chrysler has been a strong advocate of renewable fuels, we have concerns about the potential harmful effects of E15 in engines and fuel systems that were not designed for use of that fuel,” Jody Trapasso, Chrysler's senior vice president of external affairs, wrote in a June 23 letter to Sensenbrenner, the vice chairman of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology.

Corn belt lawmakers have been key proponents in recent years of higher ethanol blends to help meet ambitious national targets for growth in use of the alternative fuels. Iowa and Nebraska are the country's two largest ethanol-producing states. 

COMMENT:  It's about money and politics.  Always is.  When the repair bills start coming in, Washington might condescend to notice.

July 6, 2011