42 Louisiana Sportsman^ | April 2015
news breakers
Senate legislation is needed, former Tonight Show host says By Jerry Dilsaver
T
hree U.S. senators have co-sponsored a bill aimed
at eliminating the mandate to use corn ethanol
in fuels, and early expectations are that the bill
— similar to one that was never brought to a vote
during the last session — will proceed toward pas-
sage.
Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) is the primary sponsor, and Sen.
Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)
and Sen. Jeff Blake (R-AZ)
are co-sponsors of S 577,
The Corn Ethanol Mandate
Elimination Act of 2015.
The bill does not cap the
amount of ethanol required
in motor fuels, but it
eliminates the corn ethanol
mandate section of the
Renewable Fuel Standard.
It does not match Rep.
Bob Goodlatte’s Renewable
Fuel Standard Elimination
Act (H.R. 1461) and the
Renewable Fuel Standard
Reform Act (H.R. 1462),
which were introduced in
the U.S. House several weeks
ago and address limiting
ethanol to E-10.
Toomey and Feinstein
began their bipartisan alli-
ance in 2014 with a similar
bill that was buried by the
Senate leadership.
With this bill, they continue to work across party lines to
address the flaws of the Renewable Fuel Standard and change
its unrealistic fuel mandates requiring ethanol blends that are
actually harmful to many small engines, plus outboard motors
and automobile engines built before 2002.
The Recreational Fishing Alliance and the National Marine
Manufacturers Association support the legislation. The recre-
ational boating and fishing community has experienced the
problems associated with the RFS and ethanol fuels firsthand.
“Passage could lead to the elimination of the threat of E-15
fuels being mandated for use in recreational boats and a
rethinking of the entire Renewable Fuel Standard,” said Jim
Donofrio, executive director of the RFA.
The Environmental Protection Agency is scheduled to releasethe 2015 Renewable Fuel Standards in June.
In a March 4 op-ed for Autoweek, car enthusiast and former
Tonight Show host Jay Leno blasted the RFS and ethanol-
blended fuels. Leno said the caustic properties of ethanol
fuels required replacing fuel-pressure regulators every 12 or
18 months on each of the vintage autos in his car collection to
avoid car fires.Leno said the RFS must be reformed, especially the laws that
mandate increasing levels of ethanol in the fuel supply.
Leno also bemoaned the shorter shelf life of fuel containing
ethanol, an issue boaters have long complained about — par-
ticularly those in regions that have seasonal boating.
“If I run a car from the teens or ’20s and fill it up with modern
fuel (and) then it sits for more than two months, I often can’t
get it to start,” Leno wrote. “I just don’t see the need for ethanol.
I understand the theory — these giant agri-business companies
can process corn, add the resulting blend to gasoline, and we’ll
be using and importing less gasoline.
“But they say this diversion of the corn supply is negatively
affecting food prices, and the ethanol-spiked gas we’re forced to
buy is really awful.” ■Currently, a federal mandate means most of the
gasoline you use is blended with corn ethanol. A
Senate bill aims to end that requirement.Bipartisan bill could end
corn ethanol mandate