The Ethanol Papers - Paperturn manuscript - Flipbook - Page 218
In closing your comments, you cited article 1, section 8 of the U.S. Constitution
as a way to complain about ethanol-gasoline blends. I'm not a Constitutional
Scholar so I looked up the source material. Article 1, Section 8 has nothing to
do with public health and safety issues; it concerns taxes. And on that score,
Article 1, Section 8 clearly allows the government to levy taxes; which we know
the government does. So I would say that if you wish to use the Constitution as
a tool against ethanol that you should re-research the document.
I hope I was able to help clear up your misunderstanding of ethanol's use, and
that you have a great rest of the weekend.
Posted by JEFF A:
Thanks for your historical analysis of ethanol. Now let's talk about the damage
ethanol does, not to the engine's metallic parts, but the rubber ones. The cars
of today are made with rubber specially formulated to handle alcohol. I believe
Jay Leno's intent in writing his AutoWeek magazine story was that people
should be able to buy unadulterated gasoline for older cars if they want it, so
they don't have to replace the rubber seals in carburetors, fuel tanks, install new
fuel pumps (the kind that bolt to the side of your engine), and let's not forget all
the fuel lines. In Brazil they still went through the same painful transition we are
going through today with our cars 15 years old and older. In Missouri you can
get pure gasoline still but you have to shop around and it's premium only. If I
had an antique car, I would need this option to keep it all original.
Reply from MARC:
Hi Jeff - I'm glad you found my historical analysis helpful.
If Jay Leno was only referring to older cars I wouldn't have published a lengthy
rebuke of his article in February. I would have either not responded, or I would
have said that I agree with the general advice of not using high-level ethanolgasoline blends in vehicles manufactured before the early 1990s.
Unfortunately, Jay didn't limit his criticism to older vehicles, and because Jay
has never responded to the volume of criticism he's received by acknowledging
