The Ethanol Papers - Paperturn manuscript - Flipbook - Page 373
Even if ethanol is never introduced into a fuel system the time will come when
the engine must be cleaned. The engine repair industry didn't spontaneously
arise with the advent of E10 or E85 gasoline. Engine repair, maintenance and
replacement is a natural result of the internal combustion process. If we can
have a fuel that (as Jay previously wrote) burns 100 percent, leaving behind no
nasty residue and leftover gunk that clogs key engine components, why shouldn't we have that fuel readily available? Shouldn't that fuel be our primary default
engine fuel?
Jay talks about damage that ethanol has caused to the fiber diaphragms in the
fuel system of one of his Duesenbergs. I think he's probably correct about this.
But is this the reason why America should abandon the RFS and return to gasoline that contains poison?
If you watch the video that Jay did in Las Vegas in 2007 he says something
very interesting; in response to the question of how he selects which vehicle he
is going to drive to work on a given day, with great humility he acknowledges
that there are greater problems in the world to worry about. That was a correct,
very modest response. So, in keeping with that recognition, I suggest that the
fiber diaphragms in his or anyone else's Duesenbergs have no significance in
our national decision on what is the correct engine fuel to use.
As a person who has owned classic cars (although I've never owned more than
one at a time, and they weren't especially valuable), while I can appreciate his
concern over his vehicles, I suggest he suck it up as a noblesse oblige sacrifice
that he must make.
For some inexplicable reason, Jay also throws in negative comments about
ethanol producers and the "food vs. fuel" argument. This inclusion made me
think that perhaps Jay didn't actually write this article - that it was actually written
by some API stooge and Jay just signed off on it. Jay refers to some ethanol
producers as "giant agri-businesses," and its mention is couched within a paragraph that is meant to demean the producers and the overall effort to make us
energy independent. Admittedly, some ethanol producers are large corporations, but when you compare them to the giant oil companies they are virtually
mom and pop businesses.
For example, in the same year that ExxonMobil reported their fiscal fourth-quarter profit as $40 billion, Archer Daniels Midland reported their fiscal fourth-quarter profit of $372 million. Although $372 million is nothing to sneeze at, it’s less
than 1% of ExxonMobil’s profit. If there's a picture being painted about huge
greedy companies looking to take advantage of the American consumer, the
