My Voice: EPA’s ‘dirty rotten scoundrels’

Source: By Doug Sombke, Argus Leader • Posted: Friday, August 11, 2017

I was amazed at the irony in a Wall Street Journal headline, “Those Dirty Rotten Ethanol Scoundrels,” … are bootlegging ethanol into gasoline as if it’s an evil plot. The irony is Environmental Protection Agency’s dirty rotten scoundrels have aligned with petroleum to nefariously claim ethanol’s low carbon, 94 octane 30 percent blend damages engine systems and is illegal to use in standard autos. On behalf of rural communities and family farmers, I am calling out the EPA and those who still drink the Kool-aid of EPA’s fraudulent assessments that E30 is illegal for and damages standard auto engine systems.

We also counter EPA’s propaganda with South Dakota Farmers Union’s public service advertising challenging EPA’s fraudulent verbal claim “it’s illegal to fuel standard autos with 30 percent ethanol’s 94 octane E30.” Our PSA informs standard auto owners that by choosing blender pumps E30 they can save $2-$4/tank fill. And more than several thousands of wise standard auto owners have for nearly 10 years daily fueled with blender pumps’ E30 to consistently report: “I save money, get more power and can’t tell any mileage difference.”

These EPA fraudulent claims built the E10 blend wall effectively capping corn ethanol production at today’s 15 billion gallons. This also caps corn prices thus all crop prices by severely restricting ethanol’s participation in what should be a fully free enterprise gasoline octane market. The results include billions are fraudulently extracted from especially rural economies and standard auto owners.

Skeptical? SDFU members and I have gained unique, credible expertise in these matters by continuing to work closely with our former Sen. Tom Daschle, his chief of staff Pete Rouse and his ethanol consultant Dave Hallberg. Working closely with this Daschle team that created and led passing the Renewable Fuels Standard we find they advise the RFS has completed its job for corn ethanol. It is time to take advantage of free enterprise marketing opportunities presented because E30 is also low carbon and likely is the only safe octane contributor enabling transition to autos’ desired 94 octane gasoline pool.

They also remind us the Daschle/Dole 1990 Clean Air Act Amendment was legislated to insure that while phasing out lead, the EPA would prevent refiners from replacing lead by making 30 percent of gasoline content benzene and related octane referred to as aromatics. The amendment directed refiners to instead use practical, available safer alternatives: Yet EPA nefariously claims 30 percent ethanol is illegal for standard autos to lock ethanol’s safe octane out as a practical alternative to aromatic octane thus violating Daschle/Dole’s Clean Air Act Amendment.

Note unlike aromatic octane, combusting the two carbon ethanol molecule does not produce known human genotoxic, carcinogenic benzene and related aromatic toxics identical to those also found in cigarette smoke: This enables E30 to slash these emissions up to 80 percent.

Going to our home website’s premium E30 tab, finds the World Health Organization’s and consensus other medical researches assert: “Like cigarette smoke there is no recommended safe level for benzene in our air.” The EPA deceptively lowered gasoline’s benzene content from one to one-half percent as a fake cure-all, but ignores Clean Air Act directives to eliminate aromatic octane’s substantial carcinogenic benzene and related polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (pah) tailpipe emissions that also cause birth defects including infant brain damage.

Importantly, readers can then also click on Glacial Lakes Energy’s extensive E30 research, proving E30 does not reduce average mileage and auto owners save $2-$4/tank fill plus E30’s unique air charge cooling delivers more power: E30’s volatility neutral higher oxygen content and octane assures more complete combustion that reduces poisonous emissions and engine carbon deposits to lower maintenance costs.

Finally, Americans informed with the truth will easily see that EPA’s dirty rotten deal with petroleum has stymied growth of ethanol related corn markets effectively extracting billions from especially rural communities to transfer that wealth to Russia and Middle East oil dictators: And the most tragic cost of EPA’s dirty rotten deal with petroleum creates unwarranted poisonous benzene and related polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (pah) emissions that especially target the fetus and our smallest children. How many billions does it take to cover medical costs caused by unwarranted gasoline aromatic octane tailpipe emissions’ resulting childhood cancers, birth defects, brain damage, family tragedies, etc.?

MY VOICE

Doug Sombke, 57, president of South Dakota Farmers Union since 2005. The organization has more than 19,000 members.

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