August 13, 2010
Editorial: We must invest in ethanol distribution
Published in Mankato Free Press
It’s hard to decide which is more important, the environment, the economy, or our national security. One thing is certain, our dependence on oil impacts all three — and not in a good way.
Ethanol is the only commercially viable alternative we have to gasoline refined from oil. Ethanol creates jobs (over 30,000 indirectly in Minnesota), cleans the air, and strengthens national security. Best of all it’s here right now.
Unfortunately, access to ethanol is limited by the fact that the oil companies either own or control the entire infrastructure to dispense fuel in this country — from the point of drilling the well to the point where the fuel nozzle goes into your car. If we want to give motorists the choice of fueling their cars with ethanol, we need an investment in ethanol distribution infrastructure.
A coalition of ethanol supporters called Growth Energy has introduced a plan, Fueling Freedom, to fix that. The Fueling Freedom Plan would phase out the blenders tax credit and redirect some portion of that tax credit to help pay for the installation of blender pumps and flex fuel vehicles. We spend over $500 billion per year buying oil from countries that finance terrorist groups and don’t care for Americans. This needs to be addressed.
With ethanol, we don’t have to choose between the environment, the economy, or our national security. With ethanol, we can improve them all.
