June 07, 2010
Farmers union: Ethanol blends should be labeled accurately at the pump
Published in Alexandria Echo Press
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is working on a label for ethanol blends at the pump. Minnesota Farmers Union is urging the FTC to use labels that are accurate, descriptive, and not harmful to the ethanol blends so that consumers who drive flex-fuel vehicles can have a real, home-grown, domestic fuel choice.
“Currently, the ethanol industry replaces 364 million barrels of imported oil each and every year,” said Doug Peterson, Minnesota Farmers Union President. “A major study by the Windmill Group identifies 645,000 jobs created by ethanol, and $92 billion to our country’s Gross Domestic Product.”
A study by Yale University’s Journal of Industrial Ecology states that grain ethanol has 59 percent fewer Greenhouse Gas Emissions when compared to conventional gasoline, and the use of ethanol reduces carbon emissions by 16.5 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions. Cellulosic ethanol, the second generation of renewable fuels, is 90 percent cleaner than gasoline, and with the current feed stock of biomass, there is enough biomass in the country to produce 85 billion gallons of cellulosic ethanol annually!
“The fact is - ethanol works – it makes us less dependent on foreign oil, contributes to this country’s economy and is better for the environment, so lets help consumers choose cleaner, home-grown energy by putting a factual label on ethanol blend pumps,” said Peterson.
Minnesota Farmers Union....
