Brown Sludge

E85 Comes To My Neighborhood - Sort Of

July 27th, 2006

I was filling up at a neighborhood gas station the other day, and I was blown away to see that an E85 pump had been installed!

I grabbed my digital camera and snapped the above pic.

I got really excited for a minute… and then I noticed the price.

It’s HIGHER than regular gasoline.

I can’t tell you how outraged I was.

I had read some articles on E85 on the web that insinuated that because of all the subsidies and tax breaks - wherever you see a price for E85 that exceeds the price of regular gasoline – you can be assured that you are being ripped off.

I ran home and searched the web for those articles – and while I was searching I ran smack dab into this article in USATODAY’s money section.

And I quote :

The price of ethanol has been driven up because major oil refiners are suddenly buying in bulk. They’re stocking up on ethanol as a replacement for MTBE, a petroleum-based additive suspected of causing cancer. MTBE and ethanol boost the octane of gasoline and can reduce pollution.

(emphases added by me)

So… again… “major oil refiners” are driving up the cost of energy.

This conveniently keeps the price of ethanol unattractive – which destroys demand – which destroys adoption – which cheats the consumer.

Here is the honest truth.

You don’t have to be Fellini to know that inflating prices through artificial manipulation will eventually tank the market. Steve Forbes, God bless his heart, may not be a great politician, but he’s forgotten more about economics than most people will ever know, and he’s been screaming this for 2 years now. I believe him.

I will no longer be happy with the simple bottoming out of the market when the bubble pops.

I will no longer be happy with anything LESS than the CEO’s of major oil companies being frog-marched off to Federal Prison in orange jump-suits ala The Enron Boys. It will take nothing less than this to satisfy my sense of justice.

If you had any doubt about what absolute jerks they are – take a close look at the sign on the pump.

I’ve spray-painted (via Photoshop) their name off in order to rob them of any free advertising, but I think it’s very telling that :

a) They refuse to allow you the convenience of using your credit card to purchase E85.

b) They sneer as they tell you “This isn’t OUR product”. As if to say “We have no idea what this crap is, we didn’t make it. You put this crap in your tank at your own risk. We have know idea what is. We just sell it. Don’t come crying to us if it ruins your engine.”

Oh yeah… they’re committed to the alternative that’s going to put them out of business. You bet they are.

Just look at the price.

Entry Filed under: General, Big Oil, The Right Has It Wrong, Thoughts