Why a Good Ethanol Education Program Is Needed Now, More Than Ever

March 13, 2020

Print This Article Share it With Friends

by Marc J. Rauch (The Auto Channel) U.S. DOE and EPA are Screwing America (And No One Cares - Do You?) +VIDEO -- ... So, I did a Google search of his name (Daniel R. Simmons) along with the word "ethanol." There was only one pertinent search return involving Simmons and ethanol: a July 2016 presentation that he participated in at the Heritage Institute. That presentation was broadcast and videotaped by CSPAN. Unfortunately, it shows that Dan Simmons' knowledge of ethanol fuel issues was as ignorant in 2016 as it was in 2013. The complete one hour presentation can be watched on the CSPAN website.

The funny side of this presentation at Heritage Institute is that Simmons was just one of three anti-ethanol presenters. The other two were Marlo Lewis and Nick Loris, both of whom share Simmons' ignorance and have been subjects of my previous editorials.

WTF!

I wanted to know more about Danny Simmons, so I went back to Google to see what else has happened to him since this 2016 Heritage Institute televised event.

Well, that's when I arrived at the "WTF" moment. I came across a news story and video of Daniel R. Simmons (the very same ignorant ethanol-hater) being sworn in as Assistant Secretary at the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. This happened in February 2019.

...

It's hard to get things right when there's bad information at the top

• Could this be one of big reasons why America's Ethanol Policies are going backwards? Is this why ethanol isn't being given a fair shake and refinery exemptions ran rampant in 2019?

• Is this why the EPA feels it can rip apart the Renewable Fuels Program?

• How can ethanol fuel get a fair shake when there's someone(s) like this at the top of DOE helping to make and implement energy policy?

• Did anyone in the ethanol fuel industry raise a stink about Simmons nomination and confirmation?

• Did Simmons ever issue any updated information that shows he now has a better understanding of the benefits of ethanol?

Back at the end of January, the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals struck down some "small refinery" exemptions from meeting the Renewable Fuel Standard. This was seen by many in the ethanol industry as a great ray of hope.

At the end of February, U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue announced that the department will provide $100 million in grants for the Higher Blends Infrastructure Incentive Program (HBIIP). This led some people to think that the ray of hope blossomed into a floodlight of exuberant expectation.

Then the other shoes dropped.

Stories began circulating that the Administration is going to be challenging the 10th U.S. Circuit Court's decision on refinery exemptions, and it was remembered that even if there is greater availability of E15 pumps at filling stations that the public still largely believes in the negative claims about ethanol. You know: that ethanol damages engines, that it is uneconomical, that it creates as much or more harmful emissions as gasoline, that the production of ethanol causes worldwide starvation, and is destroying earth's waterways.

Greater availability of E15 pumps will not change these unfounded beliefs. All that will happen is that ethanol opponents will be able to say that more money is being wasted to sway agriculture voting in the upcoming elections...it'll be a replay of the ethanol subsidies issue (even though the issue doesn't exist) and create more animosity.

America and the world is on a collision course to replace internal combustion engines with electric motors. It doesn't matter that battery technology is still very troublesome. It doesn't matter that electric vehicles and the creation of electricity is nearly as dirty as gasoline and diesel powered internal combustion engines. The public mostly views electric motors as the way to decrease pollution and eliminate catastrophic climate change. If internal combustion engines are phased out - and in some cases summarily banned - it's the end of ethanol fuel. And if this happens, there's no increase in consumer demand for alcohol-based hand sanitizers that will save the non-beverage ethanol industry.

But this wouldn't be good news for the petroleum oil industry because if internal combustion engines go away, there goes the primary source of revenue for the oil industry. Gasoline won't be needed...diesel fuel won't be needed...lubricating motor oil will not be needed. It would be the end of the ethanol fuel industry, the end of the petroleum oil industry, it would be the end of the filling station and convenience store industry, and it would be the end off numerous manufacturing industries for related products. Then we would be stuck relying on Communist China to be producing electric motors and batteries for us.