This one isn’t so much a new boondoggle as the failure of an existing boondoggle. Falling fuel prices have triggered a clause in Missouri’s ethanol blending mandate, which allows retailers to sell unblended gasoline instead of E10. The Springfield News-Leader reports that gasoline is now cheaper than ethanol, which means station owners have the right to ignore a state law requiring pumps to sell the ten percent ethanol blend. “The gas price has really dropped tremendously and ethanol has not quite kept up with the pace,” said Ron Hayes, director of the Missouri Department of Agriculture’s weights and measures division, which monitors gasoline sales in the state. The drop in the price of oil has “really slowed down, if not stopped, any additional expansion of capacity” at the state’s six farmer-owned ethanol plants, said Gene Millard, president of the Missouri Renewable Fuels Association. “Plants are just not going to start up producing a product that’s showing negative pricing margins,” he said without placing blame directly where it belongs: ethanol mandates which have drastically elevated the price of corn. Aint it tough when markets don’t respond to your political agenda?
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Does this mean the price of liquor and nachos will go down?
It will be interesting to watch the market price of corn now that gas is relatively inexpensive. Will there be a government bailout of the corn farmers? Oh yeah…..there already is one (a.k.a. farm subsidies).
Why are comments closed to Herr Schmitt’s Nippon post?
One caveat, that does not waive the EPA requirement to sell oxygenated fuel in the STL metro area. So, E10 is still the required poison for some of us. Don’t recall whether KC pumps are under the same EPA mandate.
At least it was never MTBE. God that stuff was horrible for cars when I lived in Cal. Not to mention the groundwater.
Oh well. At $130.9 today it would appear that we’ve hit rock bottom. That’s actually below spot+taxes, so it ain’t gonna last.
We just broke into the $1.40s/gal here in Indy.
NEVER thought I’d see those numbers again in my lifetime.
Even in “hi vacationers, welcome to town – where’s yer money” always-overpriced-Traverse City Mich, we’re down to $1.74, and I did a double take yesterday. The ONLY station for 200 miles that sells E85 had it at $1.98. Lemmesee…. if I owned a flex fuel vehicle, would I pay 24 cents EXTRA per gallon AND be satisfied with using 40% MORE fuel?! Um, lemmeethink – NO!
As for the sub-moronic, knuckle dragging imbeciles in Lansing who have apparently mandated E10 instead of real gas, I have some news for you. My 2008 Prius is now getting 37.5 mpg instead of 45 on 100% gas.
I was able to drive like granny and nurse it up to 40 mpg, so I’m “only” ising 11% MORE fuel on your 10% ethanol polluted mandated misfuelling of my GASOLINE electric hybrid. I’ll be remembering you guys in Lansing AND in Washington at the next elections and won’t be voting for any incumbents nor for any major parties.
My wife’s 2007 Sonata “only” loses 6% efficiency on E10, though virtually every car I’ve owned since 1979 has lost nearly 10% MPG or more, on E10.
Way to go Washington and state politicians. Thanks bunches for raising food prices, too.
Gas is still over $2.00 everywhere here, and some of the stations next to my house are near $3.00
I know of exactly one gas station sub $2 and it’s $1.99 and they are all 10-15% ethnaol to boot!
I don’t find 1.70’s-1.80’s particularly expensive…
I’d love to see the return of real gasoline!
What exactly does “Aint it tough when markets dont respond to your political agenda?” mean?
“Free” markets that weve seen fluctuate wildly this year show just how difficult its going to be to get any kind of coherent energy policy in place without say a 25c/gal fuel tax. There is a reason railroads and highways build bridges and tunnels. Can you imagine still sloshing thru every stream or climbing every mountain? Thats what we are doing now. Now that the planets economies are hitting the skids big-time, maybe its time to find a smoother path than panic or complacency. No?