Trump Lifts Summertime Ethanol-Fuel Ban

The Trump administration ended a summertime ban on E15 ethanol fuel, and it’s made for some strange bedfellows.

E15 is a fuel blend containing 15% ethanol, and while it helps reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, its use in the summer apparently increases smog. Still, the summertime ban “made it very difficult to market E15,” according to William Wehrum, the head of the clean air office at the Environmental Protection Agency, and gutting the sanction fulfills a campaign promise by Trump, who previously called it a "ridiculous rule."

Oddly enough, removing the ban has united two very disparate groups – environmentalists and oil companies.

Collin O’Mara, president and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation, claimed that the move is “illegal under the Clean Air Act and will accelerate the destruction of wildlife habitat and pollution of our air, and drinking water.”

Meanwhile, the oil industry opposes E15 for an entirely different reason.

“Extending this waiver is an anti-consumer policy that risks causing costly engine and fuel-system damage to nearly three out of four vehicles on the road today,” said Frank Macchiarola, a vice president of the American Petroleum Institute.

Self-preservation also plays an obvious role – E15 would cut into their market share.

Expect lawsuits and court challenges before all is said and done.

Read more here: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/31/climate/trump-ethanol-fuel-ban.html