Senate Stimulus Bill Lifts Cap On Ethanol Blending

摘要

A coalition of exceedingly strange bedfellows-including oil refiners, environmentalists and car makers-is protesting a little-known provision in the Senate economic stimulus bill that would lift the current 10 percent cap on the amount of ethanol that can be blended into the nation's gasoline supply.rnIn a letter to Senate leaders last week, the coalition said the legislation unwisely would override previous instructions from Congress that directed the Environmental Protection Agency to conduct testing to determine whether higher levels of ethanol can be blended into gasoline without increasing emissions or disabling safety and emissions control devices in motor vehicle and equipment engines.