Your View: Ethanol the only practical alternative
Mankato Free Press
500 billion dollars. That’s how much we Americans spent buying 4.6 billion barrels of imported foreign oil last year. Haven’t we had enough? Isn’t it time for America to become more energy independent? I think so, and that’s why I hope the federal government will quickly approve allowing us to put more American-made ethanol in our fuel tank and less foreign oil. A decades-old regulation currently limits to just 10 percent the amount of ethanol that can be mixed with gasoline as part of the normal fuel supply. If we lift that cap to just 15 percent, we can replace 7 billion gallons of imported gasoline. America’s addiction to foreign oil is costing us not only money, but jobs.
Think about how many people could be put to work if we were meeting our energy needs here at home instead of relying on other countries — including some that aren’t exactly our allies. I’m not saying ethanol is the only answer to solving our energy needs. But ethanol is big part of the solution and it is today’s only practical alternative to foreign oil.
Let your elected officials know you are tired of sending your dollars overseas every time you fill up at the pump. Let them know you want to use more ethanol.
