Reverse the State Ethanol Mandate: It's Not Smart Policy

So you may have read by now about the recent study reported here that found production of biofuels in their current forms actually promotes global warming more than it reduces it. This isn't entirely a surprise. Hawaii, like most of the nation, rushed to put in an ethanol mandate and so the Aloha State is actually doing more harm than good. In fact, even worse. Few motorists know that ethanol reduces gas mileage considerably (by roughly 10-20% per gallon) so, in effect, the ethanol mandate in Hawaii is not only environmentally unsound but also an enormous tax on the already taxed Hawaii populace. Wait, it gets worse. There is an additional bill that will come due from the ethanol. This substance is incredibly corrosive, much more so than regular gasoline. It chews through storage tanks and many experts believe it will decrease the life of car engines and other parts within cars (in fact, there was a boom in sales of a material called molybdenum that can be used to make steel tougher and more resistant to ethanol corrosion). In Hawaii, the ultimate environmental cost of this ethanol madness could be horrific -- every underground fuel tank that gets compromised by ethanol turns into a brownfield project and an environmental disaster, something that we can ill afford due to the existing difficulties of remediating brownfield sites in Hawaii. At any rate, tell the Leg to revoke the ethanol mandate. It's not eco-friendly. It's costly. It hurts taxpayers. And it hurts the environment Nuff said.

WSJ: Nine Cities, Nine Programs to Cut Energy

The Wall Street Journal is running a series of articles on how nine cities are cutting energy usage with novel programs. It's going to be an interesting read. Come to think of it, is Honolulu thinking of buying LED's to replace standard lights in streetlights? Should this be on their agenda? Here's the intro.

Ann Arbor, Mich., and Beijing, China, have precious little in common. But the modest college town and sprawling national capital do share one trait: They're part of a world-wide movement by cities to rein in their runaway energy use. Ann Arbor is replacing the bulbs in its street lamps with light-emitting diodes that use much less power. Beijing is closing or relocating cement kilns, coal mines and chemical plants dating back to the era of Chairman Mao.