Some of my constituents have been making inquiries as to the various additives used in gasoline.
Cleaner burning reformulated gasoline is now used in approximately one-third of all gasoline sold in the nation. This new gasoline burns cleaner because more oxygen is added from one of three sources–methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE), made from petroleum; ethanol, made from corn or other plant products; or ETBE, a product made from ethanol.
Almost 95 percent of reformulated gasoline is made with MTBE, a non-renewable fossil fuel. The recent negative publicity about the health effects of reformulated fuels can be traced to MTBE, not ethanol.
Ethanol, a renewable energy source, was made available to motorists in large part through the efforts of Illinois farm leaders. Chicago motorists have been using ethanol in up to one-third of their gasoline for nearly a decade.
But widely reported questions about fumes from MTBE–whether accurate or not–are causing motorists to question all reformulated fuels unnecessarily. Drivers in Anchorage were among the first to complain about MTBE. The city solved its problem simply by switching to ethanol-only blends.
Chicago motorists, who have either been satisfied with ethanol or used it unknowingly for years, are now confused about reformulated fuels.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Edgar administration are sticking by the reformulated-fuels program. But motorists have a right to know which type of oxygen additive is being used in the fuel they buy.
I have advocated the inclusion of ethanol in gasoline ever since I have been in the legislature. I encourage the use of ethanol fuels because ethanol is made from vegetation, such as corn and other like products, because not only are we helping the farmers of Illinois but we are also helping make Illinois a great energy center.
