[Allch Chcar]

Nerys, they did this back in the 60's/70's when they banned Lead in Gasoline. Lead was a cheap octane booster but it was shown to be more toxic than Gasoline. There were probably people mad back then.
Driving is a privilege not a right. There are laws about fuel use, which is taxed, and even vehicles' state of repair(I've gotten a fixit ticket for a tail light out before and pulled over for a headlight being out.) just like there are speed limits and seat belt laws. I'm not thrilled by it being mandatory either. It's an emissions regulation to them just like the catalytic converter and electronic fuel injection. And Corn lobbyist didn't start this, have you even looked at Corn Lobbyist's political contributions? It is peanuts next to Big Oil's political contributions. Before groups like the NEVC this was not a big corn push. If anything Bush started it when he approached ADM. And Corn Ethanol is not a cash cow like you portray it as. The Gasoline market is very competitive and the prices have to be low as supply for Ethanol easily exceeds demand at this point.

They are not making you buy a brand spanking new car. Used cars get cheaper over time. Eventually the cars designed for E10 will be affordable to you and you can get one if you so choose. If you want to keep an old carburetor car it probably needs a new fuel system anyway, 20 years of Gasoline can ruin a fuel line too. If it has any rubber in it it's probably already worn out from Ethanol exposure. Updating an old car is not unreasonable but it's probably cheaper just to get a newer one. I'm not enthusiastic about newer cars either they may be more powerful and more efficient per pound and many get better than EPA easily but manual cars are rare and the V6 was the most popular engine for the 10 years prior to the Katrina fuel crunch.

Setting fuel regulations for vehicles over 20 years old is a bit much isn't it? The average time people own a car is 5 years and the average lifespan of a new car is 17 1/2 years. The new E15 law practically guarantees two different blends at the pump. And while I don't agree that E10 should be mandatory it has been for almost ten years in some places(circa 2001 I believe). There have been studies of Gasohol in cars from the 90's and the results have been mostly positive. The only horror stories of older cars having problems from Gasohol have been for cars like cars from the Carburetor era, before 1990 or just certain models which weren't designed properly for the current fuel blend. Eg there was a Lexus recall several years ago and likewise a Volkswagen recall over E10. Ford has been building their cars to be compatible with E85 since '94 but not designing the ECU or sizing the injectors for it. Many of the Execs at the big Automakers no doubt remember Gasohol from the 70's. If anything everything post 2000 is probably designed to tolerate even higher blends of Ethanol than E10.

E85 is at least 3/4 a gallon of Gasoline, Methanol is half. The double rule of thumb is what Methanol racers use as a guideline and does not apply to E85 at all. E85 uses more like 1/3 more fuel, the EPA has MPG numbers for Flexfuel cars and it is closer to 1/3 more fuel. That is due to less energy density problem not energy efficiency. E85 can burn more efficiently than Gasoline. There is a good reason Alcohols have less energy per gallon and it is due to having oxygen in it.

And windshield washer fluid is Methanol mixed with water and it is even more corrosive than Ethanol.