[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by Frank Lee

1. Food price increases are due to far more factors than ethanol. One could even say ethanol has nothing to do with any increases.

Nobody could say ethanol has nothing to do with food price increase (and be accurate). Any crop that is used to produce fuel reduces the supply of land that can instead produce food. Economics shows that a reduction in supply must increase price. Or do you argue that demand for food in the U.S. has fallen in the same period of time?

2. NOBODY is talking about moving the entire North American fleet to E85. Nobody except those who are being disingenuous, that is.

That is exactly what I am saying. What is good for the goose, is good for the gander. In other words, if E85 has superior properties such as lower cost, environmental advantages, and more power, then it should be used by everyone.

Remove subsidies for both petroleum and bio, and the superior fuel will easily emerge as the market efficiently selects the winner.

Did Edison's light bulbs need a subsidy to overtake sperm whale oil lamps as the dominant source of lighting?

3. There's a food shortage in N.A.? Then why are the slobs still throwing 40% of it away?

I'm just as confused, but according to World Hunger, 14% of US households are food insecure.

It seems as if 85% of Americans are overweight, and the other 15% are wasting away.

4. Actually it seems the impoverished are burdened most by high health care and housing costs.

Funny, when I was in grade school they taught the necessities of life as water, food, shelter, and clothing. How the times have changed.

It appears that the cost of housing has steadily fallen throughout history, according to average household sizes from the US Census.

5. If you really are interested in seeing what E85 performance and economy is, all you have to do is look. P.S. Or better yet, try it.

I had the opportunity to test it for myself back in 2008, when Oregon required me to stop filling with RUG, and instead use E10. To my surprise and disbelief, my records showed a decrease in fuel economy by almost 10%. This didn't make any sense, as the math would suggest I should only loose about 3-4%.

I'm unable to test on my current vehicle, as the only stuff available is E10.

However, I do believe that some vehicles are less impacted by the lower energy content of ethanol than others. Whatever claims are made on this forum, I'm inclined to take on faith as accurate.

As I said, if a vehicle were made to take advantage of the properties of E85 while maintaining a price per mile advantage, I would probably buy it.