PLEASE NOTE: Legislative Information cannot perform research, provide legal advice, or interpret Maine law. For legal assistance, please contact a qualified attorney.
JOINT RESOLUTION MEMORIALIZING THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES AND THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS TO EXPRESS DISAPPROVAL OF CORN ETHANOL AS A FUEL ADDITIVE AND TO URGE THE ALLOWANCE OF ALTERNATIVES TO CORN ETHANOL AS A FUEL ADDITIVE
WE, your Memorialists, the Members of the One Hundred and Twenty-fifth Legislature of the State of Maine now assembled in the First Regular Session, most respectfully present and petition the President of the United States and the United States Congress, as follows:
WHEREAS, federal laws and regulations, including the Clean Air Act, the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and the national renewable fuel standard program created in 2006, have contributed to changes in fuel standards, such as the removal of methyl tertiary butyl ether, or MTBE, as an oxygenate in fuel, leading to the use of ethanol as a replacement for MTBE; and
WHEREAS,  only reformulated gasoline is now available for purchase at public fuel pumps and typically contains a 10% corn ethanol blend, known as E10, and there are many gasoline engines, particularly those in boats, aircraft and older engines, in a variety of uses that are fueled by gasoline designed for motor vehicles, such as E10, and that will not function properly on E10; and
WHEREAS,  there are many gasoline engines in Maine that are used seasonally and are at great risk of damage from this corn ethanol fuel if, as is common practice, the unused fuel is left in the tank for extended periods, since corn ethanol is a solvent and damages rubber fuel lines and gaskets as well as fiberglass fuel tanks and has a definite shorter shelf life unless treated properly, going bad after a few months and leaving a gas tank full of hazardous wastes; and
WHEREAS,  these engines, and in particular boat engines using the corn ethanol fuel, are affected by significant amounts of water becoming trapped in the fuel tank, which separates the ethanol from the reformulated gasoline and causes the engine to stall or fail, sometimes severely damaging the engine and requiring costly repairs or replacement and also leading to potentially life-threatening situations; and
WHEREAS,  aircraft are unable to use corn ethanol as it does not function as a motor fuel at high altitudes and, due to this and the previously mentioned federal laws and programs, the only lead-free motor fuel widely available to the general public for smaller engines is E10; and
WHEREAS,  the production of corn ethanol is wasteful of fossil fuel resources and does not increase energy security and with this production, which uses 10% of the totally arable land in the United States, we see increased degradation of vital land and water resources; and
WHEREAS,  corn ethanol's impact on food prices is huge and corn is now trading at an all-time high and this affects food manufacturing and other industries such as animal feed businesses; and
WHEREAS,  the burning of corn ethanol increases the emissions of nonmethane gases and hazardous air pollutants that are probable carcinogens and are the causes of numerous health issues such as asthma, chronic bronchitis and other respiratory problems; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED: That We, your Memorialists, respectfully urge and request that the President of the United States and members of the United States Congress realize the major problems of corn ethanol as a fuel additive and the numerous negative effects it has on not only Maine citizens, but all Americans, and we urge and request that the United States Congress consider exempting some grades of motor fuel from provisions in the Clean Air Act requiring that fuel contain a blend of 10% ethanol in order to make a safe motor fuel available to those who should not use fuel containing ethanol; and be it further
RESOLVED: That suitable copies of this resolution, duly authenticated by the Secretary of State, be transmitted to the Honorable Barack H. Obama, President of the United States, to the Honorable Gregory H. Friedman, Inspector General of the United States Department of Energy, to the President of the United States Senate, to the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives and to each Member of the Maine Congressional Delegation.