Old North News

Amid high gas prices and inflation rates that are at a 40-year-high, President Joe Biden has made a number of decisions — though he has omitted the option of increasing domestic production — to try to bring down gas prices for Americans.

Don’t expect to automatically see your fuel costs go down, however.

On April 12, the president announced his latest plan, which called on the EPA to waive the summertime ban on E15 gasoline — a move that might be good for corn growers, but is bad for engines, fuel efficiency and the environment, a recent report on TheDrive.com said.

"I am announcing that the Environmental Protection Agency is planning to issue an emergency waiver to allow E15 gasoline — gasoline that uses more ethanol from home-grown crops — to be sold across the U.S. this summer in order to increase fuel supply and lower prices," Biden's April 12 tweet said. 

E15 is a blend that uses 15% ethanol and 85% gasoline. It is set to be sold in the United States this summer as one way to help drivers reduce the financial cost of filling up their cars. 

A recent White House statement noted that E15 fuel can save a family 10 cents per gallon of gas on average. 

The Drive report, however, noted that E15 probably won't be worth the initial savings for most Americans. The increased amount of ethanol in the blend decreases gas mileage in most cars, causing drivers to actually spend more on gasoline; and the fuel is also likely to damage car engines. 

Another concern is the effect on air quality. E15 is typically banned during the warm summer months under the Clean Air Act because of air pollution concerns.

A report by ARS Technica backs up those concerns, saying that E15 is proven to lower fuel efficiency in cars. Additionally, in hot weather the biofuel blend contributes to smog, which is bad news for climate-change advocates. 

Don't expect to find E15 at every station either, a recent NPR report said. There is limited infrastructure to sell E15 gasoline because not all retail outlets want to invest in a product that cannot be sold year-round. 

The Department of Energy confirmed that fact, saying E15 gas is only available at approximately 2,300 fueling stations nationwide. 

In North Carolina, only 89 stations sell E15, a report on E85prices.com said. The site tracks the cost and availability of the alternative fuel. 

This is not the first move by Biden to curtail rising costs at the pump. On April 1, he announced in a YouTube video that he plans to release up to 180 million barrels of crude oil from the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve over the next six months.