E-85 and Flex-fuel vehicles myth

Consumer Reports magazine has an excellent article on E-85 and flexible fuel vehicles, in the October 2006 issue. The article is called 'The ethanol myth' and brought up some things I didn't know, and some things I hadn't considered.

I knew ethanol lowered gas mileage. I didn't know E-85 lowers gas mileage over regular fuel by 27%. This is because achohol has lower BTU's than regular gasoline. Add to this the fact that if you leave the midwest you can't find E-85; why is the government pushing this snake oil? While it is true that it lowers emissions, it's just not worth the trade off of lousy mileage.

CR claims the Government support for flexible-fuel vehicles is indirectly causing more consumption rather than less. It's also widely known that less than 1% of fuel sold is E-85. If you travel; they have NO E-85 in Maine, New Hampshire, New York, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey, Deleware, Arkansas, Alabama, Louisiana or Mississippi. California, Arizona, Utah, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Florida have 5 or less E-85 stations open to the public.

So, if you're lucky enough to find the fuel, you are rewarded with really lousy gas mileage and the feeling that you are helping keep the world green. But if you are using more fuel, at a higher price, with the only real emissions drop seen with Nitrogen oxide, while adding acetaldhyde to our breathing air; where is the real benefit to anyone?