This is arguably dumber than the carbon tax. It’s economically unsound and environmentally damaging.
One can no longer use regular fuel in small engines at 5% ethanol. The mixture breaks down into its component parts very quickly, like Jello 1-2 sans the 3. Leave it in the sun longer enough and green stuff starts to grow. I had to rebuild my outboard motor because I used regular gas in it.
There should really be a class action suit against the government. Using above 5% will also void some automobile warranties.
Ontario has announced plans to double the required content of ethanol in our gasoline, from five per cent to 10 per cent. This regrettable decision will have harmful effects on everyone. It will worsen the mileage of gasoline, raise food and fuel costs and yield minuscule environmental gains at best.
Ratcheting up the ethanol mandate also defeats the purpose of Ontario’s new cap-and-trade system. The logic of carbon pricing through permit trading is that it leads the market to identify and implement the lowest-cost ways of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. If ethanol blending was cost-effective then, under cap and trade, fuel producers would do it automatically. The fact that they have to be coerced means it fails a cost-benefit test, making it precisely the kind of inefficient option the trading system is supposed to guard against. Forcing firms to do it anyway means Ontario has jettisoned any pretense of economic logic in its climate policy mix.