SEMA Action Network

http://www.semasan.com/main/main.aspx?id=62931
Legislation (L.B. 698) to change labeling requirements on gas pumps across the state so that labeling is only required when gasoline contains 11% or more alcohol has been introduced in Nebraska. A previous version of the bill eliminated labeling requirements all together. Current law in Nebraska requires labeling when gasoline contains 1% or more alcohol, including labels for pumps dispensing E10. If enacted, the bill would make it impossible for enthusiasts to know whether the gasoline they put into their vehicles contains any ethanol, making it possible to misfuel the vehicle and cause engine damage. The bill has been approved by the Agriculture Committee and is pending on the floor of the Nebraska Legislature. You have a right to know what blend of ethanol you are putting in your older collector cars!

We Urge You to Contact All Members of the Nebraska Legislature (List Below) to Request Their Opposition to L.B. 698

• Ethanol increases water formation in the fuel system, especially when the vehicle sits over a period of time. Under these conditions, formic acid is created which corrodes metals, plastics and rubber. This can lead to engine/parts failures and, potentially, safety hazards.
• Many products in the marketplace, including older cars (your special interest collector and historic vehicles), use materials that are incompatible with ethanol.
• In addition to the potential harm of ethanol blended gasoline on some engine components, Nebraska has no procedure in place to ensure misfueling does not occur or any plan to guarantee gasoline without ethanol will be available for older vehicles.
• The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has been urged to create national labeling requirements for ethanol blended gasoline that are placed as close as possible to the pump’s product selection mechanism, but since such requirements are not currently in place, vehicle owners must rely on state labeling requirements for information about the gasoline they use in their vehicles.

DON’T DELAY! Please contact members of the Nebraska State Legislature immediately by phone or e-mail to request their opposition to L.B. 698. Please e-mail a copy of your letter to Steve McDonald at stevem@sema.org. Thank you for your assistance.

To email all members of the Nebraska State Legislature, copy and paste the email address block below:

gadams@leg.ne.gov; bashford@leg.ne.gov; bavery@leg.ne.gov; dbloomfield@leg.ne.gov; lbrasch@leg.ne.gov; kcampbell@leg.ne.gov; tcarlson@leg.ne.gov; mchristensen@leg.ne.gov; ccoash@leg.ne.gov; dconrad@leg.ne.gov; tcook@leg.ne.gov; acornett@leg.ne.gov; bcouncil@leg.ne.gov; adubas@leg.ne.gov; dfischer@leg.ne.gov; ; tfulton@leg.ne.gov; mgloor@leg.ne.gov; khaar@leg.ne.gov; ghadley@leg.ne.gov; thansen@leg.ne.gov; jharms@leg.ne.gov; lheidemann@leg.ne.gov; ghoward@leg.ne.gov; cjanssen@leg.ne.gov; rkarpisek@leg.ne.gov; bkrist@leg.ne.gov; clangemeier@leg.ne.gov; slathrop@leg.ne.gov; llouden@leg.ne.gov; bmccoy@leg.ne.gov; amcgill@leg.ne.gov; hmello@leg.ne.gov; jnelson@leg.ne.gov; jnordquist@leg.ne.gov; rpahls@leg.ne.gov; dpankonin@leg.ne.gov; ppirsch@leg.ne.gov; sprice@leg.ne.gov; kschilz@leg.ne.gov; pschumacher@leg.ne.gov; jsmith@leg.ne.gov; ksullivan@leg.ne.gov; dutter@leg.ne.gov; nwallman@leg.ne.gov; jwightman@leg.ne.gov

Senator Greg Adams
Phone: 402/471-2756
Email: gadams@leg.ne.gov

Senator Brad Ashford
Phone: 402/471-2622
Email: bashford@leg.ne.gov

Senator Bill Avery
Phone: 402/471-2633
Email: bavery@leg.ne.gov

Senator Dave Bloomfield
Phone: 402/471-2716
Email: dbloomfield@leg.ne.gov

Senator Lydia Brasch
Phone: 402/471-2728
Email: lbrasch@leg.ne.gov

Senator Kathy Campbell
Phone: 402/471-2731
Email: kcampbell@leg.ne.gov

Senator Tom Carlson
Phone: 402/471-2732
Email: tcarlson@leg.ne.gov

Senator Mark Christensen
Phone: 402/471-2805
Email: mchristensen@leg.ne.gov

Senator Colby Coash
Phone: 402/471-2632
Email: ccoash@leg.ne.gov

Senator Danielle Conrad
Phone: 402/471-2720
Email: dconrad@leg.ne.gov

Senator Tanya Cook
Phone: 402/471-2727
Email: tcook@leg.ne.gov

Senator Abbie Cornett
Phone: 402/471-2615
Email: acornett@leg.ne.gov

Senator Brenda Council
Phone: 402/471-2612
Email: bcouncil@leg.ne.gov

Senator Annette Dubas
Phone: 402/471-2630
Email: adubas@leg.ne.gov

Senator Deb Fischer
Phone: 402/471-2628
Email: dfischer@leg.ne.gov

Senator Mike Flood
Phone: 402/471-2929
Email: mflood@leg.ne.gov

Senator Tony Fulton
Phone: 402/471-2734
Email: tfulton@leg.ne.gov

Senator Mike Gloor
Phone: 402/471-2617
Email: mgloor@leg.ne.gov

Senator Ken Haar
Phone: 402/471-2673
Email: khaar@leg.ne.gov

Senator Galen Hadley
Phone: 402/471-2726
Email: ghadley@leg.ne.gov

Senator Thomas Hansen
Phone: 402/471-2729
Email: thansen@leg.ne.gov

Senator John Harms
Phone: 402/471-2802
Email: jharms@leg.ne.gov

Senator Lavon Heidemann
Phone: 402/471-2733
Email: lheidemann@leg.ne.gov

Senator Gwen Howard
Phone: 402/471-2723
Email: ghoward@leg.ne.gov

Senator Charlie Janssen
Phone: 402/471-2625
Email: cjanssen@leg.ne.gov

Senator Russ Karpisek
Phone: 402/471-2711
Email: rkarpisek@leg.ne.gov

Senator Bob Krist
Phone: 402/471-2718
Email: bkrist@leg.ne.gov

Senator Chris Langemeier
Phone: 402/471-2719
Email: clangemeier@leg.ne.gov

Senator Steve Lathrop
Phone: 402/471-2623
Email: slathrop@leg.ne.gov

Senator Scott Lautenbaugh
Phone: 402/471-2618
Email: slautenbaugh@leg.ne.gov

Senator LeRoy Louden
Phone: 402/471-2725
Email: llouden@leg.ne.gov

Senator Beau McCoy
Phone: 402/471-2885
Email: bmccoy@leg.ne.gov

Senator Amanda McGill
Phone: 402/471-2610
Email: amcgill@leg.ne.gov

Senator Heath Mello
Phone: 402/471-2710
Email: hmello@leg.ne.gov

Senator John Nelson
Phone: 402/471-2714
Email: jnelson@leg.ne.gov

Senator Jeremy Nordquist
Phone: 402/471-2721
Email: jnordquist@leg.ne.gov

Senator Rich Pahls
Phone: 402/471-2327
Email: rpahls@leg.ne.gov

Senator Dave Pankonin
Phone: 402/471-2613
Email: dpankonin@leg.ne.gov

Senator Pete Pirsch
Phone: 402/471-2621
Email: ppirsch@leg.ne.gov

Senator Scott Price
Phone: 402/471-2627
Email: sprice@leg.ne.gov

Senator Ken Schilz
Phone: 402/471-2616
Email: kschilz@leg.ne.gov

Senator Paul Schumacher
Phone: 402/471-2715
Email: pschumacher@leg.ne.gov

Senator Jim Smith
Phone: 402/471-2730
Email: jsmith@leg.ne.gov

Senator Kate Sullivan
Phone: 402/471-2631
Email: ksullivan@leg.ne.gov

Senator Dennis Utter
Phone: 402/471-2712
Email: dutter@leg.ne.gov

Senator Norman Wallman
Phone: 402/471-2620
Email: nwallman@leg.ne.gov

Senator John Wightman
Phone: 402/471-2642
Email: jwightman@leg.ne.gov

burningman

man this one is going to suck..Why on earth do they even debate just putting a simple lable on this stuff. I don't get why there is even a debate. This should be a default thing to just make the consumer aware.

cdynaco

the corn lobby needs to be jailed for crimes against humanity (only partially kidding)

fuel-testers

It's time to reign-back ethanol and protect your consumer rights...
This thread was how I found this forum (earlier today) - And although "labeling or not labeling gas pumps in Nebraska" is minor (in regards to all the pending current ethanol legislation that could take away much more) I am impressed and encouraged that "someone" is finally getting involved (better late, than never)-
Since over 90% of gas sold now contains ethanol (E10), hope you'll next focus on repeal or revision of ethanol mandates (both state and federal) and legislation that aims to reclaim your right to buy ethanol-free fuel:

A few examples:

Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit (VEETC) expires 12/31/11 and it may or may not be renewed...Since 2004, a subsidy/tax credit that provides oil companies with an economic incentive to blend ethanol with gasoline...

Fuel Feedstock Freedom Act which allows fuel markets to respond to consumer demand for ethanol free gasoline...

H.R. 3098 and 3097 Renewable Fuel Standard Elimination and Flexibility Act, 112th Congress, Sponsor: Rep. Robert Goodlatte [R, VA-6]
To repeal or change the renewable fuel program (RFS and RFS2) of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that mandates increasing volumes of ethanol to be sold/used...
http://www.opencongress.org/bill/112-h3098/news_blogs?sort=toprated
More info on 3097/3098 here + you can Email your members of Congress from this page:
http://www.opencongress.org/bill/112-h3098/news_blogs?sort=toprated
http://www.opencongress.org/contact_congress_letters/new?bill=112-h3097&position=support

Open Fuel Standard Act (OFS) which would require 95 percent of new automobiles by 2017 to run on NON-petroleum fuel...

I'll add more later, there's many pending ethanol bills right now at the state level -Example:

HB 4013/SB 238 by Rep. Matt Gaetz of Destin, Florida and Senator Greg Evers and others, set-out to repeal the 2008 Florida mandatory E10 blending law that requires all gasoline sold to include 9-10% ethanol.
(Was approved 12/06/11 and then postponed on 12/07/11 - Huge disappointment - Every FL resident I spoke to over past 1 month wasn't even aware of this bill! A real shame...

VTXFrank

I would think, and hope, that the boating/water-craft community would also get behind this effort. Not only do older cars not play well with E10, boats especially do not play well with it. Older boats, pre-2000, rarely had the updated hoses, pump(s), carburetors and other needed modifications done to them to keep the E10 from eating up the whole fuel system.

Seems like a State could open themselves up to some pretty significant financial liabilities by not labeling fuel with E10.

Flagstang

when can we be like china and kill those who are found guilty of crimes against our country and it people??

fuel-testers

Quote:

Originally Posted by VTXFrank

I would think, and hope, that the boating/water-craft community would also get behind this effort. Not only do older cars not play well with E10, boats especially do not play well with it. Older boats, pre-2000, rarely had the updated hoses, pump(s), carburetors and other needed modifications done to them to keep the E10 from eating up the whole fuel system.

For years I've been receiving reports from engine owners (ALL types of engines) that have experienced gas-caused engine damage and sometimes even total damage (engine junked) -
Who do you think they could sue?
I'm curious b/c maybe it's not something I've never thought of...

I don't know of any ethanol lawsuits (there's been many over the years) that succeeded in holding the state or federal government responsible for cost of engine damage.
E10 is classified as "conventional gasoline", not a specialty fuel -
Gas contains numerous ingredients - Ethanol is just considered one of many "additives" allowed and approved by the EPA.

Just today I was reading up on a state that is trying to "ban all corn ethanol in gasoline" - (New Hampshire) - I guess if they succeed, it might change how E10 gas and ethanol is viewed in future -
But for now it's just an "additive" allowed up to max of 10% in conventional fuel, and max of 85% for flex-fuel.

Since the EPA does not mandate "E10", NH could succeed, but likely the ethanol lobbyists will put a stop to law passing.
(All of this helps to explain why many now are testing the gas themselves).