The boating industry is raising the alarm over President Trump’s pledge to allow higher-level ethanol fuels to be sold year-round, which the industry believes could place millions of consumers on the hook for expensive repairs.
“President Trump’s pledge to allow the year-round sale of E15 will needlessly put consumers in danger,” Thom Dammrich, president of the National Marine Manufacturers Association, said in a statement Friday.
Trump told farmers in Iowa on Thursday that the administration is “getting very close” to approving a waiver to allow 15-percent ethanol fuel blends, or E15, to be sold year-round. Currently, the sale of the fuel is restricted during the summer months because of its high volatility. Sales after June 1 require a waiver from the Environmental Protection Agency.
The farmers want the waiver approval to increase the market for ethanol, especially as trade tensions with China threaten to block a massive export market for many of their other agricultural products.
But if Trump moves forward with the plan to allow year round sales of E15 fuel blends, the risks will be placed on 142 million American boaters, said Dammrich.
“There’s a reason that previous proposals to expand the sale of E15 have failed — it’s simply bad policy,” he said.
Dammrich’s trade group, representing some of the largest marine engine and boat makers in the world, including Honda and Volvo Penta to name a few, has opposed the introduction of E15 because of its adverse effects to marine engines that are not designed to take the high-octane fuel.
“Sixty-five percent of people assume that any gas sold at retail gas stations is safe for all their products, when in fact federal regulation prohibits E15 use in small engines,” said Dammrich. “These engines — like those in boats, lawn mowers, and motorcycles — suffer immediate damage when fueled with blends exceeding 10 percent ethanol, thus voiding their warranty and saddling consumers with high repair and replacement costs.”
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Trump's ethanol plans alarm the boating industry https://t.co/t9VBZvb7Gf
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) July 28, 2018
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