Who cares about climate change? Biden brings back E15 gas

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The US looks set to use so-called "E15" gasoline throughout the summer. On Tuesday, President Joe Biden will announce that the US Environmental Protection Agency will issue a national emergency waiver allowing the use of the ethanol-gasoline blend between June 1 and September 15 as Americans complain about high fuel prices. Currently, the use of that fuel is illegal because of smog regulations.

Ethanol-gasoline blends became popular during the 2000s as a potential panacea for solving US energy dependence on the Middle East as well as a way to clean up the climate. It also always played well in the Iowa caucuses, as it gives us something to do with our immense corn surplus.

E85 fuel-a mix of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline-rapidly fell out of favor. But 98 percent of US gas stations offer E10, a blend of 10 percent ethanol and 90 percent gasoline, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. At this concentration, the ethanol oxygenates the fuel and increases its octane rating; it also stretches the country's supply of gasoline by diluting it.

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