California Flex Fuel Promise Rings Hollow

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Alex Padilla
California State Senator

Imagine if the federal government had required the public to purchase light bulbs years before electricity was available. Would anyone have complied? What if the federal government required states to purchase flex fuel vehicles years before ethanol fuel was available? Apparently, that’s another story.

California is complying with a federal government mandate that it purchase flex fuel vehicles despite the fact that the ethanol fuel they are meant to run on is not available in California.

Flex fuel vehicles are modified to run on a fuel known as E85, which simply means 85% ethanol. Here in the U.S., that usually means corn-based fuel. Because ethanol fuel is only 15% gasoline, flex fuel vehicles can reduce emissions as well as our dependence on foreign oil. The benefits of flex fuel vehicles are promising, if the vehicles are actually running on E85.

There are more than 33,000,000 registered vehicles in California, and of those, more than 300,000 are flex fuel vehicles. While there are 9,000 gas stations in our state, only eight pumps dispense E85 and only three are open to the public. So, what are our "flex fuel" vehicles running on? You guessed it, traditional gasoline.

In 2006 and 2007, the California Department of General Services caused a stir when it purchased over 1,100 flex fuel vehicles at a cost of $17 million. The administration says they did so because the federal government required it. In a video blog, California Secretary for Environmental Protection Linda Adams states that the federal government would fine California $5 million a day if it failed to purchase the flex fuel vehicles.

Today, two years and $17 million later, the Department of General Services fleet is no less dependent on foreign oil. The vehicles don’t get better gas mileage nor do they emit fewer emissions. Our fleet is “flex fuel” in name only. This, as California seeks to lead the nation in reducing greenhouse gases.