MANKATO — Frank Cornelius didn't plan on having a U.S. senator pump his fuel Thursday morning.
But when Cornelius happened upon Sen. Mark Dayton and others who were making a stop to promote ethanol at the Kwik Trip, he took advantage of Dayton's offer to fill his tank with E85 ethanol and even wash the windows.
"Make sure you get under the wiper blades," Cornelius told Dayton as he was squeegeeing off the windshield.
Dayton, who has announced he won't seek re-election, said pumping gas was good training. "I'm going to need a job in about a year and a half."
Dayton was on the second of a two-day swing around Minnesota promoting the use of E85, a fuel made of 85 percent ethanol. He has been pushing legislation to spur ethanol use in the United States but said the pressure from oil companies is immense.
"They're taking out full-page ads in Washington, D.C., newspapers," Dayton said. "There's lots of misinformation out there."
Cornelius, who has since 2000 owned a vehicle that can burn E85, said he's always been a big supporter of alternatives to oil-based fuels. "It just makes sense to do it. And it's a lot cheaper. I usually pay 30 cents (a gallon) less on E85."
Katy Wortel, a Blue Earth County commissioner, brought her flexible fuel vehicle to the event and also got Dayton to fill the car. She bought her car seven years ago and said the performance always has been good and the fuel costs cheaper.
Dayton, who has a flexible-fuel Ford Explorer, said he thinks the performance of the vehicle is better running on E85, but there is a slight decrease in mileage burning E85. The ethanol industry says the average mileage reduction is about 2 percent.
Doug Peterson, a former state legislator and the president of the Minnesota Farmers Union, was traveling with Dayton. He said the lower cost of E85 is really being noticed with the high gas prices.
"It's been at least 30 cents a gallon cheaper and as much as 70 cents cheaper in the Luverne area. When people can save $5 to $7 a tank, that's a big deal."
Dayton said buying ethanol is the difference between "putting money in the pockets of Minnesota farmers rather than foreign sheiks."
On Thursday, regular unleaded fuel was $1.99 a gallon while the E85 was $1.69 at the Kwik Trip off of Highway 169 in North Mankato.
Peterson was the author of the 1996 legislation that gave a subsidy to ethanol producers in Minnesota to help the fledgling industry get going. "The subsidy gets criticized, but if we hadn't done it, where would we be today? You have to get it going."
He said there is still a need to educate the public about the value of using ethanol and to counter erroneous claims made against ethanol.
Dayton lamented that 10 years after Minnesota required that all fuel sold in the state contain at least 10 percent ethanol, it remains the only state with such a requirement.
Dayton was author of an amendment that passed in Congress that will require auto makers to begin putting a label inside the gas tank cover of any vehicle that is capable of burning E85. He said many people who buy flexible fuel vehicles aren't aware they can use E85.
Dayton also has introduced an amendment to give tax credits to American gas stations that install E85 pumps and a bill that would require all vehicles made after 2007 to be equipped with flexible fuel engines. Neither of those proposals has been passed.
Email this article | Permanent link | Topstories news | Topstories news archives
Minnesota State
University, Mankato
Mankato, MN 56001
1-800-722-0544
© 2005-2013 Minnesota State University, Mankato. Minnesota State University, Mankato is a member of
Minnesota State Colleges & Universities system and an affirmative action/equal opportunity university.
