As you may know, the legislature is meeting for only one month this year. They are in a hurry to fix the ethanol problems they created last summer, which mandated that all gas sold in Oregon contain 10% ethanol. But in their haste, their "fix" won't fix anything for aircraft that use mogas. Senate bill 1079 a cardlock bill, was amended last week to specifically exempt fuel sold for aircraft, off road vehicles and small engines from the ethanol requirement, without recognizing that nobody will carry the stuff. They were misinformed during a hearing that ethanol is added at the gas pump, leading them to believe that you could pull in to the gas station, pull out your jugs and ask for ethanol free gas. Wrong! The gas has ethanol in it when it is delivered to the gas station.
Their intentions are right, their solution is wrong.
Oregon gets it's gas via pipelines from Washington and Utah. Pipelines terminate in Portland, Eugene and Boise. All petroleum brands use the same base stock from the pipeline, then add their own stuff to make it Shell, Texaco, etc. and to up the octane to make premium. When it is pumped into the truck to be hauled to the distributor, ethanol is added. Gas stations have only 2 tanks for gasoline, regular and premium. Mid grade is obtained by mixing regular and premium at the pump.
Write your legislators and demand that SB 1079 be amended to exempt all premium sold in the state from the ethanol requirement and that mid grade be allowed to be sold at 5% ethanol. Approximately 1/3 of the piston powered aircraft in the state can use mogas. Nationwide premium and midgrade represent only 17% of the market.
Write to your legislators. Do it today, as votes are schedule for this week. Find who to write to at: http://www.leg.state.or.us/findlegsltr/
And also check here: http://www.leg.state.or.us/agenda/ to find out who is on the transportation and the environment and energy committee. Write them, especially if your legislator is on one of these committees.
Their intentions are right, their solution is wrong.
Oregon gets it's gas via pipelines from Washington and Utah. Pipelines terminate in Portland, Eugene and Boise. All petroleum brands use the same base stock from the pipeline, then add their own stuff to make it Shell, Texaco, etc. and to up the octane to make premium. When it is pumped into the truck to be hauled to the distributor, ethanol is added. Gas stations have only 2 tanks for gasoline, regular and premium. Mid grade is obtained by mixing regular and premium at the pump.
Write your legislators and demand that SB 1079 be amended to exempt all premium sold in the state from the ethanol requirement and that mid grade be allowed to be sold at 5% ethanol. Approximately 1/3 of the piston powered aircraft in the state can use mogas. Nationwide premium and midgrade represent only 17% of the market.
Write to your legislators. Do it today, as votes are schedule for this week. Find who to write to at: http://www.leg.state.or.us/findlegsltr/
And also check here: http://www.leg.state.or.us/agenda/ to find out who is on the transportation and the environment and energy committee. Write them, especially if your legislator is on one of these committees.