Like I said many times before, I only use non-oxy gas for my small engines and I use B&S stabilizer year around in the gas. Its not cheap but its what works for me and I don’t want problems with my mowers, snow blowers, or generator when I need them.
We have an interest in farming and receive money from it but in addition to the ethanol lobby, don’t forget about the clean air folks that are much more powerful and wide-spread than the farmers. Radicals in the clean air camp have brought us gas cans that don’t work, cars that don’t work, marine engines that don’t work, ad naseum. They have devoted their lives to the cause that they actually believe is to save the planet. Anyone that attempts to say otherwise is labeled . . .
You forgot
toilets that don’t work
lightbulbs that don’t work (and contain mercury vapor)
showerheads that restrict water
EVAP codes that can’t be fixed
meaningless but sometimes expensive emissions tests
The list is endless.
Personally, I think it’s simply become an industry of its own. It’s no longer about saving the earth. It’s about scooping up money without having to produce any output.
It’s too bad, too. When the whole environmentalism thing started, industries were poisoning rivers, the air was so thick over LA that you could butter it on bread, and there truly was a serious problem. Those complaining were doing good. The Clean Air Act and the EPA did good. Then, as regulatory agencies do, they grew and grew, more and more money became available for “the cause”, and it turned into a huge industry.
Although I would have to suggest that you may be underestimating the power of t he agricultural lobbies and the ethanol producers lobby.
It’s a bit ironic that most of the farmers around here who grow corn for Ethanol don’t want it in their vehicles.
Regarding gas cans as mentioned by Bing, the safety devices on them usually require 3 hands and resembles something from the Rube Goldberg era.
The first thing I do with a new gas container anymore is fix it from the start by gutting the nozzle and plugging it with a cork while not in use. Less spillage that way…
The government-sanctioned spout on the gas can I use for my small engines simply cannot be used without spilling gas. I tried drilling a vent hole on the side of the handle to no avail. The spout is just a rotten, terrible, nonfunctional design.
^The goofy gas cans are all about an government agency that cannot trust its citizenry…that has what is possibly the most pervasively cynical view of any organization, anywhere.
Note that what the EPA wants, most of all, is control. Potentially cleaner alternatives are shelved…even prohibited…because they depend on some small level of autonomy on the part of the user…that the user “will just wind up screwing up, anyways!”
That EPA gas can sure spills a lot more than a can with a seperate vent…but it’s automatically assumed you’ll just leave the vent open, even though you have a vested interest in keeping your gasoline fresh, and in the can.
Auto chokes on cars and small-engine stuff run enriched longer than a skilled operator can manage with a manual choke/primer…but it’s assumed you’re too dumb to properly operate a choke.
I had to DRILL OUT AND DEFEAT the mixture screws on my line trimmer to keep it from running too rich and spewing blue smoke! (Yes, in this case the EPA-mandated controls were PREVENTING me from reducing pollution!)
ULEVs must have a “lifetime” air filter…because it’s assumed you’re too stupid to change your air filter.
Oil change intervals must be maximized…because it’s assumed you’re too lazy to recycle your oil, even when it’s to your financial benefit to do so (I’m getting $1/gal right now…WOOT!)
I think even eco-minded folks such as myself need to pause when the EPA has made it abundantly clear the endgame is control, not reduction in any measurable pollutant, per se.
The most important management principle I ever learned was that work expands to equal the time allotted. So if you have 20 people but only enough work for 15, it won’t be long before all 20 have manufactured enough work to keep them all busy. So if you want to stay efficient, you have work for 20 but only 15 people, and they’ll find ways to get it done. That’s the way with government, the EPA, large companies, and really all organizations. The more people they have, the more the work and regulations grow so that they need more people again. The only way to stop it is to cut it back so the less important things are discontinued.
Nothing uncaring, but its just a fact of life. If you are going to run a large organization, you have to be a little hard nosed or it’ll get out of control and someone will sit around thinking about gas cans instead of sewage in the rivers.
I would use non-ethanol fuel in my gas powered lawn tools but it’s not available in my area. My new riding mower runs fine on ethanol gas but my old one has problems with it sometimes. I did buy a new carburetor for it about 3 years ago so that’s probably why it made it through the bad gas episode a couple of years ago. I have to agree that the new gas cans are useless. I modified both of mine as soon as I got home. They now work like the good old gas cans of old…pop the the top and fill up and pop the top and pour.