Jay Leno is an avid collector of vintage cars–he owns 130, of all different brands and eras—and he is not happy that government-mandated ethanol keeps ruining them.
Leno penned a furious op-ed in Autoweek demanding an end to the Renewable Fuel Standard, which requires energy producers to mix ethanol and biofuels in with gasoline.
As it turns out, ethanol is extremely corrosive to old car parts, and has been causing fires in vintage vehicles across the country. “As someone who collects old cars, and keeps them up religiously, I am now replacing fuel-pressure regulators every 12 to 18 months,” Leno writes.
He goes on to document the vast number of other problems he has thanks to the fuel—trouble starting cars, inhibited combustion, clogged fuel lines, blocked carburetor jets.
Leno notes that, in the end, this all amounts to propping up the corn industry:
The big growers of corn have sold us a bill of goods. Some people are making a lot of money because of ethanol. But as they divert production from food to fuel, food prices inevitably will rise. Now, if you don’t mind paying $10 for a tortilla …
“It’s time for us as automobile enthusiasts to dig in our heels and start writing to our congressmen and senators about the Renewable Fuel Standard, or we’ll be forced to use even more ethanol,” Leno writes. “Most people assume, ‘Oh, that’ll never happen. They’ll never do that.’ Remember prohibition? In 1920, all the saloons were closed. It took until 1933 before legal liquor came back.”
Ethanol has been a hot topic this week, as likely presidential contenders trotted out their positions in Iowa.
Read Leno’s full essay here.
