Minnesota's legislature decided that either all the components of gasoline should be labeled or none should be labeled. Ethanol market share in Minnesota increased steadily ever since the ethanol pump label requirement was eliminated in 1989. Since lead, a highly toxic poison, was banned from gasoline, the only component of gasoline consumers, mechanics and engine manufacturers can name is ethanol. Benzene, butane, olefins and many other chemicals are present in all gasoline. Their presence is mandated, not by law, but by the content of the crude oil from which they are made and by refinery economics.
Ethanol is the only component of gasoline that is grown and manufactured in Minnesota and Iowa.
Each year ethanol provides a market for millions of bushels of Minnesota and Iowa corn. Meanwhile, state and federal legislatures pass laws each year. We are all mandated to obtain a drivers license before we drive an automobile on public streets. We are mandated to follow a wide variety of laws that protect our families and our property and that promote the common good. We cannot avoid mandates, but we should pick our mandates carefully.