Florida Moves Forward With Anti-Ethanol Bill

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A bill that has passed the House Energy and Utilities Committee, HB 4013 by Rep. Matt Gaetz, would repeal the 2008 Florida law that requires gasoline to include ethanol. A Senate committee has already approved the measure 10-1.
Gaetz argued that the biofuel causes problems in boats, lawn mowers and old cars, is an efficient net consumer of energy and an unfair government mandate.
But Rep. Michelle Rehwinkel Vasilinda, a Democrat from Tallahassee, argued that increasing the use of renewables such as ethanols is essential to decrease the nation’s dependence on foreign oil.
The committee also heard from companies that produce biofuels in Florida, who warned that this will reduce jobs and may not reduce the amount of ethanol at the pump, because federal law also includes ethanol requirements and gasoline producers will include it even if Florida doesn’t require it.