Ethanol fuels energy security, cleaner air and jobs

As New York drivers pay higher gasoline bills, a proposed ethanol plant in Buffalo would create great new jobs, new alternative fuel and new economic life for the waterfront. Ethanol saves lives, jobs and money from an environmental point of view.
Ethanol is a homegrown fuel that replaces foreign oil, one of the dirtiest chemicals in the country, according to Environmental Defense's Web site, www.scorecard.org. Ethanol plants are much cleaner than oil refineries.

Ethanol also reduces ozone pollution from cars and trucks. Pollution went down when the state of New York replaced MTBE blends with 10 percent ethanol (E10) on Jan. 1, 2004. In the six years leading up to the use of E10, New York averaged 17 EPA 8-hour ozone exceedance days per year. In the two years since the switch to E10, New York has averaged 5.5 exceedance days per year, a 68 percent reduction.

In gasoline ethanol replaces benzene, a dangerous cancer-causing chemical, to lower the cancer risk. This is important because New York air is 1,900 times too polluted with cancer-causing chemicals, according to Scorecard.org. Ethanol also can clean up diesel fuel, another dangerous cancer pollutant. Ethanol also reduces soot particulate matter from cars and trucks, making them safer still.

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