why is slate stupid

COMMENTARY

A reply to Jacob Leibenluft and this article in Slate Magazine on why Missouri gas is the lowest average price in the nation. Well Missouri gas supposedly is cheaper because of a State law requiring a 10% ethanol blend (E10) with regular gasoline. If this were true then why wouldn't more gas stations in other states sell this blend voluntarily to have a lower fuel price than the competition? Also we are informed in the article that Missouri does not have any oil refineries. But OIL Barges going up and down the Mississippi and Missouri rivers are also part of keeping GAS prices low. So how does just the presence of this OIL keep prices down without REFINERIES that convert OIL to GAS? The fact is Ethanol is highly subsidised - 50 cents a gallon in direct tax subsidies but also tax credits for new cars and business modifications. These are market distortions. Witness food prices increasing world wide partly blamed on corn-for-fuel instead of corn-for-food and livestock feed. Also ethanol has only 70% of the energy that gasoline has per gallon. So E10 would get 3% less miles per gallon. In the new Progressive Missouri at cheaper $3.90/gal E10 in a 30 mpg car you would pay $13.39 to go 100 miles. Compare this to $13.33 with gasoline at nationally higher $4/gal. That's a cost of 6 cents more for the cheaper priced ethanol blend. Evidently the self titled Slate "explainer: Answers to your questions about the news" needs to explain why they can't explain simple math and basic economics. Maybe Slant Magazine would be a more apt title.

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