Stupid EPA Trick-Punish Refineries For Not Using Ingredient That Doesn't Exist

This story comes from the "you can't make this stuff up department." During this past year, companies that supply fuel for our cars racked up almost $7 million dollars in penalties because they did not mix a special type of biofuel into their gasoline and diesel as required by law.  In 2012 those penalties will be even higher.

Why won't they add in the bio-fuel to the gasoline? It doesn't exist! According to the NY Times Outside a handful of laboratories and workshops, the ingredient, cellulosic biofuel, does not exist.
The law ( Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007) was created to begin weaning American's off of Arab oil - the more simple solution of tapping our own resources and creating jobs was out of the question.

It requires the use of three alternative fuels: car and truck fuel made from cellulose (trees), diesel fuel made from biomass and fuel made from biological materials but with a 50 percent reduction in greenhouse gases. Only the cellulosic fuel is commercially unavailable. As for meeting the quotas in the other categories, the refiners will not close their books until February and are not sure what will happen.

The goal set by the law for vehicle fuel from cellulose was 250 million gallons for 2011 and 500 million gallons for 2012.

If Orwell didn't write this scenario he should have, it would seamlessly fit in to 1984.

“It belies logic,” Charles T. Drevna, the president of the National Petrochemicals and Refiners Association, said of the 2011 quota. And raising the quota for 2012 when there is no production makes even less sense, he said.

...But Cathy Milbourn, an E.P.A. spokeswoman, said that her agency still believed that the 8.65-million-gallon quota for cellulosic ethanol for 2012 was “reasonably attainable.” By setting a quota, she added, “we avoid a situation where real cellulosic biofuel production exceeds the mandated volume,” which would weaken demand.

Reasonably attainable? By whom? If the EPA really believes that it is reasonable to attain cellulosic ethanol, then they also must believe it is reasonable to attain unicorns, neither one of them exists. This isn't the fault of the refineries the science demanded by the Pelosi/Reid Congress and signed by George Bush in 2007 just doesn't yet exist. Even though Congress set the levels the EPA doesn't have to enforce them when those limits are not humanly possible to attain.

This EPA/Congressional idiocy is just one more example of how the government has its boot on the necks of industry.