Someone Wants More Gas Pump Labels

When was the last time you pulled up to a gas pump and studied all the labels, seals, signs, and warnings affixed upon them? Well, remember your reading glasses the next time you are cruising main street because another advocacy group is wanting an additional consumer message placed on gas pumps.

Jeff Kart in the Bay City Times reports:

Despite what you may think, the United States gets most of its oil from Canada.

So you may see "Made in Canada" stickers on gas pumps some day if a U.S. ethanol industry group has its way.

Growth Energy, the same group pushing for a higher ethanol-gasoline blend, is pushing federal lawmakers to require filling stations to inform customers where their fuel comes from, according to Reuters.

The idea is to increase awareness about how much money is spent on oil from overseas (and maybe encourage more people to use U.S.-made ethanol).

I should not be surprised that Gen. Wesley Clarke, whose major accomplishment up until losing his bid for the presidency was to accidentally bomb a Chinese consulate, is a major proponent of the idea.

This is just another silly idea promoted by people afraid they aren't getting a large enough piece of the government pie.

The ethanol industry in this country would already be belly up if it weren't for the huge direct subsidies that it receives from government and the protective trade policies already in place that guarantees a domestic market for inefficient corn ethanol. The taxpayers are getting slaughtered on what is proven to be an ineffective means of creating energy.

It would be better if these gas pumps had labels on them that indicated exactly how much of every gasoline dollar goes toward direct taxes, taxes on the reseller, and additional costs incurred due to government regulation. For some reason I don't see that happening.