Ethanol Now

Bought my first tank of E85 ethanol last night. My 2000 Dodge Caravan Yuppie Van didn’t seem to mind. In keeping with the instructions in my owner’s manual, I first put at least a quarter-tank of regular unleaded in my tank at $2.38 a gallon. I get a three cents per gallon discount at Safeway pumps, which are powered by a wind farm across the border in Colorado (ironic, eh?). My 13-year-old daughter was with me. I had been explaining E85 as we ran errands. I was surprised at her interest, as she greets most of my monologues with a big yawn. "Let’s go get some ethanol," she said.

There’s only one station in Cheyenne that stocks E85. The Corner Stop is located on Snyder and Pershing, just across from The Burger Inn. I never have bought fuel at this place because it’s out of the way and doesn’t take credit cards at the pump. But I liked the price at the yellow ethanol pump – $1.99 per gallon – and I pumped until the tank was full. "What does it look like," my daughter asked. "I didn’t look," I said, "but it smells different." She replied: "Is it yellow?" I said it was probably clear, like distilled alcohol.

I wished it was yellow like the corn it comes from. But I’m just glad it’s non-polluting and comes from the corn-growing regions of the U.S. and not the terrorist-raising regions of Saudi Arabia. The yellow fuel would match my corn-leaf green van. My daughter suggests I get a sticker that says the van runs on E85 and not oil. I envision a bumper sticker than says: "This vehicle runs on Iowa corn not Saudi oil." Know where I can get a sticker like that?