09-06-07 by dugan
I opened the Federal Trade Commission’s new opinion on the “hot fuel” issue while eating lunch today and almost spit my “hot soup” across the desk. The letter, requested and released by Rep. Darrell Issa of San Diego, is scientifically illiterate and baldly political. It understates the consumer cost of hot fuel by at least 90%, parroting false information from commercial fuel distributors.
What does this say about Issa? He is supposed to represent a district that is among the most affected by hot fuel, which costs us up to a dime a gallon in lost energy (and at least three cents a gallon year-round in California). It was Issa who led the recall effort against Gov. Gray Davis for being too beholden to special interests. Now Issa, who has taken more than $63,000 from Chevron, Exxon and Conoco and other oil interests, is parroting the oil line on the hot fuel ripoff..
Maybe it’s time for San Diego voters whose best interests are taking a back seat to the oil industry to recall Issa.
Any gasoline pumped at over 60 degrees is a loss to consumers. California’s average fuel temperature is about 75 degrees, according to a federal 2002-2204 study. Gasoline expands with heat, and the loss of energy is about 1% for every 15 degrees. In hot regions, especially in summer, gasoline can reach 105 degrees coming from the pump. Think inland San Diego County in the recent heat wave. At those temps, drivers lose 8 cents to 10 cents a gallon worth of energy. Wholesalers buy their gasoline with the price adjusted for temperature. Consumers don’t, and Issa is trying to prevent any change in that system. (see lots more on hot fuel here)
Issa, a wealthy Congressional wingnut, says he wrote to the FTC for an “opinion” on hot fuel, but he conspicuously failed to release his own letter. I suspect it’s because he fed to the FTC the rubbish that it then fed back to him, on a more respectable letterhead.
The FTC letter declares consumers lose only one-tenth of one percent of value when gasoline is sold at 80 degrees and cites no particular source. It also says drivers lose “only six tablespoons” on a 20-gallon gasoline purchase at 80 degrees (what scientific body uses tablespoons?), and anyhow the loss is not great enough for them to be interested.
The National Institute for Standards and Technology has measured a loss of 1% of energy with every 15-degree rise in the temperature of gasoline. That would, if anyone measured it that way, be just under three tablespoons per gallon at 75, not even 80, degees. (That would come to 60 tablespoons for a 20-gallong fillup, so maybe the FTC is just dropping the zeroes to cut the federal budget). For diesel (which is a heavier fuel) the loss is 1% for every 22 degrees.
Consumers nationally lose $2.3 billion a year from hot fuel, and the loss in California, at an average price of $3.00 per gallon, is at least $450 million. Beyond the monetary losses, the sale of gasoline should be on the same basis for all. Wholesalers, the U.S. military and other bulk purchasers get temperature-adjusted gasoline. Even home heating fuel and propane are sold to consumers on a temperature-adjusted basis. Gasoline just isn’t that different.
Mr. Issa, who do you think you’re fooling?