Monday letters: Lindsey Graham on wrong side on ethanol

Sen. Lindsey Graham’s support for the federal ethanol mandate betrays the interests of those most likely to vote for him for president.

In Iowa in March, Graham unabashedly supported the requirement that corn ethanol be blended into our gasoline supply, even though 45 percent of S.C. Republicans said in a recent poll that they’d be less likely to vote for a presidential candidate who supports the mandate.

As a Republican who voted for him, I’m concerned that Graham is not standing up for the values of his own party or his home state. As a motorcyclist, I’m frustrated that the Environmental Protection Agency’s recent proposal to mandate even more ethanol-blended fuel will harm my engine.

More than 80 percent of Democrats and nearly 90 percent of Republicans in South Carolina said they had serious concerns about higher ethanol blends causing severe damage in cars, motorcycles, boats and other small engines.

But Graham refuses to face the facts on ethanol’s failings and listen to his own constituents. His support for the mandate is driven by a need to pander to Iowa, where corn and the presidential primaries are king, and it puts him on the same side of the issue as presumed Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

This story was originally published August 23, 2015 at 7:55 PM with the headline "Monday letters: Lindsey Graham on wrong side on ethanol."