Occasionally, we see news of a state attempting to limit the amount of corn-ethanol in gasoline blends to 10 percent. The latest is New Hampshire, where a bill has passed the House of Representatives and was under consideration by the Senate Committee on transportation recently. The bill will be voted on by the full Senate on Thursday, a committee aide told me this morning.

Back about a year ago, I wrote a story about a similar bill signed into law in Maine. The catch is, for New Hampshire and Maine, the bill doesn’t go into effect unless three total New England states pass similar laws. So, that means that, even if New Hampshire passes the law, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island or Vermont have to pass a similar bill.

According to local media reports, the bill is likely to have a much tougher time passing in the Senate than it did in the House. And there are still more hoops to jump through before it becomes a reality. Still, obviously this is a concern for the ethanol industry, both corn-ethanol plants and the second generation industry. As Mathew Carr of the Biotechnology Industry Organization pointed out, government actions to restrict biofuels will hurt the advanced industry, putting future jobs in the biotechnology industry at risk. It’s also likely to mean higher gas prices.

Both bills, in New Hampshire and Maine, are written specifically to limit ethanol blends to E10 when it’s corn-ethanol, meaning advanced ethanol blends are welcomed. Except that, for many reasons, it’s not really possible to separate the two like that. No. 1, it’s not as though all the “bad companies” are making corn ethanol and only “good companies” are making advanced biofuels. The second-generation industry is being built on the back of the corn-ethanol industry, and often by the very same players. Poet LLC is a good example of an ethanol production company that has 27 ethanol production plants and is also rapidly working toward advanced ethanol production at commercial scale.

As they learn and grow, children don’t learn to walk until they have mastered some basic skills, like sitting up or rolling over. And once they can walk, it’s not like they never use sitting or rolling again. (I’m sitting right now and I rolled over this morning, when I got out of bed.) My point is, the ethanol industry is growing and maturing with the commercialization of cellulosic ethanol. But that doesn’t mean corn-ethanol is bad and must be abandoned.

Secondly, as Carr pointed out, it’s not like retailers can just call up their supplier and ask for only advanced ethanol. It’s not like ordering cases of both Pepsi and Coke products to stock a grocery store. Ethanol is ethanol whether it was made out of corn or switchgrass.

The thing I don’t get is, why do these legislators think they know better than the U.S. EPA? The issue of whether to approve E15 as a new fuel blend and for what types and year of vehicle was studied in depth for a significant length of time. Some of the legislators that are spouting off about the dangers of corn ethanol are perpetuating well-known ethanol myths, showing their lack of education in the matter.

We at Ethanol Producer Magazine are hoping common sense prevails and this bill dies in the New Hampshire Senate. It’s time to end the toddler temper tantrums over the fact that E15 has been approved as a new fuel and move on with the reality, that it’s integrating into the fuel supply system quite nicely in multiple states already.