It seems like years ago that USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack stood on the steps of the Environmental Protection Agency headquarters and shouted, “Mr. President, tear down that blend wall!”* What he wanted, of course, was to raise the current limit on the amount of ethanol that can be mixed into gasoline, now restricted to 10 percent by volume.

The ethanol lobby then petitioned the EPA to allow the sale of gasoline with 15 percent ethanol (known by the snappy acronym E15), which would instantly create a larger market for the additive. From there, much regulatory hilarity ensued as a result of the fact that gasoline blends containing more than 10 percent ethanol can corrode many kinds of engines and void consumer warranties. A point not lost on auto, boat, and small engine manufacturers. Oops!

But no matter. Almost a year late but three weeks away from a midterm election in which Democrats are about to be bodyslammed by an electorate infuriated by 10 percent unemployment, the EPA has acted to shore up the candidacies of threatened Midwestern Congresscritters and Governors/the finances of ethanol companies/corn prices by approving the new formulation. E15 for all!

Well, not exactly. Despite the fears of some, like blogger Kevin Drum, the EPA’s ruling will not have us “drowning in ethanol” quite yet. The EPA only approved the sale of E15 for cars and light trucks made in 2007 or later. This is somewhat surprising given that preliminary tests showed it was safe for vehicles made after 2001. I guess the EPA thought that instantaneously invalidating 100 million warranties wasn’t such a hot idea. And significantly, the agency explicitly rejected the idea of using E15 in cars made before 2000.

To provide pumps for cars made in different years, the gasoline industry would have to roll out a whole new parallel gas pump infrastructure. Aside from the obvious cost hurdles, The New York Times points out that gas stations don’t have the ability to store another gas formulation. Moreover, E15 would damage the hoses of gas pumps. Even if you could overcome all of that, you’d still have to find someone to make the stuff and gas stations willing to sell it. Back in December, Phil Brasher of the Des Moines Register provided evidence that refiners had zero interest in producing E15 — at least without an act of Congress protecting them from liability over those consumer warranties.

And I just received a similar reaction from Valero, one of the nation’s largest petroleum refiners, as well as a retailer and an ethanol producer. A spokesmen told me that they have no plans to produce E15 at the moment, observing that “it’s hard to imagine any retailer, including Valero, selling the E-15 blend at its sites without liability or warranty protection.” The fact is, no refiner is going to want to make E15 and few retailers will carry it. Who needs the trouble! Separate pumps, consumer confusion, warranty complications. Oh my!