You may have read with interest about the proposed Point Township ethanol facility and think it is just Point Township's problem.

Did you know your politicians have made ethanol your problem, too? In an ill-advised effort to promote (green) ethanol usage, they have made it mandatory that all gasoline in Pennsylvania includes 10 percent ethanol by Oct. 1. They have no problem with high gas prices because it helps to cover the high cost of producing ethanol, which is already subsidized.

The downside? Automobiles and light trucks burning this 90-percent-gasoline, 10-percent-ethanol blend will burn 6 to 12 percent more fuel than using 100 percent gasoline.

Here are the rip-offs: About the same amount of pure gasoline is required per mile in most of our cars and trucks, so, in effect, the ethanol is wasted.

The cost of gasoline with ethanol is usually priced the same as pure gasoline, but we get 6 to 12 percent fewer miles per gallon. The 10 percent ethanol blend would have to sell for 20 to 25 cents less per gallon to yield the same cost per mile.

Since the amount of actual gasoline being used is about the same with the blend, emissions are hardly reduced at all.

We no longer have a choice. Our tax dollars are being used to subsidize ethanol producers, and now our politicians are, in effect, taxing us 20 to 25 cents per gallon in lost mileage to use the stuff.

Beware of mileage ratings posted on new cars. These are based on pure gasoline. A 10 percent blend of ethanol will drop those numbers 10 percent on average and E85 -- gasoline that contains 15 percent ethanol -- will drop them about 30 percent.

Did our legislators get the facts before they mandated the 10 percent blend? Did they even care that they were ripping us off? Let's ask them.

Dean A. Ransom,

Milton