By Charlie Good. Charlie is an SAE-Certified mechanic and owner of Good and Quick in Nevada, Iowa.

Today, I do something that defies common sense.

Today, due to a combination of a quirk in federal regulation and the heavy-handed tactics of the oil industry, I walk out to my fuel pumps and change a sticker so that E15 can no longer be sold to 80 percent of the vehicles on the road.

You’re probably most familiar with 87-octane unleaded E10, or fuel blended with 10 percent ethanol. E15 has just 5 percentage points more ethanol and is relatively new to Iowa. More important, it’s the lowest-cost, cleanest-burning fuel for the vast majority of vehicles on the road, approved for use in all 2001 and newer vehicles. I sell a ton of it at my store, often at a 10-cent discount to regular unleaded E10, and I know my customers like the savings and performance it provides.

However, no matter how much my customers want to buy the fuel and how safe and economical it is for vehicles, every summer when the calendar turns to June, I’m no longer allowed to sell E15 to 2001 and newer vehicles. It can be sold to flex-fuel vehicles only.

To read the full letter, please visit the Des Moines Register here.