California bans Denatured Alcohol, and......!!

Ah metho, only problem I have had was in the early 80s on a trip to Cape York. At Bamaga we went to a local general store to re supply. One thing we needed was metho which we could not see . We needed it for the stove. The manager had it in his office locked up! He grilled us just in case we were getting for someone else. You see people were drinking it and going blind. That was a long time ago, maybe California thinks people will drink it, I could not think of aneything worse but it happens.

Cheers
Rob

 

All of us who live in California need to write to our state assembly representatives, state senators, and the governor to protest this regulation.
~Notice that you need to contact your California STATE reps, not your federal ones.~ Contacting the federal reps will be a waste of your and their time, as this is a California state regulation.

Perhaps everyone on CCS should write to Governor Newsom. Getting letters from citizens of other states and countries may get the point across that this is not the leading edge in improving air quality -- it's just a stupid and needlessly intrusive regulation.

I'm including my letter below. Californians can find your state assembly person and state senator here. When you enter your address it will provide links to your assemblyman and senator. The governor's website is here. On all sites you will be asked for your contact information and can enter your letter on a form. The assembly and senator forms allow 2000 characters; the governor's allows 6000.

Be nice.
Yes, this is stupid and these are bureaucrats we're dealing with, but they like to think they're real human beings. We don't want to hurt their feelings; we want their help in correcting an over-restrictive regulation that they likely don't even know about yet. It's OK to be firm, but don't threaten anything (such as, "People will just buy fuel in Nevada") as it will not be effective and may have the opposite effect from what you desire. (They're smart enough to figure out that people will look for ways to get around the regulation.) Also, be specific about this issue. Keep it to denatured alcohol, preferably just fuel usage. Don't combine other gripes you have into this letter -- write another letter for those.

DO NOT COPY MY LETTER. It will not be effective if they get multiple copies of the same letter -- there are plenty of "slacktivism" sites that allow this, and most of those copied letters are just thrown away. (That's what interns do.) So write your own letter. You can use mine to get talking points, but hey, you all know this issue.

To folks in other countries, and to cynical US citizens: The USA is (despite recent trends) still a democracy. Elected officials have control over agencies (such as the California Air Resources Board), and elected officials are subject to public pressure. Many of them are also subject to shame, which is why I would like to see a national and international response to this. So write.

For the record, my retirement "career" is pressuring government officials (local, state, federal) on environmental issues, mostly related to land use. Yep, I'm a tree hugger (actually more of a cactus hugger) and dam' proud of it. Point is, I KNOW that this kind of action can and often does sway the opinions of elected officials. (We won a land use issue before a local county Board of Supervisors just the other day.)
So WRITE.

I'll post my letter in a follow-up post.

....Arch

 

Here's the letter I wrote:

....Arch
_________________________________

Dear Governor Newsom,

It has recently come to my attention that California has banned the sale of denatured alcohol.

I use alcohol stoves for much of the backpacking I do, as they are the lightest-weight practical stoves available. They are also the cleanest burning stoves available - cleaner than wood, gasoline, or kerosene - and they do not produce the disposable can waste of butane. Propane tanks are too heavy to consider. I and other outdoor people are no longer able to buy alcohol fuel in CA under the new regulation.
~THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE.~

The subset of backpackers and bicycle tourers who use alcohol stoves may be a relatively small group, but please also consider that denatured alcohol is by far the safest fuel for boaters to use. (Propane is extremely dangerous in a boat.) There are many California boaters, as well as visiting boaters from other states.

Alcohol is also the fuel most commonly used in chafing dishes by caterers and others in the food industry. I don't believe any other portable fuel pollutes less or is safer to use.

I also note that this regulation was passed by CARB with no public input, at least none of which I or many others with whom I've spoken were aware. Note that I am supportive of CARB's efforts to control air quality, but this regulation goes too far.

Please do what you can to get this ridiculous regulation repealed or modified. Please understand also that this is not just a small issue for me, but that it is one I will be following.

I request that you respond to this letter, hopefully with something more than boilerplate. I will be sharing your response (or lack thereof) with international forums of stove hobbiests and backpackers, as well as with friends in the boating community. I am also sending this letter to my assemblyman and to my state senator.

Thank you for the opportunity to comment, and for your anticipated timely and positive response.

....<my name>

 

Whilst I am all for making our impact on the planet as little as possible, Common sense never seems to be used. One of the first things I was taught in QA was to find out what impact the problems the most and find ways to minimise the impact. The amount of green house gas from cows alone is many many times more then from alcohol.
Only having electricity in houses is being considered here for new houses (which often don't even have a proper kitchen (just kettle, microwave and sink). No gas central heating, just electric. I have a Motorbility car (Motobility is a charity that provides lease cars to disabled people for the cost of the mobility part of your benefit) I need a car that can fit my mobility scooter in the back (plus hoist to lift it in, tow a trailer/small caravan) and preferably automatic transmission(remember in UK so most are manual). I wanted to get an electric car. I really did!. Even looked at hybrids. (I only do around 6k miles a year max). There was only one car on the list that could tow. It had a small boot(trunk) so couldn't fit my scooter. Would cost me an additional £3.5K as initial payment (its' only a 3 year lease!
I ended up with a newer version of the car I had (Citroen Berlingo). It is diesel. That still cost me £1.5k on top of my benefit. Fortunately I had saved up for a couple of years (you have to pay for things like hoists to be installed etc). We are now getting cities that are deciding to ban all diesel vehicles from entering the city. It fine saying things like everyone must go electric but until the infrastructure is in place and the replacement things are affordable, it is a waste of time. I suspect that if you took the total 'bad gasses' given off by ALL stoves throughout the world, it would not even register as a decimal place in the grand scheme of things. Farm animals produce more bad gasses then travel does (there are studies to back this up but you can google them as well as I can), yet the farm industry has a powerful lobby, so that wont get changed.
I use methanol these days, easier to get from places selling it for making bio diesel.

 

Is it true that California is going to ban Coleman Fuel too? If so, I think Californians should demand "in the name of environmentalism" that alkylate gasoline is available in suitable stores (like garden tool stores, gas stations and such).
I have discovered that bio ethanol is a much better preheat fuel than the regular "red-spirit" (ethanol with additives for coloring and to make it undrinkable) sold here in Norway. Half the price, smells good (pine) and burns cleaner.

 

I haven't heard anything about Coleman Fuel yet, but you never know.

....Arch

 

@ArchMc
Masterly prose for your letter text Arch. Measured and well argued. Bravo.

John

 

I will suggest again.
Bioethanol.
A better fuel. It achieves what you want and what they want. Low voc and high btu. It is available in California. At least for delivery as verified by Ben. I checked amazon and I could have it shipped to a family member.

Amazon has the quart of green kleen strip at 17.

 

Save your jelly jars and talk to these guys

 

Well, Popcorn Sutton is no longer with us.
Laws have changed, you can now make your own.

 

I have not heard that Coleman fuel is being banned but had heard a rumour that Coleman was stopping production of it.

 

When I stopped seeing Coleman fuel appliances in stores, I knew discontinuation of the fuel was on it's way.

 

If it is only collectors that use it I do not see it long on the shelf.

 

I think I have enough ethanol to last the rest of my life (I am old). I am not so concerned about stocking K1 as it is still available here at the pump in NC. Although I have stocked some Crown camping fuel, I go through a few gallons a year. If it became harder to find I would likely start using it only for lanterns and the 413G on the camper. I might have to start using more kero if that is easier to find. Adapt, adapt. Brad

 

‘Spiritburner’ ~ ‘low-volatility organic compound burner’

 

We are probably fortunate that Coleman fuel has not already been banned for retail sales in the US due to the fact it is sometimes used in the synthesis of home-cooked meth (the other meth). The druggies have even figured out how to extract THC from pot using the cheap little butane-gas canisters from the Asian market.

 

Well done, Arch. I very much agree with your approach, whatever the issue may be. Well-written and rational letters and lobbying can still be effective, even with large governmental bodies. As you say, the individual, non-mass-boilerplate, non-ranting approach is the only thing that will have any effect.

I do this myself, and I absolutely reject the passive and complaining attitude that so many people display these days to avoid the effort of speaking up and getting active on issues. Liberties and freedom of action that we have taken for granted our whole lives are now being constantly assailed in ways large and small. The skepticism and individualism of our people, which used to stand in the way of these things, are eroding in front of our eyes.

I have just gone through this process here before our city council, on a matter I may discuss later; while we did not succeed, we forestalled implementation of a measure at least for a long enough time for the council to explicitly determine whether or not the impacts we describe will occur. So it was a partial victory, and may only result in a mere delay. But it only happened through a mass but measured opposition.

 

Tony: Right now, they're out of stock, but check this out:
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for $499.99 wirh free [INCONUS] shipping.

 

Quote:
The page you are looking for may have been removed, had its name changed, or may be temporarily unavailable.
Try this:
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Thanks, Ken. I tried correcting, but it didn't work.
Currently, they don't ship this item to Arkansas, Puerto Rico or Hawaii. They don't yet exclude California.