E-85 and EPA rating

[zpiloto]

There was an article in the local paper today about E85. All the normal BS that comes with it. But this caught my eye. "Environmentalist charge that auto makers have specifically made their SUV compatible with ethanol so they can claim better fuel economy on their gas guzzlers and meet goverment fuel economy thresholds, even through most SUV drivers continue to use standard gasoline.
According to Consumer Reports, the government will rate a 2007 Checy Tahoe that can run on E85 at 35 MPG rather than it's standard 21 MPG. That's even though ethonal has a lower energy content: A tahoe's driving range decreases to 300 miles on a tank of E85 compared with 440 on gas. So why the higher rating? The goverment assumes a flexible-fuel vechicle runs on E85 half the time, and for that half, it takes into account only the 15% that is gasoline.
There is 1 E85 gas pump to serve Austin, TX a city of over 700,000 and a lot of SUV's.