Increase in Ethanol?

Last summer out of the blue my snow blower started leaking gas. Upon examination I noticed the rubber fuel hose was rotten. This unit is about 9 years old. When I went to the OPE dealer for the part he told me that ethanol was the cause. It seems it rots out the hoses. He sold me a new hose and additive.

Same thing happened with my string trimmer - even after pump gas mixed with oil since it's a 2-cycle engine. I took it to the shop when it refused to start. They pulled the fuel tank and showed me where the fuel tube had simply rotted and fallen off.