Farmers respond to call for higher blend of ethanol

Anyone whose spent any time in a small town coffee shop on a rainy day knows it's hard to get two farmers to agree on much of anything, let alone 5,000 of them.

But that's what the Nebraska Corn Board is claiming, saying it got nearly 5,000 farmers to send postcards urging the Environmental Protection Agency to increase the amount of ethanol that can be blended into regular gasoline.

The EPA is considering just such a proposal, allowing a muxture of 15 percent ethanol and 85 percent gasoline to be sold at gas stations. Currently, the most common blend is 10 percent ethanol and 90 percent gasoline.

The EPA isn't expected to make a ruling until at least December.

By increasing the blend to 15 percent, the United States can add 130,000 jobs and displace some seven billion gallons of gasoline -- much of it made with foreign oil.

Ethanol reduces greenhouse gas emissions, enhances rural communities, adds jobs and generates tax revenue for our counties and state, all while reducing the cost of fuel to consumers and reducing our dependence on foreign oil, Gengenbach said.

Nebraska's 26,000 corn farmers add $1.4 billion to the state's economy each year with the fuel, fertilizer and seed they purchase to put their corn crop in the ground.

Regular gasoline prices average $2.645 across the nation, compared to $3.818 a year ago, but burning ethanol still makes sense.

Burning more ethanol makes even more sense.