ETHANOL BILL AIMS TO HELP STATE'S CORN GROWERS

Three Southeast Missouri lawmakers are sponsoring a measure that would require ethanol to be added to gasoline sold in the St. Louis area. The proposal also would allow cities and counties elsewhere in the state to mandate the use of ethanol as an alternative fuel.

A farmer, state Rep. Peter Myers of Sikeston, is the chief sponsor of the ethanol proposal contained in House Bill 1801. Co-sponsors are Bill Foster of Poplar Bluff and Lanie Black of Charleston. State Sen. Peter Kinder of Cape Girardeau has introduced a similar measure in the Senate.

The ethanol bill is aimed at replacing reformulated gasoline sold in the St. Louis area with the cleaner and cheaper ethanol, an alternative fuel made from corn and grain sorghum. St. Louis-area gas stations currently are required to sell gasoline mixed with a chemical called MTBE, but recent studies show that the chemical is a possible carcinogen and is polluting groundwater when it leaks from underground tanks. The House bill would phase out use of MTBE and phase in the use of ethanol.

Ethanol is proven to burn cleaner than gasoline and even cleaner than gasoline mixed with MTBE. Its use, however, has been slow gaining acceptance, and plants to produce ethanol have been slow coming on line primarily because of the high startup costs.

Large-scale production of ethanol would create a significantly increased demand for corn, and that would mean an improved grain market for Missouri farmers, many of whom are having a tough time making ends meet because of low prices and last year's dry weather. It takes 56 pounds of corn to produce 2.7 gallons of ethanol. So the potential for greater demand for corn would exist.

Passage of the measure could spur development of more ethanol plants in Missouri. Two plants are under construction in northern Missouri, and a third is being considered in Southeast Missouri.

Supporters of the measure see a tough fight ahead for passage. Oil companies will oppose the measure because it would reduce the market for MTBE, a byproduct of the oil-refining operation.

The Missouri General Assembly owes it to the state's farmers to rally behind the measure. There is nothing to lose and a great deal to gain.