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It’s Big Oil vs. Big Corn in Wisconsin
A major political fight is shaping up over a plan in the Wisconsin Legislature that would require all gas sold in the state to contain 10 percent ethanol by July 2006, a mandate that supporters say will benefit farmers while reducing gasoline prices and dependence on foreign oil.
Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle and key Republicans in the Legislature say the state should join Minnesota, Montana and Hawaii in mandating such a requirement.
“I would just rather have the farmers of the Midwest making the profits instead of the sheiks of the Mideast,” said Rep. Stephen Freese, R-Dodgeville, a sponsor of the measure. Coalition opposes plan But the push is running into intense opposition from an unlikely coalition of oil companies, the state’s powerful business lobby and environmental groups usually at odds with both of them.
Ethanol advocates say the mandate would reduce gas prices by about 5 cents per gallon while increasing the price of corn by 10 cents per bushel. Critics say the plan will have no effect on gas prices, but instead will lead to more smog.
Gas prices soared to more than $3 a gallon for the first time ever in Wisconsin after Hurricane Katrina disrupted the nation’s oil supply before dropping to $2.72 per gallon, according to the AAA.
The debate over ethanol may play out in other states as lawmakers look for ways to ease the pinch of rising gas prices. In Michigan, Democratic lawmakers proposed a similar plan in August.
In Wisconsin, a coalition of farm groups is mounting a major campaign to push the bill to approval in both chambers of the Legislature so that Doyle can sign the measure into law.
—The Associated Press
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