ST. LOUIS, MO – Governors’ Ethanol Coalition Chairman Bill Graves of Kansas and five other member governors at the National Governors’ Association meeting held a conference call last night with EPA Administrator Carol Brown and White House staff on ethanol options in light of the EPA’s call for elimination of MTBE from gasoline sold in the nation’s most polluted cities. MTBE has been linked to groundwater and water well pollution.

"When the EPA Blue Ribbon Panel asked Congress to phase-out MTBE, the panelists also recommended that oxygen requirements for reformulated gasoline be eliminated," Graves said. "When the report was released, EPA Administrator Browner endorsed the panel’s recommendations, but said a role must be maintained for renewable, clean-burning fuels like ethanol. We wanted to explore all of those options with her and others in the Administration." Iowa Governor and Coalition Vice-Chairman Tom Vilsack, Illinois Governor George Ryan, Missouri Governor Mel Carnahan, Nebraska Governor Mike Johanns and Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson joined Governor Graves for the policy discussion.

According to Graves, a series of decisions on gasoline formulas in the next several months could alter ethanol’s future. "We could easily see the ethanol industry double or triple in the next several years," Graves said. The Kansas Governor said decisions in California, Congress and by the Environmental Protection Agency could have a dramatic impact on ethanol production and use." According to the Governor, these decisions could boost annual ethanol production by more than one billion gallons. "These actions could provide a shot in the arm to the depressed grain market and lessen the need for additional federal agricultural support," the Governor said.

Graves said the governors also discussed one Congressional proposal that would require small percentage of a renewable fuel be contained in every gallon of gasoline sold. "We wanted to know how the Administration would respond if this proposal passed Congress," Graves said.