December 2004 eNews Bulletin

Proposal Would Require 10% Ethanol in Idaho Gas

Everyone who buys gasoline in the state, whether it’s for their car or their lawnmower, would be affected by a proposal from the Idaho Farm Bureau.

The bureau, a private non-partisan organization of farm and ranch families, wants to mandate that gasoline sold in Idaho contains at least 10% ethanol. It claims that this requirement would generate cleaner air, bolster the state’s agriculture economy and reduce dependence on foreign oil.

If lawmakers agree, Idaho would become the third state in the nation to require a minimum ethanol content for gasoline. Minnesota has had a similar requirement in place for years. Hawaii only recently began implementing the standard.

Farm Bureau lobbyist Russ Hendricks said the requirement is no different than government-imposed drinking water standards. “This is really a non-intrusive way to have everybody, every consumer, contribute to the quality of the air,” Hendricks said. He said the proposal would have no effect on the state’s fuel tax collections, critical to the building of highways and bridges.

Detractors say the ethanol requirement would create logistical problems, such as getting the product mixed and then transported to bigger markets, that could raise the cost of a gallon of gasoline in Idaho. The price here already tends to exceed the national average.

Suzanne Schaefer, who represents the Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association at the Legislature, said her group is likely to resist a regulatory approach to selling gas. “By and large, our approach is to believe in the market,” Schaefer said. “In other states where this has arisen, petroleum marketers have opposed mandates.”

Rural legislators like the idea because of the economic potential of taking agricultural products such as corn, potatoes or wheat and waste of those products and turning it into fuel. Urban lawmakers like it because of ethanol’s cleaner-burning properties.

Minnesota was able to keep air quality for the Twin Cities within federal limits for carbon monoxide after the ethanol requirement was adopted. Supporters of the Idaho proposal see the same potential for Boise, where emission levels continually threaten to exceed federal pollution standards, especially in the winter.

“In areas like Boise in the wintertime, you have some cleaner air coming out of the tailpipes of cars” than in the air in general, said Senate Agricultural Affairs Chairman Stan Williams of Pingree.

Boise GOP Sen. John Andreason said he wants more data on Minnesota’s experience, but he’s encouraged so far. He rattled off a series of benefits: “It would require less (imported) gasoline. It would be cleaner burning. It would help us use up the byproducts of our crops.”

Minnesota’s gasoline prices are on par or slightly lower than those in its neighboring states, and its gasoline prices tend to track below the national average, according to data from the American Automobile Association.

In Idaho, stations that offer gasoline containing ethanol sell it at much the same price as conventional gasoline. But Schaefer said logistical problems of getting the ethanol-laced gasoline to pumps throughout the state could push up costs here.

And Dave Carlson of Idaho AAA has the same worries. “Unless you have the plants available to where you can get the product to market, there would be additional shipping costs,” Carlson said.

Hendricks contends phasing in a 10% ethanol requirement until 2010 would allow time for distributors to prepare. That means adding ethanol plants to convert a whole host of ag products including grain and wood chips, and mixing stations to combine the ethanol with gasoline.

This proposal wouldn’t mean less money collected from fuel tax for roads and bridges. Gasoline is taxed at a state rate of 25 cents a gallon. But there’s a 2.5 cent a gallon credit for ethanol. The Farm Bureau proposal would phase out the ethanol credit as the content mandate is phased in, Hendricks said, so the state fuel tax revenues wouldn’t be affected.

The Farm Bureau will still have to face critics who contend gasoline-ethanol blends aren’t efficient. While all major car makers now allow for ethanol-blended fuel, some car experts say using it may reduce fuel efficiency by up to 3%. But other experts say factors such as weather, tire inflation and driving habits have a greater effect on fuel efficiency.

Rod Miller, the owner of Rod’s Auto Repair in Boise, said gas with ethanol will likely do nothing to affect a car’s internal mechanics, especially in newer vehicles. Older cars could have a vapor lock problem, but with some adjustment, they, too, will run fine, he said.

“Personally I don’t see a problem with it,” Miller said. “It sometimes tends to deteriorate rubber products quicker (including hoses) but not enough to notice it.”