How Plan to Boost Ethanol Will Reverberate Across US: QuickTake

Ethanol, the intoxicating alcohol found in beer, wine and liquor, has been powering automobiles in the US since the era of the Model T. Beginning in the 1970s, when oil supplies were strained — and as worries rose about the environmental damage caused by fossil fuels — the US government adopted policies to encourage use of corn-based ethanol and other alternatives to petroleum-based gasoline. The governors of some corn-producing Midwest states are now demanding a policy change that would increase ethanol use in their region and have ripple effects across the nation, including on prices charged at service stations. ...