Dianne Feinstein: “I strongly believe that each State should have this choice. In the Environment and Public Works Committee, Senator…”

“I strongly believe that each State should have this choice. In the Environment and Public Works Committee, Senator Murkowski offered an amendment to the ethanol mandate to exempt Alaska and Hawaii from the requirement because, first, Alaska and Hawaii are a great distance from the Midwest, where 99 percent of the ethanol is produced in the United States; secondly, families and businesses in Alaska and Hawaii would have to pay exorbitant costs for ethanol to be shipped to these States and blended into their gasoline. I have the same concerns about increased fuel costs to families and businesses in California if the ethanol mandate becomes law. I am sure other Senators up and down the east and west coasts have the same concerns I do. Because moisture causes ethanol to separate from gasoline, the fuel additive cannot be shipped through traditional gasoline pipelines. Ethanol needs to be transported separately by truck, boat, or rail, and blended into gasoline after arrival.”