30 YEAR PROGRAM Ethanol Subsidy End, Tax Change To Hike WV Gas Prices Six Cents A Gallon
Reported by: Bob Aaron
Videographer: Bob Aaron
Web Producer: Bob Aaron
Reported: Jan. 4, 2012 5:34 PM EST
Updated: Jan. 4, 2012 5:43 PM EST
EYEWITNESS ONLINE WEBCAST VIDEO C L I C K T O P L A Y
Charleston
, Kanawha County
, West Virginia
Gasoline could cost another 4.5 cents a gallon any day now, but it's not because of rising oil prices. It's because the government is no longer picking up part of the tab. The ethanol subsidy went to fuel makers. Congress let it quietly expire. It ended Sunday after 30 years.
Ethanol, denatured grain alcohol made from corn ,is a smog-cutter. It makes up 10% of most gasoline. It's hard to calculate the exact impact, but the federal government will save six billion a year.
The West Virginia Oil Marketers and Grocers Association expects those costs will be passed on to drivers soon along with a 1-point-2 cents a gallon fuel tax increase. Now we're talking six cents. Drivers who talked to Eyewitness News were not enthusiastic.
West Virginia's Commissioner of Agriculture predicts little impact on farmers here because most corn is consumed instate by livestock. Some experts predict a less than ten percent drop in corn prices.
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Bob Aaron
