Ethanol Producers Hope New Tax Credit Will Bring Higher Blends to Gas Pumps

By Alex Whitney

Anyone who has hit the road lately can tell you that the price of has has gone way up in the last few months. One remedy for high gas prices has been pushing alternative fuels and a recently signed law here in Nebraska is making it even more affordable for retailers to use home grown products to keep the price at the pump down.

High inflation rates have been making everything more expensive lately and one of the commodities seeing the worst inflation is fuel prices.

“One of the things that we have seen over the last year is a huge increase in gas prices. This was before Russia invaded Ukraine and with them invading Ukraine its gone even higher,” said Governor Pete Ricketts at a press conference Tuesday afternoon.

One proposed solution to the over inflated gas prices has been more using ethanol.

Just last week the Biden administration announced they would waive restrictions on selling high-ethanol blends over the summer in an effort to lower prices and here in Nebraska lawmakers have recently passed LB1261, which provides a financial incentive for retailers to sell higher ethanol blends.

“Nebraska ranks 37th in the country as far as usage of ethanol even though we are the second largest producer of it here in Nebraska. We need to raise the bar and set the standard for clean fuels for generations to come. If consumers are given a choice they will choose a higher blend of ethanol that’s lower cost and better for the air,” said Senator Joni Albrecht.

The benefits of the bill could go much farther than lower gas prices in the short term.