Coasts hoodwinked into ethanol mandate

The Senate this week bestowed its blessing upon a proposal, by Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, to triple the amount of corn-based ethanol added to gasoline. Daschle, the South Dakota Democrat, argued that the new federal mandate would yield cleaner-burning fuel while also curbing America's reliance on foreign oil.

But the new ethanol requirement almost certainly will mean higher pump prices for motorists on the West and East coasts. Ninety-eight percent of the nation's ethanol plants are in Corn Belt states