'CALIFORNIA ACTION COULD IMPACT NEBRASKA ETHANOL INDUSTRY'

(Grand Island Independent) -- Theindependent.com reports that "California's low-carbon fuels standards, given final approval by the California's Office of Administrative Law last week, will have a major negative impact on Nebraska corn ethanol should the rules be rolled out as planned, according to the Nebraska Corn Board." The Corn Board estimates 27% of Nebraska's ethanol, with a value approaching $1 billion, goes directly to California's fuel market, according to the Independent's article. "The model California uses somehow concludes that ethanol from South America is better and that crude oil is OK," said Kelly Brunkhorst with the Nebraska Corn Board. He said a lawsuit filed by the two largest U.S. ethanol trade organizations and others charges that "the standards are unconstitutional and go against the Commerce Clause, which forbids state laws that discriminate against out-of-state goods," the story notes. See more at http://www.theindependent.com/articles/2010/01/23/news/ag/11308196.txt>