SC passes ethanol law challenged by oil companies

Associated Press

By SEANNA ADCOX – June 26, 2008

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina fuel distributors must have access to pure gasoline needed to make their own ethanol blends under a law that supporters say is first in the nation and will save customers at the pump.

Industry experts say other states could enact similar laws. More than a dozen states, largely in the South, will likely consider such legislation next year, said Daniel Gilligan, spokesman for Virginia-based Petroleum Marketers Association of America.

But oil companies moved quickly to stop it here and vow to do so elsewhere: They filed a lawsuit in the state's Supreme Court on Thursday — one day after the measure became law — claiming it violates the state constitution.

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