COLUMBUS, OH -- While the federal government focuses on research and development, the states are taking on the responsibility of supporting the U.S. ethanol market, reports the Columbus Dispatch.

The newspaper writes that ethanol production, which has grown to more than 4 billion gallons a year, has its “detractors.” For example, U.S. oil companies say ethanol is too expensive to produce and gets poor mileage, which simultaneously leads to “a disconnect” between “increased supply and heightened demand that makes it hard to find ethanol at the pump.”

Former U.S. Sen. Tom Daschle (D-South Dakota), a consultant for the Governors’ Ethanol Coalition, told the newspaper swift action by the states is necessary if ethanol is going to be “more than a passing fad during spikes in oil prices.”

“The real laboratories for all this are going to be the states,” Daschle said.

U.S. oil companies, however, are “reluctant to invest heavily” in ethanol production. The newspaper writes that 600 of the nation’s 180,000 service stations offer the E85 ethanol blend, but “rarely at pumps with major fuel brands.”

American Petroleum Institute Chief Red Cavaney commented during a March 1 speech in Columbus that perhaps ethanol is “not ready for prime time,” notes the newspaper.

“Yes, someday oil will be replaced, but clearly not until alternatives are found and tested--alternatives that are proven more reliable, more versatile and more cost-competitive than oil,” said Cavaney.

States such as Iowa have tried to encourage the use of E85 by reducing the gasoline tax on the blended fuel by 3.7 cents a gallon, as well as offering to share the costs associated with converting station equipment. Even with such incentives, “it’s not translating into more E85 production,” writes the newspaper.

Jennifer Mullin, spokeswoman for Gov. Tom Vilsack, told the newspaper, “We want people to buy vehicles that use E85, but there’s not a station to buy it near Des Moines.”