NEW YORK -- Citing increased energy supply security concerns and a possible boost to local rural economies, the ethanol industry is seeking to win new support for the fuel additive in New York State.

According to a Reuters report Friday, the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) joined the New York Corn Growers Association and New York state senator Jim Wright to promote the use of corn-based ethanol in the state's gasoline.

The use of ethanol, which is mostly produced in the Midwest, would “sustain and enhance the rural economy of upstate New York,” said Kevin Swartley, President of the New York Corn Growers Association. In a press conference in Albany, N.Y. Thursday morning, the groups said they were exploring the building of plants for making fuel-grade ethanol from corn in New York State. None currently exist in the state.

The plans were already underway, the speakers said, but hastened by the terror attacks on Sept. 11. Ethanol advocates argue that use of the additive, which is made domestically, can lessen the country's dependence on foreign oil.

In the United States, 70 percent to 75 percent of the MTBE used is produced domestically and 25 percent to 30 percent is imported, mostly from Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Brazil and Asia.

Currently, New York uses methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE), to make gasoline burn cleaner in regions where federal laws require an additive. Because of the discovery of groundwater contamination, coupled with suspicions that MTBE causes cancer, New York has joined a growing number of states that have banned the additive. Unless the ban is somehow overturned, MTBE is scheduled to be phased out in the state by Jan. 1, 2004.