Accepting the fact that there is a certain amount of chicken-and-egg challenge to promoting the use of ethanol and other biofuels in cars and trucks, Gov. Ed Rendell is moving in the right direction by pushing renewable energy alternatives in Pennsylvania. The corn-based fuel is not a magic bullet in the current gas crisis, but it can play a role in reducing America's dependence on imported oil.

Appearing last week at the opening of the state's first E85 (an 85 percent ethanol, 15 percent gasoline fuel blend) fueling station in Lititz, 30 miles from Harrisburg, Rendell announced that he intends to push for legislation this summer to mandate the use of a certain percentage of biofuels in gasoline and diesel fuel sold in the state.

Four other states — Hawaii, Minnesota, Montana and Washington — already have such requirements in place. Several other states are reported to be considering similar programs.

The E85 station in Lititz is not only the first in Pennsylvania, but also the first in the entire Northeast region. If Rendell can help move the state toward a significant mandated level of biofuels, it will help accelerate the creation of a new market for the state's farmers who would grow the corn used in making ethanol and the soybeans used in making biodiesel. A concerted effort to develop a biofuels industry will also create some jobs and help the environment. And every gallon of ethanol blended with gasoline means less imported oil is being used.

Any car can run with a blend of up to 10 percent ethanol, which is found across the country in the summer months, but only the so-called flexfuel cars can run on the E85 blend featured at the Lititz station and available at several hundred similar fueling stations concentrated in the Midwest.

Flexfuel cars are available for sale now (about 5 million are on the road in the U.S. already). And as the availability of E85 increases, so should the interest in flexfuel cars and trucks.

Already, the momentum toward ethanol has analysts warning that a surge in demand could cause a price increase in the corn-based fuel — until supply can be increased. But the supply of ethanol can be increased more quickly than the supply of petroleum, particularly given the global demand for oil. Ethanol plants can be up and running in a year or so, while petroleum refineries can take a decade or more to be planned and built.

Ethanol and biodiesel are both viable alternatives that will provide a transition from today's conventional gasoline and diesel engines to the high-tech hydrogen or fuel-cell cars of the future.

Rendell should continue to press for the development of a biofuels industry in Pennsylvania — from growing more corn or soybeans to building more processing capacity and increasing the number of retail outlets for the fuel.

With gasoline hovering around $3 per gallon — and not expected to drop anytime soon — the time is right for a deliberate and sustained move to biofuels.