gas station give away

JournalStandard.com (Diana Thorn-Roemer):

Governor offering grants to gas stations

As gas prices creep higher and higher, prospects improve for alternative fuels. In an effort to further tap into that potential, the governor announced Tuesday that Illinois is offering grants to station owners who want to add ethanol fuel to their lineups, saying there isn't enough of the cheaper, homegrown fuel available for sale in the state.

The $500,000 in "Opportunity Returns" funding is being offered to individuals or companies that want to construct a new refueling station or convert an existing facility so its operators can sell E85, a blend of ethanol and gasoline. A total of $2,000 is offered for conversions per existing station and $40,000 is offered for new stations, through the grant funds. Also in support of the fuel, Blagojevich signed legislation in 2003 that eliminated the state sales tax for E85 fuel, pricing it competitively with unleaded gasoline.

I'm an ethanol skeptic.

Is it weird to be handing out money during a financial crunch?