TX Poultry Magnate Paid $9,000 In Airfares For Gov. Goodhair's Anti-Ethanol Presser Appearance

[hatrack]

AUSTIN — Poultry producer Lonnie "Bo" Pilgrim spent more than $9,000 on airfare in June so Gov. Rick Perry could attend a news conference promoting a waiver from federal ethanol mandates that Pilgrim wants.

Perry requested the waiver from the federal Environmental Protection Agency in April after meeting with Pilgrim in March. The Houston Chronicle reported this month that six days after that March meeting, Pilgrim donated $100,000 to the Republican Governors Association, which Perry heads as chairman.

Pilgrim wants the ethanol waiver because he believes ethanol production is driving up the price of corn that he needs to feed his poultry. Pilgrim's Pride, based in Pittsburg, Texas, is the nation's largest producer of poultry products.

Perry has been an opponent of food-based ethanol production for some time, but he had not acted on requesting the waiver from federal mandates until after the meeting with Pilgrim. Campaign finance reports released Tuesday showed Pilgrim paid the airfare for Perry and three aides to attend a June 24 news conference in Washington to promote the waiver request.

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http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5890163.html