This is a continuation of the earlier MTBE discussion that can be found here:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=1127847My father works for Shell and I sent him the article about Bush and the reversal of the MTBE ban. He sent me this is response.
I had been following some of this and I'm aware of the Santa Monica problem because Shell has exposure in that one, as well as other companies. MTBE has been a political football for years. It came into being as an additive to make gasolines burn cleaner, so it was an accepted component by the government of mandated reformulated gasolines. Since they do burn cleaner, they have been a factor in some of the improvement in gasolines, although the most improvement is noted in those states like California that mandate even stricter standards. MTBE then became a point of contention between the farm states, who produce corn which makes ethanol, and the states like Texas and Louisiana that have chemical plants. There is a big MTBE facility in Port Neches (where my family's from -- ed.). The corn people, through both greater political strength and the fact that they have the cleaner of the products, eventually won out and after the discovery of MTBE in ground water, it should have been pretty much over. As a part of the energy bill, DeLay has been trying to exempt his chemical buddies in Texas from legal liability claims and being as tenacious as he is, has at least kept his issue alive while the energy bill withers on the vine, which it probably deserves anyway. Any bill designed by Dick Cheney is not good for the average American citizen. Of course, the Democrat contributors in the trial lawyer lobby want to get it opened up so they can file massive lawsuits, which mainly benefit a few sleazeball lawyers at the expense of everyone else. So it is a case without many good guys and actually brings out some of the worst in both parties. Fact is, due to the continuing problems with leaking underground tanks, we have an environmental issue with MTBE. Since the government has not been able to adequately solve the problems with underground tanks, the logical course is to ban the products that are harmful that may leak from them, like MTBE. The Bush administration is just continuing the path it took on environmental issues in Texas, which was the allow polluters to continue to pollute with the governments blessing and keep those campaign dollars coming in and call it regulation. Even his father had a more respectable record. They are the environmental equivalent of a German bureau of Jewish affairs.
Just thought you'd like a perspective from someone in the industry. Here's a link to the original article if you don't want to go to the thread:
http://abcnews.go.com/wire/Politics/ap20040216_445.html
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