On the web since 1997
|
On the web since 1997 |
|
Third Time's the CharmLuke Hodgens / Powerhouse Profits -- The light at the end of the energy tunnel just got much brighter. Thanks to an overwhelming victory for republicans on Election Day, the likelihood of a comprehensive energy bill being passed through the halls of Congress has become much more probable.The bill, originally crafted by a White House energy task force led by Vice-President Dick Cheney, has failed approval twice to date. A key provision of the bill regarding methyl-tert-butyl-ether, or MTBE, caused the demise of the bill in November of 2003. The ever important energy bill failed by only two votes as Democrats and some moderate Republicans voted against liability protection for MTBE manufacturers - and thus voted against the bill. MTBE is used as a gasoline additive and has been discovered in water supplies in over dozen states. Environmental activists claim MTBE is a pollutant and a possible carcinogen. The additive, however, is actually responsible for gasoline burning much more cleanly. MTBE has been used since 1979 to replace lead as an octane enhancer. The use of MTBE as an additive reduces air pollution and its possible carcinogenic properties are far outweighed by the amount of known carcinogens that are reduced by its use in the combustion process. In the past, lobbyists from various environmental groups have pressured Democratic Congressmen to kill the bill, not only because of the provision for MTBE manufacturers, but the bill could also open up land in the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve, the Rocky Mountains and the Gulf of Mexico for oil and gas exploration. Groups such as the Sierra Club and Greenpeace have spent millions of dollars courting Democratic Senators in hopes of getting the vote to go their way - and it has worked. Luke Hodgens is the editor of |
|
