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The Indefinite Article.

Monday, May 08, 2006

Houston Chronicle

I love these lines from the Loren Steffy’s recent article in the Houston Chronicle.

He discusses Rex Tillerson’s (Exxon/Mobil’s new CEO) message that in response to the record gas prices at the pump (and record profits for Exxon/Mobil) folks should use energy more wisely. Sounds pretty good to me.

Anyhow, Loren goes on to produce this gem:

Making it worse

Last year, Congress passed what it called an energy bill, but it did nothing to head off our looming crisis. In fact, it compounded the problem. Last year, lawmakers refused to protect refiners from water contamination lawsuits involving the gasoline additive MTBE.

As a result, refiners are switching from MTBE to ethanol in an already tight market, creating bottlenecks in supplies. That’s exacerbating the recent surge in crude prices, driving pump prices higher.

Real creative analysis of how Congress has “compounded the problem”. Read the Houston Chronicle, it’s worth it!.

3 Comments:

  • Just letting you know: Loren's a he.

    Sara

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 12:46 PM  

  • thanks! corrected.

    By Blogger pablo, at 2:22 PM  

  • MTBE is a pretty interesting topic. I'm not certain about how it is put into gasoline, but legislation and regulation put it (or other oxygenates) in gasoline. In hindsight, MTBE wasn't a great additive since it is a water-soluble poison. Maybe there wasn't a better one at the time; I don't know. In any case, it does cost a whole lot to convert to ethanol.

    By Blogger Adolph, at 8:34 PM  

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