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Posted on  

October 26, 2000

Sen. Breaux Says Banning MTBE is Bad Environmental and Energy Policy

Sen. John Breaux (D-LA) is the latest Member of Congress to raise objection to the passage of the Reformulated Fuels Act of 2000 (S. 2962), which seeks to ban the use of the cleaner-burning fuel additive MTBE.

In a letter to Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-MS) and Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD), Breaux states that "S. 2962 contains serious issues that have not been fully resolved and is not ready for final consideration at this time."

Specifically, Breaux objected to the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works' decision to refer the bill to the full Senate without considering whether MTBE poses any actual risk to public health or the environment. Breaux called this a "radical departure from the way Congress has sought to regulate chemical substances."

Additionally, Breaux called S. 2962 "bad environmental policy" because MTBE has been wildly successful in reducing vehicular emissions and, as written, the bill does not sufficiently protect against air quality backsliding in the absence of MTBE. Breaux also pointed out that the EPA has stated that ethanol, the likely replacement for MTBE, could actually increase the emission of harmful air toxics.

ILSR Urges Quick Transition to Ethanol

The Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) recently released a report encouraging officials to quickly transition from methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) to ethanol. The report, titled "The Other Gasoline Crisis: Speeding Up the Switch from MTBE to Ethanol," also urges environmental groups to consider "all of the environmental benefits of ethanol."

"Many in the environmental community oppose [the transition from MTBE to ethanol]," said the report. "They fear that increased hydrocarbon emissions lead to increase ozone levels and adverse public health impacts. Their position seems to be that the adverse impact of these increased emissions is so damaging that it outweighs the many undisputed environmental benefits of ethanol."

ILSR said that ethanol volatility should be evaluated by lawmakers, but "should not be the single most determining factor." Report co-author Jack Brondum noted that "although ethanol blends do indeed increase mass emissions, this has little, if any impact, on ozone formation."

"Ozone is a pollutant of only modest concern compared to benzene and particulate matter, which ethanol blends reduce," said Brondum. "Moreover, recent data indicate that ethanol blends have a trivial impact on ozone formation.

"In fact, the entire debate is about whether, if ethanol were substituted for MTBE completely, ozone concentrations would increase or decrease by one part per billion [(ppb)] when current levels are in the 130 to 150 ppb range."
 

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