RE: For those of you who don't like oxygenated gas

["Buchholz, Steven" <Steven.Buchholz@kla-tencor.com>]

> Furthermore, since apparently insufficient research was done regarding the
> safety of MTBE, in my view it's perfectly reasonable for the gov't to
> force
> its phase-out, but it's unreasonable for uncle sugar, or California, to
> require an immediate cessation.  Gov't makes mistakes; industry makes
> mistakes.  
> 
... I guess I just don't understand how difficult it is to make gasoline ...
but it sure seems to me that if they can make MTBE-free, high octane fuel
for the majority of the states in the union, it should be possible to effect
a switchover to MTBE-free fuel in California in something less than 2-3
years!  A side benefit for those of us not fortunate enough to live in
Southern California or in a different state is that we should actually see a
reduction in gasoline prices and much less of a tendency for the price to
fluctuate wildly whenever Tosco or Chevron makes a boo boo ...

Another observation ... if we were just talking about something that just
decreased fuel economy while increasing every automobile user's operating
cost per mile without making a difference in the environment I would tend to
agree ... but what we are doing is allowing the MTBE to enter ground water
supplies for the next 2-3 years!  

Steve Buchholz
San Jose, CA (USA)