Abstract

Restarting the Energy Bill

The article comments on a provision in the Republican-backed energy bill is before the U.S. Congress that gives liability protection to oil companies responsible for contaminating the water supply. Both sides agree that what tipped the balance against this energy company piñ ata was the provision giving liability protection to Texas oil companies--pals of House majority leader Tom DeLay--responsible for contaminating the water supply with the gasoline additive methyl tertiary butyl ether, or MTBE. The energy bill would outlaw MTBE while relieving the oil industry of any potential liability in connection with its past use of the chemical or its cleanup. Call it high-test tort reform, more polluter-friendly than regular tort reform, which merely seeks to cap liability for punitive damages. The most painful irony is that MTBE wasn't necessary in the first place. The industry claims the government forced it to use the stuff when, in 1990, it mandated the addition of so-called oxygenates to gasoline to improve air quality. The problem with this assertion is that the government never specified MTBE as the oxygenate. In fact, a completely viable alternative, ethanol, was used by many refiners to meet the oxygenation requirement.