Raw Story has uncovered oil industry memos that show the industry moved to Intentionally reduce refinery capacity to drive up gasoline profits.
In that memo it states "One example of a significant event would be elimination of mandate for oxygenate addition to gasoline. Given a choice, oxygenate usage would go down, and gasoline supplies would go down accordingly."
Of course ....Supply down =Price up=Profit up.
And who was it that was working on the behalf of oil companies to at least limit their liability from using the harmful oxygenated additives if they can't be rid of the mandates all together?
It was lead by Hailey Barbour's lobbying firm. Yes that is the now Governor of Katrina ravaged Mississippi. He represented "The Oxygenated Fuels Association, which lobbied a House-Senate Conference Committee in 2003 to grant legal immunity to producers of toxic gas additive MTBE." (Learn more about oxygenates and MTBE at EPA site
and the controversy of harmful MTBE at USGS and for latest update of limiting legal liability in present Energy Bill)
And remember Barbour said of his lobbying efforts:
“We don’t represent issues that are inconsistent with what we believe in,” Barbour told the New York Times in 2001.
In other words Hailey believes his constituents and the rest of the US should wait in line for ever increasing priced gas so his oil industry buddies can increase profit and not pay the price for clean up of the harmful MTBE.
How does Barbour sleep at night or look at himself in the mirror in the morning???
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