Unfortunately, the Environmental Protection Agency has denied a waiver, and Vice President Al Gore is obviously not willing to challenge that decision. If the feds continue to dig in their heels, that leaves only one alternative - legal action. The Assembly Organization Committee has authorized Jensen to hire a law firm to file suit in federal court to request an injunction to remove the reformulated gas restriction, at least temporarily. Gore did call for an investigation into why reformulated gas prices here are among the highest in the nation. That was wise, particularly since there is now reason to believe the source of the high prices is oil refiners, not retailers.
Oil companies do have a legitimate, partial explanation.
There appears to be a shortage of refining capacity for the type of reformulated gas used here and in Chicago. That gas contains ethanol as opposed to the chemical MTBE used in most of the rest of the country. The EPA is slowly phasing out MTBE because it has been found to contaminate groundwater. A waiver would accomplish several things, including allowing refineries to boost their production of reformulated gas with ethanol. By temporarily taking reformulated gas out of the equation, it would also remove the opportunity for unscrupulous businesspeople to exploit the situation at the cost of motorists.