"Boutique Fuels"???

Seems to me that local communities should be able to set their own environmental standards. But, never ones to miss an opportunity, the Republicans are jumping on rising gas prices to find a way to restrict just that. Rep Roy Blunt (R-MO) has just introduced HR 4545, which calls special gas blends "boutique fuels". So, in other words, if someone (say, California) passes a law requiring oil companies to, say, stop putting cancer-producing gas additives in their gas blends so they'll stop seeping into local groundwater and poisoning communities, then, well, they can't.

Basically, this would allow the EPA and the Secretary of Energy to waive local law on the basis of "controlling gas prices" and, in fact, would prevent those laws from ever taking effect if enacted after June 1, 2004.

This bill just hit the box yesterday. Now would be a good time to call one's representative.