Barbara Boxer: “I offer it on behalf of myself and Senator Durbin, a strong supporter of ethanol, Senators Leahy, Feinstein, Clinton…”

“I offer it on behalf of myself and Senator Durbin, a strong supporter of ethanol, Senators Leahy, Feinstein, Clinton, Jeffords, and Lautenberg. My amendment simply removes the safe harbor provision in the bill, which treats ethanol like no other fuel, giving consumers and communities no legal recourse if it turns out that the water is polluted or the air is polluted or people get sick from this increased amount of ethanol. Believe me, I hope ethanol is totally safe. But no one is sure. Just read the 1999 blue ribbon EPA panel. They raise some serious questions. Of course, the ethanol manufacturers say ethanol is 100 percent completely safe. Then I ask why they demand this safe harbor provision. Look at what happened to the last gasoline additive we promoted, MTBE. This is the cost to our people because of MTBE pollution: $29 billion. My friends, if we had had the same safe harbor for MTBE as some of us are seeking for ethanol, this would not have fallen completely on your taxpayers and your communities. I call this an unfunded mandate.”