Henry Waxman: “I must say how impressed I am by the gentleman's knowledge of the technical aspects of the fuel system, and I think the…”

“I must say how impressed I am by the gentleman's knowledge of the technical aspects of the fuel system, and I think the gentleman is absolutely right. If we were told that ethanol would help us achieve the clean air standards and is just as good as reformulated gasoline without it, that is one thing. But the gentleman pointed out correctly that if we use ethanol, we will have dirtier air. There is an exemption to this, however, in the wintertime in high altitudes areas. But we have another provision in the law that requires ethanol to be used under those circumstances. But for California and New York and New Jersey and other States around the country that say they do not want to use MTBE, we should not be required to bring in ethanol at higher prices and then dirtier air as a result.”