Henry Waxman: “I applaud that. The State of Minnesota can make its decision for itself. If they are happy with that decision, fine. But…”

“I applaud that. The State of Minnesota can make its decision for itself. If they are happy with that decision, fine. But we should not deny the State of California the same ability to make our own choice for fuels. I think we ought to let every State make the decision. I have heard over the years Republicans say, and I have learned from them, that 'We do not have all the wisdom here in Washington. We do not have to make the decisions for every State here in Washington. There are some decisions the States can make for themselves,' as long as they are meeting the environmental standards, which we set out in the Federal law. So I applaud Minnesota if that is what they want to do. It is their choice. Let California and other States make our choice. Do not force us either to use MTBE, which we will not use because it damages our drinking water, or have to import ethanol at a great expense with a possible interruption of supply when it will even make the air dirtier, the way we see it in California, than what we would get if we had one reformulated gasoline.”