Bloviating about “Boutique” Fuels

The House Energy & Commerce Committee held a hearing today on the subject of "boutique" fuels. Republicans are positively obsessed with this matter, convinced beyond sanity or reason that gasoline prices are high in large part because EPA is tolerating a large number of different gasoline blends around the country.

Ed Murphy, group director for downstream and industry operations at the American Petroleum Institute, gamely tried to introduce a bit of economic rationality into this debate. While there are certainly reasons to decry the proliferation of gasoline blends around the country, the recent run-up of gasoline prices has nothing to do with them. His testimony, however, apparently failed to impress Republicans according to the trade pub Greenwire.

Now, if EPA were making gasoline more expensive, I'm sure API would be the first bunch to say so. The fact that they are not speaks volumes. That is, it speaks volumes only to those interested in listening. Beating up on Greens is more important to the GOP than beating up on high prices. Having even a scintilla of evidence to back up their charges is apparently irrelevent.