You know President George W. Bush's ratings are in the toilet when he starts
bashing oil companies in the name of protecting what he repeatedly called "our consumers,"
as he did yesterday.

And you know the Party in Power—just back from getting an earful from angry constituents
about rising gasoline prices—is shaking in its shoes at the prospect of tomorrow's (April 27)
profit announcement by ExxonMobil.

So the president did what a floundering politician does: he tried to change the subject.

In this case, the president made the environment a scapegoat for rising gasoline prices.
He suggested a false choice—lower prices at the pump, or dirtier air.
 
It was ironic that the president made his gas-price speech before the Renewable Fuels
Association, since the president was citing the association's main product, ethanol, as
one of the many reasons that gasoline prices have gone up. Actually, most of the price
of gasoline is determined by world crude oil prices, and the presidential saber rattling
over Iran hasn't helped that. But it's unlikely the president will make a speech in Tehran
anytime soon.

Regarding clean air requirements, the president noted that some state officials are
requesting temporary waivers of clean-gasoline standards as a means of reducing
price pressure. (Pennsylvania requested a waiver earlier this week for gasoline sold
in the Philadelphia area.)

A short-term waiver isn't the worst possible outcome, as long as it is extremely limited.
But health and environmental groups should and will protest any effort to make long-term
weakening changes to gasoline standards.

The real truth is that oil companies could have anticipated this problem and planned for
it better. Instead, they are taking advantage of a situation they helped create.

Compare the following presidential myths to the reality:

Myth #1: Clean air standards must be relaxed.

Bush:

Under federal quality—air quality laws, some areas of the country are required to use
 fuel blend called reformulated gasoline. Now, as you well know, this year we're going
—undergoing a rapid transition in the primary ingredient in reformulated gas—from
MTBE to ethanol…

Yet state and local officials in some parts of our country worry about supply disruption
 for the short term. They worry about the sudden change from MTBE to ethanol—the
ethanol producers won't be able to meet the demand. And that's causing the price of
gasoline to go up some amount in their jurisdictions.

And some have contacted us to determine whether or not they can ask the EPA to waive
 local fuel requirements on a temporary basis … So I'm directing EPA Administrator
Johnson to use all his available authority to grant waivers that would relieve critical
fuel supply shortages. And I do that for the sake of our consumers.

Reality:

In last year's energy bill, Congress actually eliminated the requirement that cleaner
 reformulated gasoline contain MTBE or ethanol. MTBE makers—including ExxonMobil
—decided to stop shipping its product after Congress refused to give them a deal
absolving these big water polluters from product liability lawsuits. But the companies
have known about that congressional decision for nearly a year. They could have arranged
a smoother transition to new gasoline blends. But scarcity drives up prices—and oil profits.

Myth #2: Environmental requirements have blocked oil companies from building new refineries.

Bush:

There has not been a new refinery built in America in 30 years.

Reality:

In declaring that part of the problem is that we haven't built new refineries in the U.S. in decades, the president is being simply disingenuous. As he well knows from his days in the business, the big oil companies decided for economic reasons that it was more cost-effective to expand existing refineries than build new ones. In fact, they have managed those expansions to avoid a gasoline glut that could lead to lower prices.

Myth #3: Some mythical entity has created "boutique fuels" around the nation.

Bush:

The number of boutique fuels has expanded rapidly over the years, and America now has an uncoordinated and overly complex set of fuel rules … I want to simplify the process for the sake of our consumers.

Reality:

In last year's energy bill, Congress limited the number of future blends. But the oil industry has not offered to return any of the associated profits to consumers.