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Lawyers' Bad Gas.(ISSUES & INSIGHTS)(EDITORIALS)(Editorial)
Energy: The energy bill broke down in the Senate over a provision to guarantee the gas additive MTBE product liability protection. Blame the trial lawyers.
Not that we're in favor of the poorly drafted energy bill. It was full of subsidies, tax breaks, an ethanol mandate, yet didn't allow drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
However, that doesn't mean we can't take issue with the reason the legislation failed, especially when that reason is removal of one of the few good elements of the bill.
Trial lawyers didn't like a "safe harbor" provision that would have limited the liability of MTBE makers. MTBE makes gas burn more cleanly, but also contaminates drinking water.
The provision in question doesn't prevent lawsuits from being filed against the makers of the fuel additive, it merely stops lawsuits from including a product defect argument.
This is perfectly reasonable, as MTBE is not a defective product. It does what it was designed to do, that is, clean air.
How did MTBE get into groundwater in places like California's Lake Tahoe in the first place? Not through any fault of the product. It was put into leaky underground storage tanks.
- Analysis: Energy bill drifts toward 2004.
- News wire article from: United Press International November 26, 2003 700+ words
...Congress want the energy bill to include immunity...called greedy trial lawyers with their eye...Meanwhile, the energy bill and its eagerly...giveaway to the trial lawyers" and would likely...who want the energy bill passed as soon...
- Chances for Energy Bill Going Up in Smoke.(Brief Article)
- Newspaper article from: Kiplinger Business Forecasts Litchfield, Gregory Ostroff, Jim October 4, 2002 700+ words
...of a comprehensive energy bill, its prospects are...heavy lobbying from trial lawyers, Senate Majority Leader...new slimmed-down energy bill to the House floor...the farmers and the trial lawyers on ethanol and MTBE...
- Additive MTBE May Gum Up Energy Bill.
- Newspaper article from: Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News February 10, 2004 700+ words
...try to push through an energy bill that does not include...House version of the energy bill. Barton could not be...Miller. Maisano blames "trial lawyers" like Wolens for lobbying...poison pill to the entire energy bill, and this is a poison...
- House Republicans Won't Budge on MTBE Provision in Energy Bill.
- Newspaper article from: Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News March 5, 2004 700+ words
...key provision in the energy bill, diminishing already...is not going to say trial lawyers can have a field day...I have to get the energy bill through the Senate before...staunch supporters of the energy bill fear Congress will never...
- Texas Congressman's Move Holds Up Energy Bill.
- Newspaper article from: Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News November 26, 2003 700+ words
...has failed to approve a sweeping energy bill that President Bush says is crucial...t the only provision in the energy bill to come under fire. Another was...inordinate amount of lobbying from trial lawyers," who have been winning big...
- On the Docket: Trial Lawyers v. Tort Reformers
- Newspaper article from: The Washington Post Saundra Torry November 21, 1994 700+ words
...through the ranks of the nation's trial lawyers. That phrase is part of the Republican...many civil lawsuits are tried, and trial lawyers, who think the system is just fine...into the livelihood of the nation's trial lawyers. For years, trial lawyers and consumer...
- Bar bashing. (Florida trial lawyers rocked by political and financial setbacks)
- Magazine article from: Florida Trend McKinnon, John D. November 1, 1994 700+ words
...years of having their way, Florida trial lawyers have been rocked by a series of political...Florida's politically ambitious trial lawyers came of age. With $8 million worth...Gievers Has Been a Lobbyist for the Trial Lawyers," the ads sneer. "Three Quarters...
- Trial lawyers using piles of bucks to derail meaningful liability...
- Newspaper article from: Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service March 20, 1997 700+ words
...Martin WASHINGTON - A handful of trial lawyers armed with a fistful of dollars are...The acronym stands for American Trial Lawyers Association, the political juggernaut...contributions by ATLA and individual trial lawyers in the last six years have produced...
