"Boutique" gasoline blends to help states meet clean air rules are not a factor in higher prices as President Bush has suggested, says a draft of a study ordered by the White House.

Although often cited as a reason for volatile gasoline prices, so-called "boutique fuels" have not caused unusual distribution problems or contributed to price increases, the report concludes.

The review was conducted by a task force headed by the Environmental Protection Agency and involving representatives from the 50 states as well as the Energy and Agriculture departments.

I’ve lived in Europe now for almost 6 years and in that time fuel prices have risen about 10-12 cents per liter. Now granted, that is about 30-36 cents per gallon, though hardly on par with the tripling cost of petrol in the U.S. Moreover, road maintenance, pollution reduction, etc. are all covered by tax revenue directly from the sale of fuel. In other words, our infrastructure is paid for by the drivers at the pump and not by increased tax revenues. So maybe somebody could explain to me exactly how Big Oil has justified such a gross display of price gouging in the U.S?