Also on that note, I received a message from a reader last week who expressed interest in being featured in the Reader Spotlight. Since I've been on the road (most recently in Rhode Island and still not back at school for my final two months before graduation), I've not had the opportunity to prepare the feature. But stay tuned next week for a Reader Spotlight on Frank Pugh.

Remember that CAW gladly accepts feedback, letters to the editor and advertising -- from either businesses or individuals. Respond to this e-mail for more info!

Have a great week.

-Gabe

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The cautious governor has wrestled with the issue for weeks, using a bureaucratic ploy to temporarily delay the decision while his experts -- both scientific and political -- considered the ramifications of the issue. But in the end, the decision will be his alone, and when he makes it he is all but certain to anger at least one of the state's powerful political constituencies, the environmentalists or the petroleum industry.

MTBE, or methyl tertiary butyl ether as it is known to scientists, is a compound that is added to gasoline to make it burn more completely and reduce air emissions. The federal government requires it in California's smoggy areas -- which means most of the state -- to protect air quality. The petroleum industry, which manufactures MTBE, believes the compound is effective and should be continued. That position is not surprising, since a phaseout of MTBE would cost the industry a great deal of money.

But environmentalists say the compound is potentially carcinogenic -- a claim that has yet to be resolved by science -- and that MTBE has contaminated wells and groundwater throughout the state. The dispute is particularly acute at Lake Tahoe, where the two-state agency that enforces water quality standards banned the discharge of unburned fuel and oil from two-stroke carbureted engines beginning this year. Those engines are the prime source of MTBE, experts say.

The dispute leaves the governor in the uncomfortable position of having to make a tough call; thus far, he has given no indication how he will decide. The deadline is Friday, March 27.

He hasn't been helped by fellow Democrat Dianne Feinstein: The U.S. Senate earlier this year urged the federal government to drop the requirement that MTBE be required as an additive in areas that meet air-quality standards, and she later called for an outright ban on the chemical.

A veteran Republican state lawmaker, Sen. Richard Mountjoy of Monrovia, also has demanded that MTBE be banned, and he has authored legislation to do just that.

Scientists also are equivocal about MTBE, although there is a growing consensus that the additive really does little to protect air quality.

Privately, Capitol insiders believe Davis will order a ban. But questions remain about how he will do it. Will he decide on an immediate ban, and put the decision behind him quickly? Or will he take a more moderate approach and order a gradual phasing out of the additive?

Given Davis' style and his penchant for describing himself as a moderate, the likelihood is that he will order a phase-out. But that move, too, is fraught with uncertainty and contains the potential for a prolonged court fight to thwart his decision.

One thing is certain: Davis will have to take a stand on one side or the other. And that's something that politicians just don't like to do.

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