On Sun, 3 Aug 2008 10:38:52 -0700, with neither quill nor qualm,
"Roger Shoaf" quickly quoth:


"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
.. .

Perhaps in one way. But the pollution from MTBE, lead's old
replacement, is still gumming up the works badly.


MTBE was not a replacement for lead.

It is both an octane booster and oxygenate according to the Wiki
article.


It was a fraudulent government
mandated additive to oxygenate the fuel. It was highly toxic, and actually
lowered fuel economy to the point where more fuel was burned and that wiped
out the intended environmental benefit that the idiot do-gooders sought to
solve in the first place.

Indeed, and now, with $4+/gallon fuel, it's really costing us. DAMN!


Lead was used as an octane booster and was selected not for its incidental
lubricity, but rather because it was the cheapest thing out there to boost
the octane.

Right, the lubricity was incidental.

--
Do what you feel in your heart to be right - for you'll be criticized
anyway. You'll be damned if you do, and damned if you don't.
-- Eleanor Roosevelt