WASHINGTON, March 20, 2014 – The ethanol
industry, represented by the Renewable Fuels Association (RFS) and Growth
Energy, asked the Supreme Court today to rule on the constitutionality of
California’s clean-fuel regulations, known as the Low Carbon Fuel Standard
(LCFS).
The regulations, among the most stringent in the
country, were adopted in 2007 as part of climate change legislation backed by
then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. The standard requires the oil industry to
gradually reduce the “carbon intensity” of transportation fuels like diesel and
gasoline by at least 10 percent by 2020. Transportation accounts for about 40
percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the state.
“California, through adoption of the LCFS, has
violated the most basic, structural features of interstate federalism,” the industry
groups said in a news
release. “LCFS not only discriminates against out-of-state commerce, but it
seeks to regulate conduct in other states in direct contravention of our
constitutional structure and at the direct expense of Midwestern farmers and
ethanol producers.”
RFA and Growth Energy decided to go forward with
a Supreme Court challenge after a divided panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of
Appeals found the the California LCFS does not discriminate against interstate
commerce and does not constitutes extraterritorial regulation in violation of
the Commerce Clause.
The two groups said that California, by its own
admission, is using LCFS as a way to regulate greenhouse gas emissions
occurring in other states by punishing industrial and agricultural activity
taking place outside California, including Midwest ethanol producers.
Under the standard, state regulators assess
different fuels – from gasoline to
ethanol made from corn, sugar or cellulosic materials – and assign each a carbon intensity “score.”
Carbon intensity is measured “from the well to the wheel,” taking into account
greenhouse gas emissions covering the entire life cycle of the fuel, from
extracting and refining to transporting the fuel to local gas stations. The
main aim of the LCFS is to push the oil industry to invest in new technology
and cleaner fuels like electricity, biofuels, hydrogen and natural gas.
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