California Passes Nation's First Low Carbon Fuel Standard

Statement by Patricia Monahan, Union of Concerned Scientists

BERKELEY (April 23, 2009)—The California Air Resources Board (CARB) today passed the world's first low carbon fuel standard (pdf). The regulation, which likely will serve as a model for other states and the federal government, requires fuel producers to reduce "lifecycle" heat-trapping emissions from gasoline and diesel fuels 10 percent by 2020.

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In 2007, California Gov. Schwarzenegger issued an executive order stating that California would pursue a low carbon fuel standard. CARB then made a commitment to adopt such a standard under the state's Global Warming Solutions Act. Today CARB fulfilled that commitment.

Below is a statement by Patricia Monahan, director of the Union of Concerned Scientists' (UCS) California office.

"Today's vote puts a standard in place that will help move our transportation system away from dirty fossil fuels to low-carbon, sustainable fuels for the future. California's leadership is a model for the rest of the country and the world.

"Governor Schwarzenegger and CARB faced tremendous pressure from the corn ethanol industry to weaken the regulation by ignoring emissions caused by deforestation and other land use changes (pdf). But the scientific evidence is clear, and this week more than 170 scientists and economists—including two Nobel Laureates and nine members of the National Academies of Science—sent a letter to the board, urging it to account for these emissions. California should be commended for accounting for those emissions—and for continuing to lead the nation in establishing forward-thinking policy to reduce heat-trapping emissions."

Source: The Union of Concerned Scientists