The update to the Low Carbon Fuel Standard requires increasingly clean fuels to power cars, trucks, trains, airplanes and other vehicles that make up 50 percent of the state’s greenhouse gas pollution.
“The goal of all of our transportation rules is to electrify all parts of our transportation system,” said Cliff Rechtschaffen , member of the California Air Resources Board . “These amendments will provide billions of dollars to help.”
The program, first created in 2011, is a $2-billion credit trading system that requires fuels sold in California to become progressively cleaner, while giving companies financial incentives to produce less-polluting fuels.
The update imposes tougher limits under the program by 2030, which previously aimed to reduce carbon emissions of transportation fuels by 20 percent. The target is now 30 percent.
In a 12-hour public meeting, air board members approved the update after debating fears of potential spikes in retail gasoline prices and environmental harms caused by biofuels made of crop and animal waste.
In response to public outcry, the board added a provision requiring staff to assess the program’s impact every six months. If it leads to consistent retail gasoline price increases, the executive officer must propose solutions to the board.
Several members said Tuesday’s election of Donald Trump influenced their vote to reinforce the program, as they gird for a presidential administration that has promised to boost fossil fuel production.
“The world is watching California to see if we will maintain our leadership or fracture under internal pressure for perfectionism,” said board member and State Senator Henry Stern , D- Calabasas . Delaying the rule would play into the hands of Big Oil, he said.
CARB staff estimated the new changes could cut 558 million metric tons of carbon emissions by 2046 by supplanting gasoline and diesel with plant and animal waste biofuels, electric vehicles and hydrogen. That’s roughly equivalent to what 120 million cars emit in one year.
Supporters of the update included biofuel producers, oil companies and electric vehicle manufacturers who say they depend on program credits to invest in low-carbon fuel alternatives.
In recent weeks, Republican lawmakers in Sacramento and Washington called for more transparency from the air board on possible impacts to retail gas prices.
Fuel producers already pass up to 10 cents per gallon in costs to consumers due to the program, according to the air board.
An earlier estimate suggested Friday’s update could increase gas prices by up to 47 cents per gallon in 2025, but the board retracted that estimate and did not provide a new one.
State Assemblyman Tom Lackey , R- Palmdale , said CARB’s decision would hurt thousands of residents with long commutes in his district.
“The measure before you will cause us financial pain,” he said to the board. “The governor has pushed us to drive electric vehicles. They are simply very expensive.”
Environmental groups also opposed the program and called for a pivot to zero-emission fuel sources, citing environmental harms from biofuels. Roughly 80 percent of the program’s billions in annual credits go to renewable natural gas, biodiesel and renewable diesel.
Critics argue these fuels perpetuate harmful waste practices in low-income communities, lead to food shortages abroad, and could contribute to deforestation by encouraging palm oil cultivation.
Those critics include environmental justice groups and the original deputy executive officer at the air board who oversaw the creation of the Low Carbon Fuel Standard.
The program has driven a tenfold increase in national production of renewable diesel, a soybean-based fuel chemically similar to traditional fossil diesel, in recent years.
Methane-based biofuels, which incentivize dairy farms to capture cow methane — a potent greenhouse gas — are especially lucrative under the program.
“Handing out large subsidies to Big Ag and Big Oil is not leadership,” said Faraz Rizvi , policy manager at the Asian Pacific Environmental Network. “It’s reneging on our commitments to zero-emission when we need them the most.”
Board members said the program includes safeguards to prevent food price increases related to renewable diesel, and that California is not ready for an expedited clean transportation transition.
“There is going to be pervasive diesel use into the 2040’s,” said board member Gideon Kracov . He said quitting biodiesel merely means more petroleum diesel — zero emissions will not fill that gap.
(c)2024 the Merced Sun-Star (Merced, Calif.) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
