BIOMASS HUB

Now the petroleum and truckers industries have slapped California with its third lawsuit over the state’s controversial low carbon fuel standard (see LCFS), which aims to reduce the carbon intensity of fuels produced, distributed, or used within the state.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Fresno by the National Petrochemical & Refiners Association and the American Trucking Associations.  Like the suit filed by Midwest ethanol groups in December, the groups say regulators violated the federal Commerce Clause by enacting rules that interfere with interstate commerce, favor biofuels produced in California, and do little to reduce the nation’s greenhouse gases.

In an official statement issued by California’s Air Resources Board chairwoman Mary Nichols, the regulation would save Californians $11 billion over the next decade.  ARB has noted that the low-carbon mandate will reduce California’s dependence on petroleum by 20 percent and account for one-tenth of the state’s goal to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 2020.

The ethanol company POET LLC, based in Sioux Falls, S.D., filed a separate lawsuit in Fresno County Superior Court, saying the board failed to follow state environmental laws. Specifically, the lawsuit argues the low-carbon fuel standard will increase air pollution levels and do nothing to combat global warming.

The article from the LA Times is available here.

Image: Flickr/robertjosiah