California Defends Greenhouse Gas Regulation for Fuels
by Rory Carroll (Reuters) California attorneys advocating for a program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from fuels came under stern questioning from a three-judge panel on Tuesday (October f16, 2012), in a case that threatens a key component of the state’s ambitious effort to combat climate change.
A packed courtroom at the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday heard arguments from attorneys on both sides of the debate over California’s low carbon fuel standard, which assigns a carbon intensity score to a wide variety of fuels based on the energy used in their production and transportation.
The state says the program is a necessary component of its effort to reduce the amount of carbon used in the economy, but Midwestern gasoline, diesel and ethanol producers say the program tips the scales against their products and violates the U.S. Constitution’s commerce clause.
Last year a federal judge in Fresno agreed with the out-of-state producers and ruled the program unconstitutional, but a stay from the Ninth Circuit has allowed California to continue implementing the program while the panel weighs the arguments. READ MORE and MORE (DomesticFuel.com)
