Advanced BioFuels USA

by Zach Coleman (Politico’s Morning Energy)  Even if Biden’s regulations fall short of environmentalists’ wishes, the U.S. is poised for success reducing greenhouse gas emissions given the trajectory of “market forces” in the power and utility sectors, Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chair Tom Carper (D-Del.) tells Pro’s Anthony Adragna and Alex Guillen. Biden isn’t going to take a backseat, and Carper spoke of his personal relationship with Biden on climate issues. “Waters around us are rising. This is something that’s personal for the people of Delaware and that’s one of the reasons why we’re so anxious to do something about it.”

Carper said the president is “fully engaged” and that it’s critical he has success in curbing the coronavirus pandemic to help open political space for emissions-fighting policies. Biden is already working on those ideas, even convening a White House meeting with Carper and others last week where the president floated a national vehicle fuel economy agreement building off California’s deal with five automakers that rebuffed the Trump administration’s rollback.

The EPW chair left several options open for paying for infrastructure projects like highways, though he downplayed the idea of raising gas or diesel taxes to pay for highways. “They say you don’t want to raise a user fee in the middle of a recession, and I don’t think we’d want to do anything this year, but I think eventually one of the elements that we may want to consider — not the only one but one of the elements we may want to consider — as we prepare to go to vehicle miles traveled approach would be a very slow, gradual increase in user fees.”

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PRO ANALYSIS — The transportation sector represents the largest source of carbon emissions in the U.S., and several states across the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic moved to bring that pollution under control, particularly amid the Trump administration’s regulatory rollbacks. After years of discussion, D.C. and three states in the Transportation and Climate Initiative joined a regional program in December to cap and place fees on carbon emissions from mobile sources. We break down the status of the program, and show the program’s potential impact on greenhouse gases.

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JUDGE TOSSES MINNESOTA AUTO SUIT: A federal judge on Wednesday tossed out a lawsuit brought by the Minnesota Auto Dealers Association seeking to stop the state from advancing a rulemaking to align with California’s clean car standards. The dealers argued the rulemaking was preempted since the Trump administration revoked California’s greenhouse gas waiver. But Judge Wilhelmina Wright of the U.S. District Court for Minnesota tossed the case just hours after holding a hearing. Minnesota has Eleventh Amendment sovereign immunity protections that bar federal lawsuits against states, Wright concluded. She also found that MADA did not allege an “injury in fact” from the rulemaking process and that the claims are not ripe for review since no rule has been finalized. Wright’s ruling means MADA’s objections will have to wait until the state adopts a final rule.  READ MORE