Climate Solutions Will Require California Creativity

by Leticia Phillips (UNICA/Ethanol Producer Magazine) Successful programs like California's Low Carbon Fuel Standard and RenovaBio remind us that not all climate answers emanate from Capitol Hill. Absent consensus on climate policy at the federal level, following the Golden State's lead seems prudent.

Even if Democrats agree to a watered-down agenda, climate advocates must acknowledge that Congress may be unable or unwilling to pass historic climate legislation without a sea change in public opinion.

Congress reflects a divided America. Most voters claim to support policies that will reduce greenhouse gases, but when it comes to picking up the tab, many balk. A survey from 2019 finds that nearly 70 percent of Americans would not be willing to pay even ten bucks more a month in higher electric bills even if the money was going to fight climate change.

Abraham Lincoln famously said that “Public sentiment is everything. With public sentiment, nothing can fail. Without it, nothing can succeed.”

Absent a broad consensus or willingness, policymakers must act with the tools available now. They need to be creative in terms of executive and regulatory action, public-private partnerships and fresh ideas that can inspire people.

Ten years ago, California policymakers implemented its Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) to reduce greenhouse gases. The LCFS was part of a broader initiative that sought to improve vehicle technology, improve mileage and introduce transportation options to a growing populace. Specifically, the LCFS would lower the carbon intensity of transportation fuels by elevating the role of renewable, low carbon alternatives to traditional fossil fuels.

This mix is working and, according to the GHG Management Institute, California’s LCFS program has “successfully achieved a 5% decrease in the carbon intensity of transportation fuel (between 2011 and 2018).”

Over its ten years, LCFS has not remained static. It was amended to reflect California’s increasingly bold climate vision. Seeing the success of the program, a multi-jurisdictional coalition between California, Oregon, Washington and British Columbia is coalescing around polices to emulate the Golden State’s progress.

LCFS’s success has also sparked innovation in Brazil with the development of the country’s first market-based carbon credit program, RenovaBio. READ MORE