California Court Upholds Emission Reduction Standards

Federal appeals court rules that the state’s low-carbon fuel standard is a valid measure to protect residents’ well-being.

SAN FRANCISCO - January 22, 2019: The NACSonline reported that a federal appeals court ruled that California’s low-carbon fuel standard is a valid measure to protect residents’ health and well-being and does not violate the rights of out-of-state producers and suppliers, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

The standard is designed to reduce emissions of carbons from transportation fuels sold in the state. In its ruling, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco said that the state may be confronted by “crumbling or swamped coastlines, rising water, or more intense forest fires caused by higher temperatures and related droughts” and can reduce the harms by upholding the regulations.

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The measure prompted responses from oil and ethanol producers in outside states, arguing that “the state was unconstitutionally regulating conduct outside its borders and interfering with interstate commerce.”

Based on a 2006 state law, the regulations require gasoline, ethanol or other fuel suppliers that sell in California to reduce carbon emissions 10% by 2020. This includes fuel production and disposal, as well as vehicle usage.

Judge Ronald Gould said the standard ensures “that out-of-state fuels do not benefit in California markets by ‘cutting corners’ and [by] not being subject to California’s regulations on the resulting greenhouse gases.”