Apr 27 2009
The California Air Resources Board (ARB) on Thursday voted to adopt a highly controversial Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS), but agreed to convene an expert work group to assist the Board in “refining and improving the land use and indirect effect analysis of transportation fuels.” The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) expressed disappointment in the Board’s decision to prematurely adopt the LCFS regulation, but remains confident that the formation of the expert work group will result in a more balanced and fair assessment of the indirect greenhouse gas effects of all fuels.
Responding to ARB’s adoption of the regulation, Bob Dinneen, President and CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association, issued the following statement:
“Adopting this standard sets a dangerous precedent about the application of unproven science to industries across the country. This standard is based on flawed analysis and selectively enforced penalties against biofuels only. In unfairly penalizing ethanol, ARB is relegating California to more petroleum use as biofuels are the only viable alternative liquid fuel.
“Despite the Board’s vote, we remain cautiously optimistic its decision to form an expert work group will provide an opportunity to get this standard right. Forming such a group is a clear signal that several important questions regarding the science and methodology used to develop and implement this standard remain unanswered. In too many cases, the research has simply not been done or needs additional validation or sensitivity analysis. A better solution would have been to adopt a regulation based on direct emissions only, thereby comparing all fuels on the same basis. Nevertheless, we are optimistic that the expert panel soon to be convened by ARB will recommend the changes necessary to enable the LCFS to be successful.”