Supreme Court Denies Appeal of California’s Landmark Low Carbon Fuel Standard

NEWS RELEASE

Contact:
Tim, O’Connor, 415-293-6132, toconnor@edf.org
Erica Morehouse, 916-492-4680, emorehouse@edf.org
Sharyn Stein, 202-572-3396, sstein@edf.org 

(Washington, D.C. — June 30, 2014) The Supreme Court will not review a rigorous decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit that upheld California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard – common sense standards designed to reduce unhealthy air pollution, protect the environment and strengthen the state’s clean energy economy.

The Supreme Court today denied petitions from large oil companies and corn-ethanol producers asking it to review and reverse the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision.

“The Supreme Court’s decision today denying requests by big oil companies to review legal appeals challenging California’s landmark low carbon fuel standard is welcome news for the millions of Californians at risk from the clear and present danger of climate change,” said Tim O’Connor, Director of California Climate for Environmental Defense Fund, which was a party to the case.

“The Low Carbon Fuel Standard will protect the health of Californians while strengthening our clean energy economy,” said O’Connor. “It is unfortunate that big oil companies are investing in litigation and obstructionism rather than investing in the innovation in cleaner low carbon fuels that is essential for our health and our prosperity.”

The Low Carbon Fuel Standard is a policy created under California’s groundbreaking climate change laws, known as AB32. It will reduce the amount of carbon pollution released from the fuels sold in California by 10 percent between now and 2020.

The measure will improve California’s air quality, reducing serious health impacts like heart and lung diseases caused by air pollution, which in turn will save the state billions of dollars each year in health care costs.

The Low Carbon Fuel Standard is also designed to help the economy by stabilizing fuel prices and protecting Californians against future oil price shocks, and by driving innovations in business and technology that will create jobs. A recent report from EDF and the American Lung Association found that California’s clean fuels policies will save over $10 billion by 2020.

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the Low Carbon Fuel Standard last September, saying:

“California should be encouraged to continue and to expand its efforts to find a workable solution to lower carbon emissions, or to slow their rise. If no such solution is found, California residents and people worldwide will suffer great harm. We will not at the outset block California from developing this innovative, nondiscriminatory regulation to impede global warming.”

The LCFS has been in effect for more almost three years, and — as intended – it is helping to bring innovative, cleaner fuels to California consumers.