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The
lawsuits target the low-carbon fuel standard, which requires
California to reduce the environmental impact of transportation
fuels by incentivizing producers to cut emissions. The
California Air Resources Board voted last month to increase the
state’s emission reduction targets, fund charging infrastructure
for zero-emission vehicles, and phase out incentives for
capturing methane emissions from dairy farms to turn into fuel.
California, which often leads the nation on climate policy,
plans to achieve so-called carbon neutrality by 2045, meaning
the state will remove as many carbon emissions from the
atmosphere as it emits. The state has passed policies in recent
years to phase out the sale of new fossil-fuel powered cars,
trucks, trains and lawn mowers.
One of the lawsuits filed this week, by the nonprofit
Communities for a Better Environment, accuses the board of
failing to thoroughly analyze the climate impacts of burning
biofuels derived from plants and animal waste. Another, filed by
Food and Water Watch, Central Valley Defenders of Clean Air and
Water, and the Animal Legal Defense Fund, focuses on the impact
of pollution often impacting low-income and Latino communities
from the capture of methane from cow manure to turn into fuel.
“People who live near refineries in California are harmed by the
spiraling expansion of polluting biofuels,” but CARB failed to
analyze the resulting harm to these communities, said a
statement by Katherine Ramos, a program director at Communities
for a Better Environment.
Environmentalists say the LCFS program has stimulated the
production of polluting biofuels, competing with food production
and contributing to deforestation. They want California to focus
more on expanding the charging infrastructure for electric
vehicles.
The agency declined to comment on the lawsuits but said the
program plays an important role in combating climate change and
improving air quality.
“The amendments channel global, national and local private
sector investment towards increasing cleaner fuel and
transportation options for consumers, accelerating the
deployment of zero-emission infrastructure, and keeping the
state on track to meet legislatively mandated air quality and
climate targets,” Dave Clegern, a spokesperson for the board,
said in an email.
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