The California Renewable Transportation Alliance (CRTA) along with over 85 low carbon fuel stakeholders sent a letter to California Governor Gavin Newsom asking him to preserve the core construct of the Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) program that has made it a national model for emission reductions and attracts billions of dollars in annual investments.

The transportation sector, especially large trucks, continues to be the greatest contributor to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the country.  Yet, California’s truck emissions are falling more quickly than in any other part of North America, largely due to the success of the LCFS, which was designed to support the rapid phase out of petroleum, drive reductions in GHG emissions, and bolster a transition to electrification where feasible.

In fact, the clean fuels under the program are delivering more GHG reductions than previously anticipated by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) when approving the program in 2009.  Additionally, the LCFS was the conceptual basis for the “45Z Clean Fuel Production Credit” in the United States Inflation Reduction Act and has been adopted by the national government of Canada.

Now that CARB has released concept changes to the program to better align it with the goals identified in the “2022 Scoping Plan for Achieving Carbon Neutrality” (Scoping Plan), misguided voices are urging the agency and Newsom Administration to make substantive changes to the core provisions of the LCFS that stakeholders unanimously agree will, “delay [the Governor’s] vision and slow billions of dollars of investment needed to implement the [Scoping Plan].”

CRTA and others urge Governor Newsom to “focus primarily on setting more ambitious targets for the [LCFS program], as you directed a year ago during the Scoping Plan drafting, rather than delaying the program for unnecessary revisitation of core program concepts.”

The letter concludes, “The success of the LCFS is due to a broad portfolio of clean fuels working together to achieve substantial emissions reductions. Unwinding these successful partnerships would strand billions of dollars of clean tech investment, delay transportation decarbonization, and extend the period where petroleum is the dominant fuel in California. The LCFS must remain fuel-neutral, driven by CARB’s science-based analysis, capable of incentivizing real-world investment, and focused on performance-based GHG outcomes. Remaining true to these core concepts will ensure California leads the world in rapid transportation sector decarbonization.”

CARB is set to open formal rulemaking and release a draft of the proposed LCFS modifications later this summer.  Check out the CRTA “Resources” page for updates.