Calif. Low-Carbon Fuel Standard Upheld in Court

A federal appeals court has upheld a provision in California’s landmark 2007 global warming law requiring the oil industry to reduce the carbon content in diesel and gasoline fuels by at least 10% by 2020.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals voted 2-1 Sept. 19 to reverse a lower court ruling that had temporarily halted the state’s ability to enforce the low-carbon fuel standard.

“Unless and until either the United States Supreme Court or the Congress forbids it, California is entitled to proceed on the understanding that global warming is being induced by rising carbon emissions and attempt to change that trend,” Judge Ronald Gould wrote in the majority’s Sept. 18 opinion. “California, if it is to have any chance to curtail greenhouse-gas emissions, must be able to consider all factors that cause those emissions when it assesses alternative fuels.”