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Statement By Growth Energy on California's Low Carbon Fuel Standard

Posted on: Tuesday, 7 April 2009, 16:34 CDT

SACRAMENTO, Calif., April 7 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Tom Buis, Chief Executive Officer of Growth Energy, a group committed to the promise of agriculture and growing America's economy through cleaner, greener energy, today released the following statement on Growth Energy's position on California's proposed Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS):

"There has been some mischaracterization with respect to the position of Growth Energy and other ethanol producers on the Low Carbon Fuel Standard," said Tom Buis. "Let me be clear, Growth Energy strongly supports efforts by Governor Schwarzenegger and the ARB to reduce carbon emissions, and we support the adoption of a Low Carbon Fuel Standard that treats all fuels equally.

"One small section of the LCFS that is under consideration by ARB staff would impose unfair standards in calculating the carbon intensity of fuels as part of the LCFS and must be rejected," Buis added. "The ARB staff report released last month calls for the adoption of a new and highly uncertain carbon penalty against biofuels only, derived from an empirically flawed process that is not based on real world data. This Indirect Land Use Change (ILUC) penalty would penalize only biofuels while ignoring the significant indirect effects of other fuel types, including gasoline.

"Earlier in the month, 100 of the nation's top scientists and academics submitted a letter to Governor Schwarzenegger warning him of the faulty science behind ILUC and the risks of applying this to policy decisions," said Buis. "In fact, the scientists upon whose data the ARB staff is relying were quoted in an article a few short months ago saying there are 'large uncertainties' in their modeling; that 'the GHG [Greenhouse Gas] emissions from indirect land use change are highly uncertain' and that the 'science is racing to catch up with the regulations.'" (Science Watch interview with Daniel Kammen, September 2008)

Buis continued, "This is too important of a policy change not to get right. While we support LCFS, we are asking the ARB to take the time they need to study ILUC, evaluate its impacts across the entire energy spectrum, and not just single out biofuels while the science races 'to catch up to regulations.' We believe that this more complete analytical work will benefit the environmental protection goals of the state regulators more completely in the years ahead."

Earlier this month, Growth Energy released a policy briefing outlining the problems with ILUC models and how adoption of such a policy could backfire on the state's original goals of reducing carbon emissions. In addition, Growth Energy recommended a series of alternative policies that the ARB could pursue, which would be much more effective in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Read the policy brief here: www.growthenergy.org/GrowthEnergy/press/GE-Policy-Briefing-on-California.pdf.

About Growth Energy

Growth Energy is a group committed to the promise of agriculture and growing America's economy through cleaner, greener energy. Growth Energy members recognize America needs a new ethanol approach. Through smart policy reform and a proactive grassroots campaign, Growth Energy promotes reducing greenhouse gas emissions, expanding the use of ethanol in gasoline, decreasing our dependence on foreign oil, and creating American jobs at home. More information can be found at GrowthEnergy.org.

SOURCE Growth Energy

Source: PR Newswire

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