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Oil industry fighting for 'weak' BC-style clean fuel law in California

California is considering climate policy amendments, backed by the oil and gas industry, which could transform the state's "muscular" low carbon fuel standard into British Columbia's "weakling" version, observers fear.

Former Governor Arnold Swarzennegar and his then-B.C. counterpart, Gordon Campbell, both adopted low carbon fuel standards in 2007, the first jurisdictions in the world to do so.

The goal of the policy is make every litre of gasoline, diesel and biofuel pumped into a car engine on average 10 percent less damaging to the climate.

As a Tyee investigation revealed this week though, B.C.'s standard contains several loopholes which throw into doubt its effectiveness at fighting climate change.

"Compared to the muscular version pioneered by Governor Schwarzenegger in California," Environmental Defence's Gillian McEachern said last year, British Columbia's policy is "a hundred pound weakling."

Yet one of the loopholes that supposedly makes B.C.'s standard "weak" is being considered Friday at an Air Resources Board hearing in Sacramento.

California's policy, in its current form, would make it difficult to sell road fuel from high-carbon fuel sources. Fossil fuel lobbyists want those provisions scrapped, arguing they discriminate unfairly against such operations as Alberta's oil sands.

"The oil industry suggests that such accounting would put those sources of crude at a disadvantage," reads an editorial this week in the San Francisco Chronicle. "But it would be the height of folly for the air board to ignore the full carbon impact of various fuels."

This is far from the first time that oil and gas industry lobbyists have taken on low carbon regulations.

A major Tyee/Salon investigation revealed Thursday how Canadian officials and the planet's richest oil companies have waged secret war against such policies.

Geoff Dembicki reports on energy and climate issues for The Tyee.


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