Today’s
announcement by Gov. Schwarzenegger that his administration will move
forward to create a low carbon fuel standard is great news for California.
We
know that global warming is our most serious and urgent environmental
threat. We know as well that California is going to
lead the way in using common-sense solutions to reduce global warming pollution
and show the nation what can be done.
With
a low carbon fuel standard, Californians can expect to see more renewable fuels
like ethanol and biodiesel at their local gas station and, in time, can look
forward to driving a new a plug-in hybrid or hydrogen fuel cell vehicle.
A
carbon fuel standard is a requirement on fuel providers to ensure that the mix
of fuel they sell produces a limited amount of global warming emissions. The standard is essentially a “cap” on global
warming emissions that will force fuel providers to look beyond conventional
gasoline and diesel, which is responsible for nearly a third of California’s total
global warming pollution.
In
speaking about global warming, Gov. Schwarzenegger has famously said that
“the time for action is now”. As our
state embarks on our commitment to reduce pollution statewide by 2020, we know
that nothing is more important than taking immediate action to begin cutting
global warming pollution from our state’s biggest polluters. There will be more work to do this year to
begin making those cuts, but tackling the pollution from our automobiles is a
tremendous first step.
We
would like to thank Gov. Schwarzenegger for his leadership and look forward
to working with his administration in 2007 to find sensible solutions for continuing
to reduce global warming pollution.
