Mandates to Force Reductions in Gasoline Unrealistic

A recent article on foxandhoundsdaily by Catherine Reheis-Boyd, president of the Western States Petroleum Association, stated that the association is strongly opposed to legislative or regulatory mandates designed to force a 50 percent reduction in gasoline and diesel use in California by 2030. She stated, "Mandates to force reductions in gasoline use are not climate change policies. They are attacks on an important industry in California designed to create conflict and controversy." The position of the association is that a mandate to reduce petroleum consumption by 50 percent is an impossibly unrealistic goal.

The article continues, "SB 350 by Sen. de Leon gives the unelected California Air Resources Board open-ended authority to adopt mandates by regulation to achieve unrealistic cuts in gasoline and diesel use.

History tells us two things; mandates designed to achieve a goal of this magnitude will require unacceptably coercive restrictions on our mobility choices and will be crushingly expensive.

Achieving so radical a goal in so short a time will require the removal of 8 billion gallons of gasoline and diesel from our fuel supply annually – with no guarantees that something will be available to replace them.

This proposal is a major distraction from the much more important work that must be done to move California’s climate change agenda beyond the 2020 horizon established by AB 32.

California’s petroleum producers and refiners will be participants in shaping those policies so we can continue the progress we have made toward achieving greenhouse gas reduction targets.

It is one thing to establish goals like those identified in the Governor’s inaugural address and to use those goals to measure the effectiveness of climate change policies. It is another thing entirely to empower an unaccountable regulatory agency the authority to impose regulations to achieve those goals.

We look forward to working with the Governor and the Legislature to develop serious climate change policies and programs that will move us toward a lower carbon future. We urge legislators to reject Sen. de Leon’s proposed policy as quickly as possible so that we can get back to work on the real tasks at hand."

calrental.org