Adopting a Low Carbon Fuel Standard: Pruning Discriminatory Factors From California’s Regulatory Template

Abstract

As part of a plan to curtail climate change, states with executive targets of net-zero GHG by 2050 necessitate using a proven approach to reduce GHG from the transportation sector, which nationally accounts for 28% of GHG emissions—more than any other sector. Any substantial reduction in total carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions will necessarily address this fossil fuel reliant sector. An approach modeled after the California Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS), as part of a comprehensive climate change legislation, is indispensable to achieving a meaningful GHG reduction and, thus, should be pursued. Although set out as a model regulatory template, California’s LCFS has not been immune to legal challenges since its inception, and this Comment identifies certain impermissible aspects of this market-based regulation that can be adjusted to bring it in compliance with Dormant Commerce Clause doctrine and the letter of the U.S. Constitution.