California air quality regulators late Friday approved a plan to tighten limits on greenhouse gas emissions from gasoline and diesel, a move that is expected to increase gasoline prices while providing public health benefits.

Members of the California Air Resources Board approved amendments to the national low carbon fuel standard at a meeting in Riverside that lasted 11 hours and featured numerous public speakers. Twelve of the appointed board members voted for the changes and two voted against. The new standard will impose lower limits on the carbon intensity of transportation fuels that can be sold in the state without penalty.

The stricter regulations will reduce asthma symptoms in more than 70,000 Californians, according to the council’s estimate, and inject $100 billion in private investment into clean energy infrastructure over the next two decades. Board President Liane Randolph said it would help protect residents from air pollution and climate-driven natural disasters, as well as price increases from gas companies.

“We cannot afford to continue the status quo,” Randolph said.

But this change is controversial. State Republicans have pilloried the board and Gov. Gavin Newsom, whose appointees dominate the board, for driving up gas prices, a hot-button issue statewide.which currently has the second highest price per gallon in the country, behind Hawaii, according to AAA.

The vote took place amid intense political debate over inflation. This helped fuel the overwhelming Democrats received locally and nationally in Tuesday’s electionssay observers.

It also comes a month after a special legislative session in which Democrats passed a plan to create a national fuel reserve. The council decides air pollution and climate policy for California, which is often followed by other states. Of its 16 members, 12 were appointed by Newsom and confirmed by the state Senate. The other members are appointed by state legislators.

Last year, the board estimated the proposed change could result in a price increase of 47 cents in 2025, which could rise to 79 cents in 2035, as refineries pass the costs on to customers. Commission executive director Steven Cliff and commission staff say it’s impossible to know at this time whether the changes will lead to higher gas prices.

Currently, the fuel standard adds about 8 cents per gallon of gasoline, said Aaron Smith, an economics professor at UC Davis. He estimates the increased regulations could add between 20 cents and 84 cents per gallon by 2030, depending on the regulatory market.

“We don’t need to reduce CARB emissions – damn it!” said California resident Melanie Arace in a public comment. “If it is all about air quality, one part of our country will not succeed in purifying the air of the entire planet. Stop taxing us to death!

Environmentalists and economists argued the program was flawed in design during Friday’s marathon meeting, in which more than 100 people spoke before the board. Many were parents of children with lung diseases and environmental justice activists who said the standard does not go far enough to reduce air pollution and climate change.

Although California is prioritizing electric vehicle adoption, the lion’s share of the $22 billion in private investment generated by the fuel standard has largely benefited biofuel companies. This helps fund deforestation and large-scale dairy farms, critics said.

“We need clean air,” Jose Avalos, a San Bernardino resident and member of the People’s Collective for Environmental Justice, told the board. “You and I know that these fuels generate polluting emissions that lead to an increase in the number of people suffering from asthma and cancer. »

Biofuel companies, including Nebraska agtech giant Green Plains and Brazilian company Raízen, urged the board to approve the new standard.

The fuel standard sets a limit on the carbon intensity of fuels. Companies that meet the limits earn credits, and those that don’t—like oil refineries—must buy credits from those that do. Over time, the limit decreases.

The new standard lowers carbon intensity limits and accelerates these limits to the 2040s. The limit will increase by 10% in 2030 and decrease to 90% in 2045.

The council says the standard has led to major changes in the state’s fuel market, particularly the rapid adoption of renewable diesel made from vegetable oil. Two Bay Area oil refineries are currently being converted to produce renewable diesel.

The rapid adoption of renewable diesel produced a glut of credits, which reduced the program’s incentives, experts told the Bay Area News Group. This is one of the reasons why the council lowered the standard.

Renewable diesel is considered lower carbon than traditional diesel and has come to dominate the domestic heavy-duty fuel market. However, it is increasingly made from palm oil and soybean oil produced abroad in deforested areas. Global forest loss poses a critical threat to biodiversity and climate change.

In response, the council is putting in place “guardrails” that limit the use of these oils in renewable diesel produced under the standard. But the rule is unlikely to prevent deforestation abroad because the international market is booming, said Colin Murphy, co-director of the UC Low Carbon Fuel Policy Research Initiative Davis, in a public comment.

On Thursday, the board delayed a planned hearing on fuel standards for gasoline-powered motorcycles and what the nation’s first requirements would be for the sale of electric motorcycles.

Originally published: November 9, 2024 at 11:00 a.m. PST