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The petroleum industry is saying that the new standards will cost consumers billions of dollars because of the complexity of blending the lower carbon fuels. The Board and environmentalists say the standard will phase in so slowly that there will be plenty of time to start moving to electric cars and non-corn-based biofuels and in the long run it will save consumers money.
The ruling has implications far beyond California, as 17 other states have already adopted California emissions rules; and, with a change in Administration, the federal government is no longer opposing tougher state-imposed regulations. The Canadians are already crying foul as oil-sands-derived crude has 20 to 30 percent higher carbon emissions than conventional crude. The new regulations could crimp Canadian plans to sell more sands-derived crude in the US.
In Britain, the government announced that any new coal-fired power plants must capture carbon-dioxide emissions and sequester them underground.