CLIMATE CHANGE NEWS

February 2009

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Eleven Eastern States Follow California’s Lead, Agree to Develop Regional Low Carbon Fuel Standard

On December 31, 2008, senior environmental and natural resource regulators from 11 mid-Atlantic and northeastern states signed a joint letter pledging their states to develop a regional low carbon fuel standard (LCFS), the purpose of which would be to lower the greenhouse gas intensity of transportation fuels in those states on a life-cycle basis. The letter lays out the rationale and some basic guidelines for a regional LCFS, and establishes the next step in the process: a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to be prepared for the signature of each state governor by December 31, 2009. The participating states are Pennsylvania and the ten Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) states: Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont. The letter shows significant influence from California’s announcement, in January of 2007, of the development of the first low carbon fuel standard.