Ow, that’s gotta hurt. CA’s 2006 Global Warming law – denied.
Federal judge blocks California low-carbon fuels rule
Chico Enterprise Record
FRESNO — A federal judge moved today to block California from enforcing its first-in-the-nation mandate for cleaner, low-carbon fuels, saying the rules favor biofuels produced in the state.
The lawsuit challenging the state regulations, which were adopted as part of the state’s landmark 2006 global warming law, was filed in federal court last year by a coalition including the National Petrochemical & Refiners Association and the Consumer Energy Alliance.
Fresno-based U.S. District Court Judge Lawrence O’Neill’s written ruling Thursday said the low-carbon fuel rules violated the U.S. Constitution’s commerce clause by discriminating against crude oil and biofuels producers located outside California.
Out-of-state fuels producers hailed the decision as a win for California drivers.
Full story at Chico Enterprise Record
Can’t wait to see all the heads exploding in the MSM. Big oil won, that’s all most people will see.
Hopefully this will actually mean something for California drivers… i.e. lower gas prices, lower energy costs, etc..
Though somehow after living here for the better part of 31 years I have a feeling that it wont mean squat..
Thank you Judge O’Neill – California needs all the help it can get! Jerry Brown, California’s senile governor, and the California Air Resources Board have been actively conspiring to turn the state into their view of a green/socialist paradise, with the general public living in concentrated urban centers where everybody will walk or bike to work, and where only the wealthy will be able to afford to have single-family dwellings in the suburbs or in the country. And since Brown and his cronies have been driving businesses out of the state, the only wealthy people left will be leftists: Hollywood types, union bosses, government workers, and politicians.
Damn those activist judges .. or some such
While there is plenty of fossil fuel to go around and untold millions of human beings going hungry, burning food in cars seems to me to be inescapably unjust.
9th Circuit will probably overturn and it’ll end up with SCOTUS.
Yes, that decision has a half life of about 10 seconds in the 9th Circuit…
What a shame.
The judge determined that, try as they might, California is not entitled to have their own pity party.
Expect a short-lived victory:
“…The board plans to ask a judge to stay the ruling, and appeal if necessary to the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, spokesman Dave Clegern said today…”
Appealing to the 9th Circuit Court pretty much assures the law will go through.
Although, the next step up, a SCOTUS appeal might kill it for good.
From this year:
“…July 18, 2011
U.S. Supreme Court again rejects most decisions by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals
Judges in the circuit’s nine Western states are more liberal than the high court justices, who reversed or vacated 19 of the 26 decisions they examined for the last term…”
From 2009:
“…June 29, 2009
U.S. Supreme Court looks over 9th Circuit’s shoulder
This term, justices reversed, at least partially, 94% of the Western appeals court’s rulings. Part of the reason, experts say, is the court is perceived as liberal and partial to the underdog…”
So if the state wants this to go through, THEY’LL appeal.
Look for that to be announced before the SCOTUS starts it’s new term.
Nice to know that at least ONE person in power in California has a working brain!!!
This Commerce Clause argument is identical to the one zwhich we (American Tradition Institute) are using in Colorado to shut down that state’s renewable energy mandate. It is a very strong argument and I predict even the Ninth Circuit will have to affirm it. This is one of those extremely rare cases where the Commerce Clause works for the people.
That is kind of a liberal interpretation of the law from the Judge, but hey, it is a liberal state!
Go eat your tana leaves, Jerry Brown.
The enviro-wacky californicators created this law they should be allowed to wallow in their stupidity, and not let the feds bail them out. The only way this liberal folly will be done with for good is for it to collapse on itself.
If the “low carbon people” seriously believe that CARBON is killing the planet, then they need to get strict and mandate “NO CARBON” fuels for vehicles like…. hydrogen(ok), windpower(good luck), solar(not practical), compressed air(oops, has carbon). However, the process of manufacturing product or components of any of those alternatives involves CARBON !
You “low carbon people” have really got CARBON for BRAINS ! (yes you do.)
Carbon is not the problem, you “low carbon people” are.
Ignore carbon and control the real chemical pollutants instead.
We’ll all be better off.
The most efficient pacaging of solar energy is fossil fuel. It is natures gift, and only those who loath humanity speak against it. Look, we have a wonderful world and it’s not mans fault.
jorgekafkazar says:
December 29, 2011 at 7:31 pm
Go eat your tana leaves, Jerry Brown.
Tana leaves? I had to look that one up. Verry funny!
“Three tana leaves to keep him alive, nine to give him movement.”
http://kestifer.blogspot.com/2011/10/three-tana-leaves-to-keep-him-alive.html\
LMAO!
Anthony Watts says; “Ow, that’s gotta hurt. CA’s 2006 Global Warming law – denied.”
I really like the term “denied” here. It conveys a sense of abrogation, and in this context, simultaneously restores some faith in America’s jurisprudence. Great choice of words Anthony!
The Big Losers are Brazilian Ethanol Producers. The Big Winners are American Ethanol Producers. The Small Winners are California Drivers.
This is going to be hilarious.
The usual suspects: “this is an overly expansive reading of the commerce clause”.
And folks wonder why I’m hanging on to my 30 year old Mercedes Diesels. They are a particularly robust vehicle when it comes to “odd fuels” and can even consume vegetable oil if you ‘thin it’ out a bit with something like gasoline or other thin solvent (or buy special injectors or add a fuel heater).
They just LOVE to run on transmission oil (so a 1 micron filter and being friends with a mechanic who services transmissions is a ‘win win’ as his ‘toxic waste fees’ drop… ) and they do pretty well on a variety of other odd fuels (that cause the modern finicky computer controlled diesels to buck, vomit, and die…).
At some point I fully expect our Loons in California to ban Diesel and Gasoline entirely. I’ll just keep on going… ( I also likes stoddard solvent if you thicken it with a bit of added motor oil… and thinks Jet-A and Lamp Oil aka Kerosene is just dandy…)
Any of the old Diesels with a Bosche type injector pump and a “precombustion chamber” are like that, including the Nissan and Pugeot of the era – 1980s).
Yeah, I’d rather drive something newer, but since I can’t trust my Government, well, you do what you must…
Basically, my fuel cost and availability is limited only to the extent that cooking oil and kerosene are limited. As the present crop of jets will NOT be re-engined any time inside my remaining lifetime, I’m pretty much set. Jerry and the Dimocrats can do whatever they want…
So watching them play with the fuel laws (and crash and burn repeatedly) has been a source of amusement for some time out here. At one time, back about 1985, they were pushing a Methanol Flex Fuel mandate. Had methanol gas stations spread around and The Big Three plus VW all sold “3 way flex fuel” vehicles here ( I test drove and wanted one…). But they so bollixed up the fuel sales as to kill it. You could ONLY buy methanol with a ‘special’ state issued ‘charge card’ and only at state approved locations with them tracking every buy. So naturally folks stayed away in droves… After about a decade of slow festering it finally died a suffering death.
Then we had the MTBE Mandate. Well, after pretty well crapping up the ground water everywhere, and having most gas stations put through 3 (or more…) mandated updates of their tanks to Yet Another Mandated Approved Design, that failed again… at about $1 Million per station… and driving most remote location gas stations out of business via that cost… they decided maybe MTBE wasn’t such a good idea after all…
So I’m sure they are all thinking “This Time FOR SURE!!!”…
While I’m just thinking “Watch This Space”….
And THAT is why I drive an old car that lets ME decide what to feed it, is as omnivorous as a goat, and where the main “alternative fuels” are unlikely to be subject to banning… Jet-A and cooking oil not having a lot of alternatives… (And even if they did, sliding a guy with an out of state 18 Wheeler a extra $20 over the fuel costs for a small siphon off his tank would not be hard to arrange… )
So let the California Government Follies continue… we learned how to cope some time ago…
There’s that pesky little constitutional Commerce Clause monkey wrench again. Good job, judge! Long live the Republic!!!
Chris
Norfolk, VA, USA
What was this judge’s reasoning regarding the commerce clause? Is the idea that since the federal government has the right to regulate interstate commerce, the states do not?
My wife has put me on a low carb diet… but I’m not sure that’s the same thing. Can cars run on steaks?
Perhaps Mann needs to find an investigative journalist to discredit this judge and expose his unexplored connections to the fossil fuel industry.