What are People Saying: California Plans to Create World's First Global Warming Polution Standard

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced a plan during the State of the State address to reduce fuel carbon content by 10 percent by 2020. The EU has contemplated a similar plan, but right now, California may be the first government to establish one.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports that although the new standard could affect gasoline production processes worldwide, the carbon emission reduction would equal taking 3 million cars off the road by 2020. This translates to a reduction of 13 million metric tons of CO2, according to the Chronicle, which is over half of the 24 million metric tons needed to meet 1990 emission levels.

The article states that transportation contributes 40 percent of the state's total carbon dioxide emissions, and such a standard could give alternative fuel technologies a boost.

Being that I am living on planet Earth, whenever I hear or read about an emissions proposal nowadays, little bells go off and I think, ok, but really what's between the lines here? Well, it seems that makers of gasoline and diesel fuel are left to meet the emissions target however they see fit, and this could mean increasing proportions of ethanol.

When I heard this news, I was thinking that I should write something on ethanol production regarding the market for corn, but John over at environmental economics takes this angle tactfully well, so why recreate the wheel? (Previously, I have linked to a great post regarding the ethanol debate, at the Alternative Energy Blog. It features input from the Engineer Poet and is followed by a wonderfully engaged comment stream, so it's definitely worth checking out.)

Here's a technorati search query to see what others are saying about the new standard. Wired blogs also covered the news, and comments follow.


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