California Mandates 10% Carbon Reduction From Fuels By 2020

By Ed Joyce / Reporter, KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published May 18, 2007 at 12:53 PM PDT

This story was published more than 16 years ago.

California's Low Carbon Fuel Standard requires oil companies to reduce carbon and other greenhouse gas emissions. Governor Schwarzenegger says the new standard slows global warming and could provide a

California's Low Carbon Fuel Standard requires oil companies to reduce carbon and other greenhouse gas emissions. Governor Schwarzenegger says the new standard slows global warming and could provide alternatives to gasoline. KPBS reporter Ed Joyce has details.

The Low Carbon Fuel Standard requires a reduction in carbon from vehicle fuels of at least 10 percent by 2020. The law's intent is to triple the use of renewable and alternative fuels. It's expected the lower carbon fuels will replace about 20 percent of the state's gasoline consumption.

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Governor Schwarzenegger says the new standard can help reduce our oil dependency.

Schwarzenegger : The low carbon fuel standard is our best weapon against rising oil prices and gas prices. Because a vibrant market in alternative fuels and alternative vehicles, alternative engines gives customers a greater choice.

The European Union is developing a similar policy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transportation fuels. California is working with the EU to provide a common standard to stimulate the production of alternative fuels and vehicles.

Ed Joyce, KPBS News.

Ed Joyce

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Ed Joyce was the environment reporter and afternoon news anchor for KPBS-FM. Before joining KPBS, he worked as an editor/columnist with Copley News Service in San Diego. Ed has an extensive background in newspaper, radio, web and TV journalism. After graduating with a B.A. in Communications from the University of Washington in Seattle, Ed began a career in broadcast journalism. His work has included stints in public broadcasting, commercial broadcasting and education -- working as an affiliate professor of communication and reporter at the University of Idaho and Washington State University in Pullman, Wash. During the past 20 years he has worked in radio, TV and print as a news reporter, anchor, writer, editor and producer. Along the way he has won numerous awards for general news reporting, newswriting, feature and issue reporting and breaking news reporting from The Associated Press, The Society of Professional Journalists, San Diego Press Club and other organizations. During the mid-1990s, while working for Oregon Public Broadcasting, he was a frequent contributor to National Public Radio, including a feature report on the memorial service for 14 U.S. Forest Service "hotshots" who died fighting a wildfire in Colorado (the crew was based in a central Oregon town). He’s also filed reports with Marketplace, KQED’s California Report and Climate Watch and with national and regional networks throughout the United States. At KPBS, Ed continues his contributions to National Public Radio and other national and regional news organizations. He has won awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and San Diego Press Club for his environmental reporting at KPBS-FM-TV and for producing and anchoring radio newscasts. In 2007 he was selected a National Press Foundation fellow for Understanding Violent Weather II program. The seminars were held at the National Weather Center in Norman, Okla. In 2008 he spoke at a UC San Diego conference on U.S. National Security as part of the school’s Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation. Ed led a discussion with the 18 foreign government officials and academics about the political debate over climate change. In 2010, Ed was elected to a three-year term on the board of the San Diego Press Club.

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