Agency Looks To Cut Carbon From Gas, Diesel

By Ed Joyce / Reporter, KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published March 4, 2009 at 12:05 PM PST

This story was published more than 15 years ago.

California regulators are developing new rules that would require a reduction in carbon from transportation fuels. Supporters say lower carbon fuels would reduce greenhouse gas emissions. But an oil i

California regulators are developing new rules that would require a reduction in carbon from transportation fuels. Supporters say lower carbon fuels would reduce greenhouse gas emissions. But an oil industry group says that could lead to higher prices at the pump. KPBS Environment Reporter Ed Joyce has the story.

Part of the state's program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions involves cutting 10 percent of the carbon from gasoline and diesel fuels by 2020.

To that end, the California Air Resources Board is expected to release a revised regulation on the low carbon fuel standard Thursday.

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The Western States Petroleum Association says new fuel formulations can benefit the environment.

But the association's Catherine Reheis-Boyd says there's no fuel today to meet the proposed requirement.

Reheis-Boyd : The timelines that are involved here are relatively short and what we're concerned about is that we make sure there is reliable, affordable and available fuel to the consumers.

The Air Resources Board is expected to vote on the low carbon fuel standard next month.

The board says California accounts for roughly 1.4 percent of the world's, and 6.2 percent of the U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.

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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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