ACTION NEEDED(Information provided to CCNCW by Anne Kroeker)
The Puget Sound Clean Air Agency (PSCAA) is currently considering a clean fuel standard, applying to their jurisdiction of King, Kitsap, Pierce, and Snohomish counties. You can make a COMMENT to them through today, FEB 10th.
“The Puget Sound Clean Air Agency has proposed a Clean Fuel Standard draft rule that would apply to transportation fuels supplied or sold in the four-county Puget Sound region, to reduce the carbon intensity of transportation fuels by 25% by 2030. The Agency’s Board of Directors will take a final vote early next year, but they need public comment in support of a clean fuel standard to make this plan a reality.
A clean fuel standard works by setting a limit on greenhouse gas emissions from transportation fuels. This gives an advantage to cleaner fuels like electricity and biofuels and incentivizes more access and infrastructure to these clean fuels for everyone.
In the Puget Sound region, over 40% of climate pollution is from our transportation sector, with the biggest contributors being gasoline and diesel. And, pollution from transportation has only increased over the last decade.”
The one-pager explanation for the why of Clean(er) Fuels, State and Regional:
You can provide comments and feedback on the proposed Clean Fuel Standard:
Email: [email protected]
Written comments are due by February 10, 2020.
“California, Oregon, and British Columbia all have working clean fuels policies, leaving Washington state as the only west coast state without such a policy. That has resulted in Washington-produced renewable fuels being sent out of state, in search of the markets for clean fuels generated by this policy. Washingtonians spend about $9 billion annually on mostly imported gasoline and diesel, while many locally-produced clean fuels are shipped to other these other states.”
https://pscleanair.gov/528/Clean-Fuel-Standard
What is a Clean Fuel Standard?
A Clean Fuel Standard reduces greenhouse gas pollution from transportation through a system of deficit and credit trading that requires transportation fuels to become cleaner over time.
What’s in the draft rule?
Pollution Reduction Target
The proposed target is a 25 percent reduction in carbon intensity for the region’s transportation fuel pool by 2030.
Regulated Transportation Fuels
Gasoline, diesel, ethanol, biodiesel, renewable diesel, fossil natural gas, propane, and any blend of these fuels.
Opt-In Transportation Fuels
Electricity, renewable natural gas, alternative jet fuel, hydrogen, and renewable propane.
Exempted Fuel Applications
The draft rule specifies that 35% of credit revenue generated by electric utilities and transit agencies must focus on
benefiting highly impacted communities by increasing access to and awareness of electric transportation options.
The rule would form Community Advisory Groups to provide input to electric utilities on equity considerations. The rule would also establish an Equity Credit Aggregator to use any unclaimed electricity credits, and an Equity Advisory Committee to provide input on the selection of the Equity Credit Aggregator and its annual scope of work.”
This proposed policy is not perfect but is a great start. SO, it is YES AND … like adding jet and shipping fuels to the standard and helping out farmers who need certain fuels for their machines to transition to a cleaner energy source. And while I don’t know where the opposition is getting their “research”, our gas prices fluctuate as much as 50 cents now, with the oil-gas distribution power grid (without the public getting any benefit, I might add) and while we don’t know how much more we will have to pay per gallon, we do know that we are already subsidizing the oil companies through our taxes and paying for all the indirect costs of poor health caused by bad air. And decades ago, we were brave enough to add a significant tax to our gas per gallon, in order to pay for road maintenance and the like, and that was long before the general public knew about climate change and its effects.
A wonderful opinion piece put together by 2 folks from the Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility and Audubon Washington: https://www.heraldnet.com/opinion/commentary-next-step-for-cleaner-air-for-climate-ourselves/