Judge denies petition to implement California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard

In California, Judge Lawrence J. O’Neill denied the California Air Resources Board’s (CARB) motion to stay the decision he issued on December 29, 2011 that had halted the enforcement of the California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) regulation because that regulation is unconstitutional.

Last Friday, CARB filed papers asking the Court to reverse its decision and allow the state to continue implementing the LCFS in 2012.  Judge O’Neill ruled that CARB “improperly seeks to relitigate issues this Court resolved in its order granting the preliminary injunction and orders on the summary judgment motions.”  CARB has appealed Judge O’Neill’s finding that the LCFS violates the Commerce Clause of the Constitution.  That litigation is in the 9th Circuit Federal Court of Appeals.

For a summary of the case, from an environmentalist POV, read here.

From the POV of Kurt Blasé of Holland & Knight, read here.