The trucking and oil industries have sued to stop implementation of California's low-carbon fuel standards.
The industries say that the rules do not help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and raise costs, reports the Sacramento Bee.
They claim the standard, which requires a lower carbon intensity for transportation fuels, is unconstitutional.
The standard mandates a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from the state’s transportation fuels by 10 percent by 2020.
The American Trucking Association, which is a party to the suit, justifies its position by invoking the Commerce Clause, asserting that "shuffling" low-carbon fuel to California and away from other states will burden fuel providers and consumers with no net change in fuel's carbon-intensity on a global scale. The shuffling of fuel will result in a net increase in greenhouse gas emissions, the ATA said.
The National Petrochemical & Refiners Association also is party to the suit.
This is the third legal challenge to the standard, reports the Los Angeles Times.
The first suit came in December from the Rocky Mountain Farmers Union, the California Dairy Campaign, the Renewable Fuels Associations and other groups.
A second challenge came from ethanol company POET.
Since California signed the standards into law, 11 states have indicated plans to follow suit.
Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to work toward adopting a regional Low Carbon Fuel Standard modeled after California’s standard
