Last week Wisconsin media reported that a Low-Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) provision was dropped from a comprehensive energy and environment bill being considered in the legislature. In a statement following this victory for Wisconsin consumers, David Holt, Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA) president, says this:
“The removal of the economy-killing LCFS is good news for consumers in the Badger State and we are pleased that Wisconsin’s legislators have woken up to the harsh realities associated with this dangerous proposal. By discriminating against Canadian fuels, an LCFS would restrict Wisconsin fuel supplies, raise gas and diesel prices at the pump and expand our dependence on energy from some of the most unfriendly regions of the world.
“Unfortunately, the threat of an LCFS still exists in many other parts of the country, including those states that comprise the Midwestern Governors Association (MGA), of which Wisconsin’s governor is a member. CEA encourages the members of the MGA to understand that discriminating against Canadian fuel supplies is bad energy policy.”
However, Wisconsin consumers are not out of the woods yet. The Badger State remains an active member of the MGA, which is currently engaged in promoting an LCFS. In fact, MGA is expected to issue comments on its draft LCFS framework soon — releasing its final draft recommendations by June, and rendering its final recommendations to MGA member states by the end of 2010.
This issue is crucial to the Badger State since nearly half of Wisconsin’s oil comes from Canada, some through the Lakehead Pipeline System, and some via Illinois and Minnesota – two other mid-western states that rely heavily on secure, Canadian energy to keep their economies running. You see, under an LCFS regime, these stable supplies of Canadian crude would find themselves on the chopping block in the Midwest, casting serious doubt as to how states like Wisconsin would make up the difference in displaced supply.
Worse yet, Wisconsin isn’t the only state that is currently considering an LCFS. There are also efforts in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic to pass a one-size-fits-all LCFS.
In Pennsylvania, former Illinois congressman Thomas Corcoran of the Center for North American Energy Security recently took to the pages of the Wilkes-Barre Times Leader to highlight the devastating effects that an LCFS could have on the Keystone State. In a column entitled, “Low-carbon pact will only lead to higher energy prices,” Corcoran writes:
It’s ironic that LCFS advocates cite the imperative of combating greenhouse gases and curbing energy costs as reasons to support such a program. Not only are both assertions untrue, but they represent the direct inverse of what the program will actually achieve. Independent studies have determined that gas and diesel prices would increase, as would overall global greenhouse gas emissions because nations like China – our chief competitor in the global economy – are already working to secure Canadian supplies in the event that we block imports to the United States.
The former U.S. congressman and energy experts adds this in this column:
Pennsylvanians cannot afford higher energy prices. With gas prices steadily climbing toward $3 a gallon and home-heating costs on the rise, Gov. Rendell and leaders in Harrisburg should be working day and night to develop policies that will reduce energy prices rather than supporting an LCFS that will prohibit imports of abundant and secure North American energy resources, drive fuel prices even higher and increase worldwide carbon emissions.
CEA is encouraged by the decision in Wisconsin to drop the LCFS provisions and hopes that more state and national policymakers will take notice and follow Wisconsin’s lead by rejecting these misguided proposals. CEA will continue to educate the public about the dangers of an LCFS, and tirelessly advocate for commonsense policies that aim to keep energy prices stable and affordable by promoting more energy of all forms, and using what we have more wisely at the same time.
