Yesterday was a good day for everyone who wants to break oil's strangle hold on our economy and make the world a healthier and safer place. As my colleagues explain in more detail here and here, yesterday a federal appellate court gave California the green light to continue implementing its Low Carbon Fuel Standard while a lower court continues to review the policy.
And today, NRDC and a coalition of groups told the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states attorneys general that the states should move ahead with their efforts to develop a Clean Fuels Standard and not be cowed by threats of litigation from oil companies and their front groups. Here's the New York version letter we sent to the 11 attorneys general from Maine to Maryland. The other groups sending the letter are Citizens for Pennsylvania’s Future, Conservation Law Foundation, Environment Northeast, Environmental Entrepreneurs (E2), Sierra Club and Union of Concerned Scientists.
My colleague Simon put it well in his blog:
Ultimately, the motion to stay the injunction allows California to continue down the road to cleaner, alternative fuels. We’re confident that we’ll win on the merits as the case proceeds. It’s high time for oil companies and Midwest corn ethanol producers to stop fighting against the standards and to start investing more – much more -- in clean fuels innovation.
Breaking the oil monopoly and giving us all a choice of cleaner fuels isn't going to happen overnight, but the benefits to all of us are huge. Now California is moving ahead again. So should the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states.