Mid-Atlantic, Northeast Governors Sign Low Carbon Fuel Standard Agreement

"This regional effort marks the next step in Pennsylvania's remarkable transition to a green energy economy," said Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell, signing the MOU on December 30. "Low carbon fuels are being manufactured right here in Pennsylvania, creating jobs and easing our dangerous reliance on foreign oil."

A low carbon fuel standard is a market-based, technologically neutral policy to reduce the average lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions of a unit of useful energy.

The lifecycle concept of the greenhouse gas "footprint" includes all possible causes of greenhouse gas emissions, direct (on-site, internal) and indirect (off-site, external, embodied, upstream, downstream).

Traffic jam in Monroeville, Pennsylvania, August 2009. (Photo by Daveynin)

Transportation fuels contribute about 30 percent of the greenhouse gas emissions in the Mid-Atlantic region.

The Keystone state accounts for one percent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions attributed to human activity.

"Pennsylvania's alternative energy initiatives already have put thousands of Pennsylvanians to work and attracted millions of dollars in private investment," Governor Rendell said. "As Pennsylvania works closely with our northeastern neighbors to develop a standard for the entire region, we can grow our economy at the same time we protect the planet."

In addition to Pennsylvania, the other states included in the agreement are Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont.

Based on letters of intent signed a year ago, these states have begun preliminary work toward designing a low carbon fuel standard. The Memorandum of Understanding is the next step, establishing a process to develop a regional framework by 2011 and examine the economic impacts of a standard program.

The program could spur economic growth through technology development and green energy jobs, said Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, who took over as chairman of the New England Governors' Conference on January 1. The non-partisan alliance is responsible for coordinating regional policies that benefit the six New England states.

After the regional low carbon fuel standard is developed, governors from participating states will have the opportunity to consider implementation.

Pennsylvania already is making strides in the production of lower-carbon fuels, the governor said. Starting in January, all diesel fuel sold in the state must contain at least two percent biodiesel, since in-state biodiesel production capacity hit 40 million gallons a year at the end of 2008.

Under a state law Governor Rendell signed in July 2008, as Pennsylvania capacity to produce biodiesel grows, the required percentage of biodiesel grows - reducing greenhouse gas emissions and creating jobs in the biofuels industry.

Over the next decade, Pennsylvania will replace 900 million gallons of transportation fuel with locally produced alternative resources such as ethanol and biodiesel, or with fuels derived from coal liquefaction.

Pennsylvania is well-positioned to create jobs and expand the economy by providing other low-carbon transportation fuels such as compressed natural gas and electricity.

Governor Rendell's signature on the MOU coincides with his receipt of the Pennsylvania Climate Change Advisory Committee's Action Plan, which contains 52 recommendations that could slash Pennsylvania's greenhouse gas emissions 36 percent while adding 65,000 new jobs and more than $6 billion to the economy by 2020.

The Climate Change Advisory Committee, created by a law passed in 2008, is a consortium of about two dozen government, industry and environmental representatives.

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