December 29, 2009 – WASHINGTON, DC – The Renewable Fuels Association and Growth Energy issued the following joint statement today in response to questions from the press concerning an effort by the ethanol groups to block flawed regulation, proposed by the California Air Resources Board (CARB), which would unfairly and illegally block low-carbon ethanol from the California transportation fuels market.

“The litigation filed in U.S. District Court should help fix a serious mistake with California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard. The LCFS regulation would not only undermine the intent of Congress to ensure that Californians be able to obtain ethanol from domestic sources, but also cripple the nation’s effort to move to more diversified sources of U.S.-produced ethanol, including ethanol from feedstocks other than corn.

“Were California to succeed in discriminating against corn-based ethanol as the LCFS is currently structured to do, it would empower other states to defy the intent of Congress and establish a patchwork of fuel regulations that would greatly complicate the nation’s fuel infrastructure and potentially limit the trade of fuel and fuel components between states.”