Thank you, Mr. Chair.
To the department officials, the much-delayed clean fuel standard is a critical part of the emissions reduction plan. As it stands, it's shaping up to be yet another fossil fuel subsidy.
Under the draft regulations, fossil fuel companies can meet compliance in part by selling products like asphalt, sulphur and plastic bags, which have nothing to do with transportation and artificially improve the economics of crude oil. Even worse, this undermines the economics of actual clean energy and clean fuels, such as electricity, advanced biofuels or green hydrogen.
These subsidies have real impacts, and in this case they're displacing the clean fuels that are so critical to a safe climate. Will the department be removing the standard's provisions that clearly subsidize the fossil fuel production but also displace real clean fuels?