Oregon Supreme Court weighs in on Clean Fuels ballot measures
By Taylor W. Anderson, The Bend Bulletin.
If any of a set of initiatives that would water down a renewable fuel blending and carbon credit program reaches the 2016 ballot, the ballot measure titles must mention they would do away with the carbon credit trading scheme, the state Supreme Court ruled Friday.
Three initiatives sought by oil companies looking to undo Oregon’s low-carbon fuel standard continued their crawl toward the November 2016 election as the high court weighed in on language proposed by the attorney general’s office that voters would see if any of the proposals make the ballot.
The low-carbon fuel standard is also known as Clean Fuels because it requires fuel producers to blend gas and diesel with alternative fuel to prevent 7.7 million tons of carbon dioxide from being emitted over a decade. Companies that can’t meet fuel requirements can do so by buying credits from other energy companies whose cleaner fuels generate credits.