Joint statement from Central Valley Defenders of Clean Air and Water and Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability

The California Air Resources Board demonstrated its indifference toward Californians who will bear the brunt of pollution costs and fuel costs of the Low Carbon Fuel Standard by approving a proposal that prioritizes profits for megadairies and factory farm gas investors over addressing perverse harms to communities and furthering its own transportation goals.

The revised policy will push more industrial dairies to produce more methane at an accelerated pace, contributing to air and water pollution in communities throughout the San Joaquin Valley. Rather than require dairy farms to clean up their own mess, California will be paying these corporations to pollute. CARB is abandoning communities with this policy.

In the course of this rulemaking process, Board members acknowledged what we have been saying for years — that California needs to move forward with regulating livestock methane emissions. At a September Board meeting, Board members directed CARB staff to include a plan and timeline to develop and consider livestock methane regulations within the resolution that Board members would ultimately vote on to adopt the updated LCFS. 

Signaling a departure from the norms of environmental policy and continued preferences and exceptions for livestock methane producers, Staff responded to the Board’s direction by sneaking in an 11th-hour change to the LCFS amendments, committing Californians to pay the dairy industry’s biggest polluters for decades to come. 

We deeply appreciate Board member Diane Takvorian’s motion to strike this change from the rule, as well as Board members Dean Florez, Tania Pacheco-Werner, and John Balmes for their support. Unfortunately, the Chair and ten of the twelve other Board members ultimately voted to move the rule forward as written, citing concerns over encouraging private investment and the logistics of making a change this late in the process

The process for the rulemaking is an unfortunate call back to last minute amendments to Senate Bill 1383 tilted in favor of the dairy industry and against environmental justice, science, and sound policy. Similarly, this Board was presented with a policy that was not good enough, but told it was too late to make changes. Then, like now, decision-makers could have taken a stand for good policy, but most did not. 

We will not forget the courage of Board members Diane Takvorian and Dean Florez who stood by their convictions and voted no on the resolution and rule amendments. While we appreciate the Chair, Board members, and staff meeting with us, listening to us, and grappling with the complexities of the LCFS program, ultimately, the voices of community leaders were dismissed for the benefit of expediency. 

Though our leaders may have failed us, we are not deterred and we will continue to hold decision-makers accountable to their charge of passing and implementing climate policies that lead us toward one fair and just California.