On May 14, the International Warehouse Logistics Association (IWLA) formally requested that California State Sen. Alan Lowenthal and California Assemblymember Bonnie Lowenthal convene a hearing to review facts about the negative impact of a proposed fuel standard and the state's cap-and-trade program on job creation and the ability to keep businesses from fleeing the state.
"The California Air Resources Board's actions are driving logistics jobs from the state," said IWLA President & CEO Joel Anderson. "IWLA has been vocal about this issue since 2009, when CARB's actions threatened to substantially increase the price of diesel fuel in California."
IWLA cited a recent study by Stonebridge & Associates, commissioned by the California Trucking Association, which found that the Low Carbon Fuel Standard would raise the retail price of California diesel fuel by up to 50 percent—to $6.69 per gallon by 2020.
CARB's new standard requires that global commodity diesel fuel be included in a single-state fuel regulation. This regulation includes diesel fuel for trucks and trains that are involved in international trade and will result in a substantial increase in the price of diesel fuel at the retail pump.
"The decision-making process ignored the negative impact LCFS has on the jobs of middle-class Californians," Anderson said. "Because of the pervasive use of diesel in every aspect of retail and whole trade, Californians will incur significant pocketbook degradation with every single fill up and every single purchase of goods and services."
IWLA has attended CARB hearings on the new fuel standard, submitted written detailed comments and asked for the organization's economic questions to be answered. IWLA said that its concerns continue to fall on deaf ears at the state agency, including a request that CARB suspend the LCFS diesel requirement until a fuel recipe could be tested and an economic analysis be completed.
"Despite the facts, CARB maintains the position that the LCFS will cost nothing for the end users," Anderson said. "The fact is that CARB's one-state diesel-fuel emission policy will drive logistics jobs out of state because shippers will move their business to ports outside the state, which are more than happy and willing to take this business away from California."
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