California’s Low-Carbon Fuel Rule Is Working, Study Says, but Threats Loom

California is replacing oil with cleaner-burning fuels in cars and trucks, thanks to a landmark low-carbon fuel rule, according to a recent report. But the rule's fate is uncertain amid legal chaos and a shortfall in the production of clean biofuels.

The report, conducted by researchers at the Institute of Transportation Studies at the University of California, Davis, said California drivers saved more than two billion gallons of gasoline in the two years since the launch of the rule—about as much gas as the state uses in two months. The carbon emissions reduction is equal to taking half a million vehicles off the road.

Companies "are meeting and exceeding the standard," said Sonia Yeh, the report's lead author and a research scientist at the institute.

But the standard remains in legal limbo.

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