CARB SLAPPED DOWN, AT LEAST TEMPORARILY

By Bob Walsh

Site of California Air Resources Board world-class lab, headquarters in Riverside

 

The California Air Resources Board has a lot of power and very little effective oversight.  Once in a while however the public outcry does reach even them, albeit indirectly.

They recently enacted some new rules for gas mixture for the formerly great state of California.  Originally they speculated that this would cost as much as $0.47 per gallon in compliance costs.  They then announced that it would be less than that.  They then announced that they weren't going to fucking tell us how much it would cost because it is none of our fucking business.

The Office of Administrative Law has just put the brakes on the CARB rule, at least for the nonce.  The OAL determined that the CARB had failed to provide sufficient information into how they arrived at their conclusions and failed to provide information on costs to the taxpayer of the new rules.  CARB collectively squealed like a sack of mashed cats.  They are not used to the peasants questioning them, even indirectly.

Even the uber-liberal California legislature is getting in on the action a little bit.  CA is moving from it's winter blend gas to summer blend gas and the cost at the pump has gone up almost $0.50 per gallon in the last couple of weeks.  Much of this is due to temporary refinery shutdowns to make the changeover and a consequent drop in availability.