Gas prices could go up if California amends its Low Carbon Fuel Standard as part of its strategy to decarbonize the transportation sector.

In a few days, after one of the most consequential elections of our lifetime, California will quietly hold another vote with far-reaching implications and the potential for lasting political fallout.

On Friday, the California Air Resources Board will vote on proposed updates to an obscure and extremely complicated regulation called the Low Carbon Fuel Standard.

The standard is a key pillar of California’s climate strategy to decarbonize the transportation sector. It requires fuels sold in California to get progressively cleaner over time. Producers can either make this lower-carbon fuel or purchase credits from less-polluting companies to offset their emissions.

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Because transportation accounts for about half of the state’s greenhouse gas emissions, slashing industry pollution is critical to California meeting its 2030 deadline to cut emissions by 48% from 1990 levels. Multiple reports find the state won’t reach that goal unless it aggressively accelerates its pace of emissions reductions.

The Low Carbon Fuel Standard has become a potent symbol of one of the biggest challenges facing California policymakers: Can they enact the state’s ambitious climate goals without burying residents under sky-high costs?

And if not, do they have the guts to be honest about it?

Environmental justice advocates have long taken issue with the fuel standard framework, arguing that it heavily favors the production of biofuels — which are cleaner than traditional gasoline but are still burned by engines — over investments in zero-emissions infrastructure.

The air board was originally set to vote in March on amendments that would accelerate the pace at which producers are required to clean up........

© San Francisco Chronicle