The Colorado Clean Fuel Standard
Through Colorado's GHG Roadmap, the Governor Jared Polis, has set targets for reducing statewide greenhouse gas (GHG) pollution by 26% by 2025, 50% by 2030, and 90% by 2050 from 2005 levels. The roadmap outlines the steps the state will take to achieve these targets, building on actions already taken or currently underway. In the transportation sector, the state adopted Low Emission Vehicle standards in 2018 and Zero Emission Vehicle standards in 2019. As older vehicles are replaced with more efficient and zero-emission vehicles, modeling projects a 6-million-ton reduction in GHG pollution by 2030.
The roadmap also emphasizes the need for changes in transportation planning and investment, as well as land use planning to encourage alternatives to driving. This is part of a broader strategy that includes transitioning away from coal to renewable electricity, reducing methane pollution from oil & gas development, increasing building efficiency and electrification, and reducing methane waste from landfills, wastewater, and other sources. The roadmap was developed through a year-long public process, with the aim of ensuring a just and equitable transition to a low-carbon economy. Colorado has also established the nation's first Office of Just Transition and created a Climate Equity Framework to guide its actions.
Part of the GHG Roadmap is the Colorado Clean Fuel Standard (CFS). At this time, it is a proposed policy in the state of Colorado. The standard would require fuel providers to reduce the carbon intensity of their transportation fuels over time, and would create incentives for the production and use of low-carbon and renewable fuels. The standard would apply to transportation fuels such as gasoline and diesel and is designed to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from transportation sector. Under the program, fuel providers would be required to purchase “credits” for each unit of fuel they sell, with the credits representing a certain amount of reductions in carbon intensity. The standard would be implemented incrementally, with the targets becoming more stringent over time. The Act has not yet been passed into law; it is still a proposed legislation
