Ag Policy Blog
California, Ethanol and Eggs
Todd Neeley wrote a small piece Thursday about ethanol groups taking a lawsuit against California to the U.S. Supreme Court.
I felt like I had just read this article and it turns out I had, but with a different lawsuit and another industry.
The ethanol groups suing for market access to California for corn-based ethanol argue the state's low-carbon fuel standard violates the Interstate Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
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"California, through adoption of the LCFS, has violated the most basic, structural features of interstate federalism," the ethanol groups said in a statement released Thursday.
"LCFS not only discriminates against out-of-state commerce, but it seeks to regulate conduct in other states in direct contravention of our constitutional structure and at the direct expense of Midwestern farmers and ethanol producers."
The arguments are comparable to those made by six states attorneys general earlier that filed a lawsuit over California's egg law. Much like ethanol, California plans to restrict the sale of eggs shipped into the state those producers who meet the same hen housing requirements as California.
"This law is an unwarranted burden being imposed on Iowa’s producers by another state and violates the interstate commerce clause of the United States Constitution," said Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad in announcing his state joining the lawsuit.
Iowa has a lot at stake in both cases as both the nation's top state for both ethanol production and eggs.
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