The Los Angeles Times reports that trade associations for the oil, chemical and trucking industries filed suit in federal court in Fresno Tuesday to void California's first-in-the-nation low-carbon fuel initiative. The lawsuit portrays the rules as discriminating "against transportation fuels and fuel feed stocks imported from outside of California" contending that the rules are an unconstitutional interference with interstate commerce. The regulations, which took effect last month, are aimed at slashing greenhouse gas emissions from gasoline and diesel sold in the nation's largest transportation market by 10%, and spurring the development of alternative fuels and technology.[More...]

The Hill is reporting that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) handed a victory to ethanol producers Wednesday by issuing final regulations that conclude corn-based fuels will meet greenhouse gas standards imposed under a 2007 energy law. [More…]

President Barack Obama's Department of Energy has announced a series of steps the Administration is taking to boost biofuels production following the release by the President’s Biofuels Interagency Working Group of its first report – "Growing America’s Fuel."  The report lays out a strategy to advance the development and commercialization of a sustainable biofuels industry to meet or exceed the nation’s biofuels targets. It recommends that the government make certain that fuels produced with U.S. backing be compatible with the current fleet of cars on the road.
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Coachella Valley Green reports that SunLine Transit Agency will soon add a sixth-generation Advanced Technology (AT) Fuel Cell Bus to its fleet. [More…] 

Reuters reports that Royal Dutch Shell Plc plans to make the biggest-ever foray into biofuels by an oil major, striking a deal with Brazil's Cosan to create a $21 billion a year ethanol joint venture. [More…]