Tesoro Sues California Over Ethanol Mandate

Written by Jeff St. John

Tesoro Corp. (TSO Quote) has sued the California Air Resources Board to stop the state's new ethanol blending mandate, saying more study into biofuel's environmental costs is needed.

The mandate passed in August requires an increase in the amount of ethanol blended into gasoline from 5.7 percent to up to 10 percent. The state is giving oil refineries like Tesoro until the end of 2009 to carry out the mandate.

San Antonio, Texas-based Tesoro argues in the lawsuit that the mandate is ill conceived and will in fact conflict with the state's goal to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to the 1990 levels by 2020. The company operates refineries in two California cities: Los Angeles and Martinez. ...