SACRAMENTO, CA --- Leaders and investors in the ethanol industry have launched a major lobbying effort against California's proposal to slash carbon emissions from transportation fuels. 

The rule proposal, if passed, would be the first in the nation to restrict greenhouse gases from fuel. The rule is designed to spur investment in cellulosic low-carbon fuels, rather than corn-based ethanol. 

Last week, according to the Los Angeles Times, ethanol industry leaders met with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to air their arguments against the regulation. The meeting was reportedly attended by Silicon Valley mogul Vinod Khosla and former Secretary of State Bill Jones, who is chairman of the board of Sacramento-based Pacific Ethanol Inc. 

One participant at the meeting, New Fuels Alliance lobbyist Brooke Coleman, said the proposed rule was based on "completely speculative" scientific models and would cripple the U.S. biofuels industry, the L.A. Times reported. 

But Mary D. Nichols, chairwoman of the California Air Resources Board, said the proposal would boost the use of biofuels, "including just about everything but imported corn." 

The California Air Resources Board is scheduled to vote on the regulation in April.