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newsclips -- CARB Newsclips for March 14, 2017
Posted: 14 Mar 2017 16:41:50
This is a service of the California Air Resources Board’s Office of Communications. You may need to sign in or register with individual websites to view some of the following news articles. CARB BUSINESS The 2017 Annual Report to the Legislature on California Climate Investments Using Cap-and-Trade Auction Proceeds is now available. The Air Resources Board has also updated the interactive map and list of each California Climate Investment project in the State. The report, map, and project list can be found at: caclimateinvestments.ca.gov . The California Air Resources Board (CARB) is hosting a public workshop to present the 2017 Climate Change Scoping Plan Update: The Proposed Strategy for Achieving California’s 2030 Greenhouse Gas Target (Proposed Plan) and solicit stakeholder input on the Proposed Plan. CARB staff will present an overview of the Proposed Plan and present refinements to the plan as part of the development of the final Scoping Plan. These refinements include updates to emissions modeling and economic analyses. The workshop is open to the public and full participation by all parties is encouraged: DATE: Tuesday, March 28, 2017 TIME: 10:00 am to 3:00 pm PLACE: California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA) Byron Sher Auditorium 1001 I Street, 2nd Floor Sacramento, California 95814 A live webcast of the workshop will be available at: https://video.calepa.ca.gov/ Please consider the following news release from the California Air Resources Board: https://www.arb.ca.gov/newsrel/newsrelease.php?id=903 The California Air Resources Board (CARB) invites you to participate in a public workshop on the Fiscal Year (FY) 2017-18 Funding Plan for Low Carbon Transportation Investments, Air Quality Improvement Program (AQIP), and the potential $25 million Volkswagen settlement funds for zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) aspects of vehicle replacement programs. The meeting will be held at the following time and place: Date: Thursday, April 6, 2017 Time: 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Place: Cal/EPA Headquarters Building Coastal Hearing Room, Second Floor 1001 I Street Sacramento, California 95814 A meeting notice for the workshop is posted at: https://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/aqip/meetings/meetings.htm The California Air Resources Board (ARB) staff has posted the staff presentation for the Low Carbon Fuel Standard Working Meeting on March 17, 2017, that will focus on potentially including alternative jet fuel in the LCFS. The presentation can be found at: http://www.arb.ca.gov/fuels/lcfs/lcfs_meetings/lcfs_meetings.htm. The California Air Resource Board has posted an updated Notice of Upcoming Low Carbon Fuel Standard Credits Release for Non-Metered Residential Electric Vehicle Charging. http://www.arb.ca.gov/fuels/lcfs/workgroups/elect/022217notice.pdf Request for Proposal (RFP): Data Monitoring, Collection, and Analysis for Projects Granted under Fiscal Year (FY) 2014-15 Air Quality Improvement Program (AQIP) and Low Carbon Transportation Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) Investments. The California Air Resources Board is seeking a contractor to monitor, collect, and analyze data for heavy-duty vehicle, off-road equipment, and bulk ship projects granted under AQIP and Low Carbon Transportation GGRF Investments, as identified in the fiscal year (FY) 14-15 Funding Plan approved by the Board in June 2014. The contractor shall collect and monitor vehicle and facility data, as applicable, such as vehicle specifications and performance data, as well as capital costs and operation and maintenance data for vehicles and facilities. RFP Information: The Data Monitoring, Collection, and Analysis for Projects Granted under FY 14-15 AQIP and Low Carbon Transportation GGRF Investments RFP advertisement is available at: https://caleprocure.ca.gov/pages/Events-BS3/event-search.aspx (Event ID 0000004538). In order to submit a response, please register on the Cal eProcure website at: https://caleprocure.ca.gov/pages/ The final date for the proposal submission is Friday, March 24, 2017, 3:00 p.m., Pacific Standard Time. AIR POLLUTION B vitamins may have 'protective effect' against air pollution. Researchers in the US found that high doses of these supplements may "completely offset" the damage caused by very fine particulate matter. The scientists involved say the effect is real but stress the limitations of their work. Follow up studies are urgently needed, they say, in heavily polluted cities like Beijing or Mexico. http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-39231896 Madrid to Ban Old Cars by 2025 in Crackdown on Air Pollution. Madrid's city government announced plans on Monday to ban the oldest and most polluting vehicles from the city center by 2025 in a bid to crackdown on air pollution. The local government will prohibit the use within the city's limits of gasoline cars registered before 2000 and diesel-powered cars registered before 2006, which at the moment account for 20 percent of all those registered. http://www.voanews.com/a/madrid-to-ban-old-cars-by-2025-in-crackdown-on-air-pollution/3764162.html CLIMATE CHANGE Trump’s defense chief cites climate change as national security challenge. Secretary of Defense James Mattis has asserted that climate change is real, and a threat to American interests abroad and the Pentagon’s assets everywhere, a position that appears at odds with the views of the president who appointed him and many in the administration in which he serves. In unpublished written testimony provided to the Senate Armed Services Committee after his confirmation hearing in January, Mattis said it was incumbent on the U.S. military to consider how changes like open-water routes in the thawing Arctic and drought in global trouble spots can pose challenges for troops and defense planners. He also stressed this is a real-time issue, not some distant what-if. http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/03/trump-s-defense-chief-cites-climate-change-national-security-challenge Climate Change Complicates the Whole Dam Debate. With California now on track to have the rainiest year in its history—on the heels of its worst drought in 500 years—the state has become a daily reminder that extreme weather events are on the rise. And the recent near-collapse of the spillway at California’s massive Oroville Dam put an exclamation point on the potentially catastrophic risks. More than 4,000 dams in the U.S. are now rated unsafe because of structural or other deficiencies. Bringing the entire system of 90,000 dams up to current standards would cost about $79 billion, according to the Association of State Dam Safety Officials. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/climate-change-complicates-the-whole-dam-debate/ Depression, anxiety, PTSD: The mental impact of climate change. It's a dream many city-dwellers long for: moving to a spacious house surrounded by greenery in the countryside, where they plan to raise their family. In 1996, Heather Shepherd, now 50, and her family did just that. Moving away from the congestion and noise of their north London home, they migrated to a 17th-century farmhouse that they would renovate and make their sanctuary. http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/14/health/climate-change-mental-health-eprise/ Meteorologists refute EPA head on climate change. The nation’s top organization for meteorology is refuting Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt’s recent comments on the role of carbon dioxide in climate change. Pruitt questioned mainstream climate science last week, saying in a CNBC interview, “I would not agree that [carbon dioxide is] a primary contributor to the global warming that we see.” The American Meteorological Society wrote a letter to Pruitt Monday saying he is wrong. http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/323654-meteorologists-refute-epa-head-on-climate-change A Spark Of Hope For Climate Change Reality. When it comes to facing the reality of climate change, the Republican Party, now led by the Trump Administration, has been slipping ever farther from its roots as a champion of American science. Last week brought further evidence of this disconnect — but it also held out a glimmer of hope that the party's turn away from the U.S. effort in science is not universal. http://www.npr.org/sections/13.7/2017/03/14/520022064/a-spark-of-hope-for-climate-change-reality British scientists face a ‘huge hit’ if the US cuts climate change research. UK scientists are warning they may be unable to carry out crucial research on climate change if Donald Trump cuts climate science funding in the US. Trump tweeted in 2014 that research on global warming is “very expensive bullshit” that “has to stop”. Scientists are braced to find out whether his administration will put these words into practice. The early signs are not good. Last month Scott Pruitt, one of the US Environmental Protection Agency’s fiercest critics, was named as its new head. There are rumours that the budget of its office for research could be cut by more than 40% as part of extensive overall cuts. https://www.theguardian.com/education/2017/mar/14/british-scientists-us-climate-change-research-trump ‘This … follows from the basic laws of physics’: Scientists rebuke Scott Pruitt on climate change. The controversy continues over Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt’s statement Thursday questioning the most important scientific conclusion about climate change — namely, that it is driven by human beings. “I think that measuring with precision human activity on the climate is something very challenging to do, and there’s tremendous disagreement about the degree of impact, so no, I would not agree that it’s a primary contributor to the global warming that we see,” Pruitt said on CNBC — triggering a wide range of rebukes in the process. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/03/13/this-follows-from-the-basic-laws-of-physics-scientists-rebuke-scott-pruitt-on-climate/?utm_term=.6baae2c14ad2 Trump is poised to issue a sweeping order dismantling Obama's climate plan this week. President Donald Trump could issue a sweeping executive order aimed at reversing his predecessor's climate policies any day this week, a measure that energy industry officials and environmentalists have been anticipating for weeks. The directive will instruct members of the Cabinet to rewrite regulation restricting carbon emissions from both new and existing power plants, lift a moratorium on federal coal leasing and revise the way climate change is factored into federal decision-making - all key elements of the Obama administration's effort to address climate change. http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/trump-is-poised-to-issue-a-sweeping-order-dismantling-obama/article_eb8ec175-00ac-5301-a13b-ebd22777356a.html U.S. Bishops indicate to Sec of State Tillerson Global Warming is their top foreign-policy priority. March 13, 2017 (Population Research Institute) – Shortly after Rex Tillerson was confirmed as Secretary of State, senior officials of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and Catholic Relief Services wrote him an impassioned plea. It was their way of introducing themselves to the foreign policy community of the new administration, so the Secretary undoubtedly considered their letter to be a statement describing the highest foreign-policy priorities of Catholics in America. https://www.lifesitenews.com/opinion/u.s.-bishops-indicate-to-sec-of-state-tillerson-that-global-warming-is-thei Atmospheric carbon dioxide hits record levels. The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has increased at an unprecedented pace in the last two years, even as Trump administration officials discount the relevance of a number that many climate scientists find deeply disturbing. The CO2 measured at the Mauna Loa Baseline Atmospheric Observatory in Hawaii hit 405.1 parts per million last year, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2017/03/14/stories/1060051412 Louisiana wetlands struggling with sea-level rise four times the global average. Without major efforts to rebuild Louisiana's wetlands, particularly in the westernmost part of the state, there is little chance that the coast will be able to withstand the accelerating rate of sea-level rise, a new Tulane University study concludes. The study by researchers in Tulane's Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences and published in the open-access journal Nature Communications shows that the rate of sea-level rise in the region over the past six to 10 years amounts to half an inch per year on average. https://phys.org/news/2017-03-louisiana-wetlands-struggling-sea-level-global.html VOLKSWAGEN States Plan Ahead for Volkswagen Settlement. States are about to get $2.7 billion under a settlement with Volkswagen for its scandal involving diesel-engine cars sold with defeat devices, which allowed the vehicles to sail through emissions tests despite emitting way more pollution than allowed under federal standards. The 2016 settlement over Volkswagen’s 2.0-liter diesel engine cars established a $2.7 billion mitigation trust fund, reports Bloomberg BNA reporter Patrick Ambrosio. The EPA and California Air Resources Board announced in September 2015 that Volkswagen and Audi sold about 480,000 vehicles fitted with these devices intended to bypass emissions testing protocols. https://www.bna.com/states-plan-ahead-b57982085138/ FUELS EU Parliament 2020 Resolution on Biofuels Imports, Market Reacts. As published by Chain Reaction Research, the environment committee of the European Parliament last week adopted a resolution, in a 56 to 1 vote, urging the European Commission to phase out the use of vegetable oils for biofuels by 2020. Lawmakers also urged that all palm oil entering the EU by 2020 be covered by a single certification mechanism. The next step occurs next month, when the full House of the EU Parliament will vote on the resolution. http://www.valuewalk.com/2017/03/eu-parliament-2020-resolution-biofuels-imports-market-reacts/ More states consider boosting renewable fuel mandates. If climate change was a nail, a renewable portfolio standard would be policymakers' favorite hammer. No tool is more popular in America for tackling a global rise in temperature. Today, 29 states require utilities to secure a certain percentage of their electricity from sources like wind and solar. And with President Trump rolling back federal climate initiatives in Washington, states are considering their renewable energy requirements with renewed vigor. www.eenews.net/climatewire/2017/03/14/stories/1060051387 GREEN ENERGY Renewable energy targets already met by 11 EU Members. Share of renewables in energy consumption in the European Union (EU) reached almost 17 per cent in 2015, with eleven EU Member States already achieving their 2020 targets. On Tuesday 14 March, the European Commission announced that for 2015 the share of energy from renewable sources in gross final consumption of energy reached 16.7 per cent in the EU, almost double the 8.5 per cent recorded in 2004. http://www.climateactionprogramme.org/news/renewable_energy_targets_already_met_by_11_eu_members Germany’s High-Priced Energy Revolution. As many generations of Dieter Dürrmeier’s family as he can track have grown vegetables and tended livestock here in Opfingen, a hilly corner of southern Germany near the French and Swiss borders. Over the decades the Dürrmeiers have adapted, ever on the lookout for new ways to make money. In 1963, Dürrmeier’s father exploited cheap government loans to move his 136-acre farm from the crowded village to the outskirts of town. https://fortune.com/2017/03/14/germany-renewable-clean-energy-solar/ How Morocco tapped into Africa's renewable energy potential. Providing reliable, affordable and sustainable access to energy has become a core focus of the international development community and is the seventh goal of the 2015 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Roughly 1.2 billion people, or 17 percent of the global population, are energy poor, meaning that they have no access to electricity. Meanwhile, more than 2.7 billion people, primarily in developing Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, rely on fuelwood and other traditional biomass sources for cooking. https://www.greenbiz.com/article/how-morocco-tapped-africas-renewable-energy-potential BLOGS Trump’s Business Council Is a Who’s Who of Renewable Energy Investors and Climate Champions. If Donald Trump asked the executives sitting on his business advisory council for advice about energy policy, what kind of answer would he get? Judging by the billions of dollars those executives are pouring into renewables and carbon reduction programs, they'd probably tell him to emphasize the clean stuff. https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/trumps-business-council-is-investing-billions-of-dollars-in-clean-energy California is in a drought emergency. Visit www.SaveOurH2O.org for water conservation tips.