What's New List Serve Post Display

CARB Newsclips for May 12, 2017. 


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

Dept. of Public Health Webinar & Webcast
TOPIC:  Public Health Dimensions of Oil and Gas Production in
California. 
DATE:  	Tuesday, May 23, 2017
TIME:  	1:00 to 4:00 pm PDT (WEBINAR & WEBCAST)
LOCATION:  CalEPA, Sierra Hearing Room, 2nd Floor
           	1001 I Street, Sacramento, California

WEBINAR - register here:
https://cdph.webex.com/cdph/onstage/g.php?MTID=ed68c92894d8105b772615a49bbb6bacf

WEBCAST Option:  http://video.calepa.ca.gov 

_____________________________________________

Staff from the California Department of Transportation, the
California Air Resources Board, the California Energy Commission,
and the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development
invite you to participate in workshops to discuss implementation
of the California Sustainable Freight Action Plan (Action Plan).

The workshops will be held at the locations and on the dates
noted below.  The agencies will follow the same format and show
the same presentation at each of the workshop locations.    

LOS ANGELES:  May 30, 2017

SAN DIEGO:       May 31, 2017 

For more information on the California Sustainable Freight Action
Plan including upcoming workshops, please visit the webpage at
http://www.casustainablefreight.org/      
_________________________

The California Air Resources Board in collaboration with the
South Coast Air Quality Management District and the Los Angeles
Department of Water and Power, is holding a free professional wet
cleaning demonstration workshop.   

The free workshop will be held on Sunday, June 11, 2017 from
2:00PM - 4:00PM in
Los Angeles.  Doors open at 1:45 PM.

Venue: London Cleaners, 1073 Gayley Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90024. 

Space is limited.  Register early at
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/free-professional-wet-cleaning-demonstration-workshop-for-dry-cleaners-tickets-33498967313

 
or by searching for "wet cleaning workshop" on Eventbrite at:
http://www.eventbrite.com 

For more details about the workshop, please visit ARB's Non-Toxic
Dry Cleaning Incentive Program (AB998) website at:
http://www.arb.ca.gov/toxics/dryclean/ab998.htm  

__________________________


David Cocker, PhD
University of California, Riverside. 

Tuesday, May 16, 2017 at 10:00 a.m., PDT (WEBCAST) Sierra Hearing
Room, 2nd Floor, CalEPA Building
1001 I Street, Sacramento, California

Low vapor pressure-volatile organic compounds (LVP-VOCs) are a
set of VOCs currently exempted for VOC content based on a
combination of boiling point, vapor pressure, and/or elution time
from a GC-column. This work explores evaporation rates and
secondary pollutant formation from a series of individual
LVP-VOCs associated with consumer products, select generic
consumer products that include these LVP-VOCs, and several
hydrocarbon solvents. For more go to the announcement at:
http://www.arb.ca.gov/research/seminars/cocker/cocker.htm        



CAP AND TRADE

Despite doubts and disagreements, Brown still wants a deal on cap
and trade in the next month. Gov. Jerry Brown said Thursday
there's "a very good chance" of reaching a deal in the next month
to extend California's cap-and-trade program for reducing
greenhouse gas emissions. Brown has urged lawmakers to finish
negotiations before the June 15 deadline for approving a new
state budget.
http://www.latimes.com/politics/essential/la-pol-ca-essential-politics-updates-jerry-brown-cap-and-1494526470-htmlstory.html

https://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1060054472/search?keyword=california


California tosses a monkey wrench into cap-and-trade.  Amendments
proposed to California’s cap-and-trade program could spell the
end of the carbon market that currently links California and
Quebec and that Ontario is expected to join in 2018.
The amendments would establish an escalator on the floor price of
emissions in California, put an end to the distribution of free
allowances and all offsets…
http://www.ecolog.com/issues/ISArticle.asp?aid=1003978367&PC=EN&issue=05122017


AIR POLLUTION

Virginia AG: pollution board can regulate carbon emissions.
Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring says the State Air
Pollution Control Board has the power to regulate carbon
emissions from existing power plants and set a statewide carbon
cap. It’s a legal opinion a top Democratic lawmaker said could
lead to stricter state pollution limits at a time when…
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/may/12/virginia-ag-pollution-board-can-regulate-carbon-em/


Chevron’s Richmond refinery to pay $181,000 in air pollution
penalties. The Chevron oil refinery has agreed to pay $181,000 in
civil penalties for 26 air pollution violations during 2013 and
2014, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District announced
Friday. The violations include public nuisances from flaring,
excess sulfur compounds in fuel gas, excess carbon monoxide
emissions from furnaces… 
http://www.eastbaytimes.com/2017/05/12/chevrons-richmond-refinery-to-pay-181000-in-air-pollution-penalties/


Stall in lawsuit reveals distance between California and former
ally, EPA. On the surface, it’s just a request to the Ninth
Circuit Court of Appeals for more time to prepare, due to a
change in federal administration. Why This Matters A minor step
in a federal lawsuit shows just how much the power has shifted
against California’s authority on air pollution.
http://inewsource.org/2017/05/12/california-diesel-rule-lawsuit/


Lack of dust makes China's air pollution much worse.  Airborne
dust is normally seen as an environmental problem, but the lack
of it is making air pollution over China considerably worse. A
new study suggests less dust means more solar radiation hits the
land surface, which reduces wind speed. That lack of wind in turn
leads to an accumulation of air pollution over heavily populated
parts of China.
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-39895558

Dry Orlando means warnings about air quality. There has never
been a drier start of a year for Orlando since records began in
the late 1800s. Drought has left the area’s biggest river
stagnant, yards so crispy they look flammable, and new trouble
emerged Friday: air pollution. Orlando was among five metro
areas, including Phoenix and Los Angeles outskirts, expected on
Friday to have the nation’s unhealthiest air.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-orlando-air-pollution-warning-20170512-story.html


CLIMATE CHANGE

Tillerson, at Arctic meeting, signs document affirming need for
action on climate change. U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson
signed his name Thursday to a document that affirms the need for
international action against climate change, adding further
uncertainty to the direction of climate policy under the Trump
administration. The document, signed by Tillerson and seven
foreign ministers from Arctic nations meeting this week in
Fairbanks, Alaska…
http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-arctic-council-20170511-story.html
 

Elon Musk urges Trump to stick with Paris climate-change effort.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk joined dozens of industry executives in
signing an open letter asking President Donald Trump to stay in
the Paris Agreement on climate change and protect U.S. trade.
Musk owns the pioneering private rocketbuilder SpaceX, based in
Hawthorne, and also operates a Tesla electric-car design center
in the South Bay city.
http://www.dailynews.com/environment-and-nature/20170511/elon-musk-urges-trump-to-stick-with-paris-climate-change-effort


More errors identified in contrarian climate scientists'
temperature estimates. A new study suggests there are remaining
biases in the oft-corrected University of Alabama at Huntsville
atmospheric temperature estimates. Human emission of
heat-trapping gases is causing the Earth to warm. We’ve known
that for many decades. In fact, there are no reputable scientists
that dispute this fact.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2017/may/11/more-errors-identified-in-contrarian-climate-scientists-temperature-estimates


Coffee's Fate Is Getting Jittery as Climate Change Puts Growing
Areas at Risk
If global warming continues at its current pace, growing the
beans in coffee-proud Puerto Rico could be impossible in as
little as 50 years, a new study says. A century ago, Puerto Rico
was a coffee-growing powerhouse that sent its finest beans across
the Atlantic to satisfy the demands of the European market.
https://insideclimatenews.org/news/12052017/coffee-risk-climate-change-study-forests-puerto-rico


Trump's intelligence chief cites global warming as threat. As a
Republican senator from Indiana, Dan Coats was at best ambivalent
about climate change. But now, the director of national
intelligence appears to be taking the issue more seriously. In
written testimony for the Senate Intelligence Committee
yesterday, tucked in between warnings about cyberthreats,
organized crime and al-Qaida…
https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2017/05/12/stories/1060054495 

U.S. agrees only to acknowledge Paris Agreement exists. The
United States ended its chairmanship of the Arctic Council
yesterday amid growing international alarm that President Trump
may pull out of the Paris accord on climate change. At a meeting
of foreign ministers from the world's eight Arctic nations,
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson acknowledged that the United
States is "reviewing several important policies…
https://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2017/05/12/stories/1060054474


VEHICLES

Exclusive: California Working On Pilot Program For Point-of-Sale
Rebate On Plug-In Vehicles. The Clean Vehicle Rebate Project
(CVRP) has been a popular incentive for boosting the
affordability of alternative-fuel cars here in California. Buyers
and lessees of electric cars, plug-in hybrids and hydrogen
vehicles benefit from a rebate that they can apply for after
purchase. In rare cases, the amount ranges up to $7,000 based on
income.
http://www.carsdirect.com/automotive-news/exclusive-california-working-on-pilot-program-for-point-of-sale-clean-vehicle-rebate-on-plug-in-vehicles


VW RECALL

Volkswagen emissions settlement approved: $1.2B in buybacks,
repairs, cash. A federal judge said Thursday that he would
approve Volkswagen Group's $1.2 billion buybacks-and-repairs
settlement with owners of six-cylinder diesel engine vehicles
that were not included in the company's separate deal for car
owners. The move paves the way for the automaker to begin buying
back about 20,000 polluting diesel vehicles…
http://ux-origin.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2017/05/11/volkswagen-3-liter-diesel-settlement/101559112/

https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/volkswagen-judge-approves-3-0-liter-dieselgate-settlement/


GREEN ENERGY

Would creating one big electric grid in the West threaten
California? For several years, officials in California and states
throughout the West discussed merging control of their
electricity grids to create one vast, integrated power market
that would span the entire region.  A unified grid, they
reasoned, would be more efficient, keeping costs down. It could
also help states more easily tap renewable power generated
outside their borders.
http://www.sfchronicle.com/business/article/  
 
OPINIONS

Clearing the air about CARB’s environmental plan: Guest
commentary. Despite the tremendous progress made over the years
in improving California’s air quality, regions of the state are
still plagued with high levels of ozone and particle pollution.
Ozone burns the lungs and particle pollution is associated with
premature deaths. Emissions from port activities are a large
source of pollution, and as pollution from cars drops…
http://www.presstelegram.com/opinion/20170512/clearing-the-air-about-carbs-environmental-plan-guest-commentary


Column: Staying the course on climate change. Despite the fact
that seven out of 10 voters want the U.S. to stay in the Paris
Agreement on climate change, the Trump administration is still
considering walking back from our commitments, and if so, most
likely this week. However, there is no real upside to such a
hasty decision, and no actual support from the American
electorate.
http://www.salemnews.com/opinion/columns/column-staying-the-course-on-climate-change/article_7e0b9939-d251-5fb6-bc11-d0690c5ba86f.html


BLOGS

U.S. spy agencies wimp out on science of climate change, but
still say it’s a security threat.  U.S. national security is
being threatened by improvements in artificial intelligence (AI)
and genome editing, as well as the impacts of climate change,
overfishing, and biodiversity loss, concludes the latest edition
of an annual report released today by the U.S. intelligence
community.
http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/05/us-spy-agencies-duck-science-climate-change-still-say-it-s-security-threat