What's New List Serve Post Display

CARB Newsclips for August 14, 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

The Air Resources Board (ARB or Board) will conduct a public
hearing at the time and place noted below to consider approving
for adoption the proposed amendments to California Evaluation
Procedures for New Aftermarket Catalytic Converters. 

DATE:             September 28, 2017

TIME:             9:00 A.M.

LOCATION:         California Environmental Protection Agency
                  Air Resources Board
                  Byron Sher Auditorium
                  1001 I Street
                  Sacramento, California  95814
Electronic submittal:  
              http://www.arb.ca.gov/lispub/comm/bclist.php     

______________________________

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) invites you to
participate in a public workshop to begin discussing concepts for
minimizing community health impacts from seaports, railyards, and
warehouses/distribution centers.   

Workshops will be held at the locations and dates shown below.
Both workshops will follow the same format and present the same
material.

LOS ANGELES
Tuesday, August 29, 2017, (1:00 – 3:00 pm) Junipero Serra
Building
320 West 4th Street, Los Angeles, California 90013

SACRAMENTO (also webcast)
Wednesday, September 6, 2017, (1:00 – 3:00 pm) California
Environmental Protection Agency Headquarters, Sierra Hearing
Room
1001 I Street, Sacramento, California 95814

For more information on this workshop, please see the meeting
notice at:  https://www.arb.ca.gov/gmp/sfti/FreightFacility.htm  
    

______________________________

Northern California Truck Owners and Operators -- You’re invited
to attend a One-Stop Truck event in Santa Rosa on Wednesday,
August 30. At this event, you’ll be able to get help with all of
your CARB compliance questions, get up-to-date info on truck
rules, learn about financial incentives to help purchase new
trucks, visit with vendors, and check out the latest clean
trucks.

Here's what you will find at this One-Stop event: 
• One-on-one compliance assistance (Asistencia en español
disponible)
• Enforcement inspection demo
• Truck and bus and off-road regulation overview • New technology
options for compliance • Funding options for on-road trucks • CHP
Inspection update • Industry vendors & local agency booths •
Clean vehicle/technology displays
For more information and to sign up to attend, please visit our
One Stop Truck Event webpage:
www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/truckstop/azregs/onestop.htm    or call the
Diesel Hotline at 866-634-3735     


AIR POLLUTION

Railroads fined for not reporting dirty diesel trucks at SoCal
rail yards. Ports have been working to reduce fumes from diesel
trucks, but local rail yards have remained a hot spot for diesel
air pollution. To help remedy that, the California Air Resources
Board (CARB) announced a combined $1.25 million in fines this
week against two railroads that let dirty diesel trucks enter
their rail yards.
http://www.scpr.org/news/2017/08/11/74584/railroads-fined-for-not-reporting-dirty-diesel-tru/


Diesel car sale forecasts tail off amid air pollution fears.
Diesel car sales are expected to take an ever smaller bit of the
market. Industry forecasts for 2017 and 2019 suggest continued
decline in demand for new diesel cars as public concern over air
pollution mounts. Diesel car sales are set to see their market
share eroded over the next two years as public concern over air
pollution continues to mount, the latest industry forecasts
suggest.
https://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/3015572/diesel-car-sale-forecasts-tail-off-amid-air-pollution-fears


Thirty Years After the Montreal Protocol, Solving the Ozone
Problem Remains Elusive. Despite a ban on chemicals like
chlorofluorocarbons, the ozone hole over Antarctica remains
nearly as large as it did when the Montreal Protocol was signed
in 1987. Scientists now warn of new threats to the ozone layer,
including widespread use of ozone-eating chemicals not covered by
the treaty.
http://e360.yale.edu/features/thirty-years-after-the-montreal-protocol-solving-the-ozone-problem-remains-elusive

States Are Using Social Cost of Carbon in Energy Decisions,
Despite Trump's Views. The climate metric, maligned by the Trump
administration, helps build the cost of future climate harms into
state electricity plans and markets. The social cost of carbon
was an arcane but important tool in the federal climate toolbox
until President Donald Trump targeted it in his sweeping March
2017 executive order to weaken climate actions. Now, states are
taking up the metric.
https://insideclimatenews.org/news/11082017/states-climate-change-policy-calculate-social-cost-carbon


EPA backs utility bid to delay cross-state rule case. U.S. EPA is
open to going along with a utility-proposed delay in proceedings
in litigation over the agency's Cross-State Air Pollution Rule
update, according to a Friday court filing. But the agency isn't
happy at all with a related proposal to put its handling of the
administrative reconsideration process under judicial
supervision.
https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2017/08/14/stories/1060058739 

CLIMATE CHANGE

China Is Preparing to Launch the World’s Biggest Carbon Market.
The emissions market will cover roughly a quarter of the
country's industrial CO2. As the United States reverses its
climate policies, the world's top greenhouse gas emitter is in
the midst of setting up a national carbon-trading system. Chinese
officials are preparing to launch an emissions market later this
year that will cover roughly a quarter of the country's
industrial CO2.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/china-is-preparing-to-launch-the-world-rsquo-s-biggest-carbon-market/

The Daily 202: Evidence of climate change abounds amid extreme
weather in the Pacific Northwest. This city known for its rain
just went a record-breaking 55 days without any. The
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport had not measured any
precipitation since June 18 until the wee hours of Sunday
morning, when it drizzled. Barely. Some sprinkles also allowed
Portland to break its own 57-day dry streak.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/daily-202/2017/08/14/daily-202-evidence-of-climate-change-abounds-amid-extreme-weather-in-the-pacific-northwest/59910b8e30fb0462b8e1a9c4/?utm_term=.c13bc536c127
http://www.lmtonline.com/news/article/The-Daily-202-Evidence-of-climate-change-abounds-11817191.php#photo-12728587
 

California Republicans face backlash for backing climate change
program. After weeks of escalating criticism, Assembly Republican
Leader Chad Mayes still doesn’t have any regrets over bucking his
party to support California’s cap-and-trade program on climate
change. There’s just one thing Mayes would have done differently:
He wishes he had attended the ceremony…
http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-ca-republican-california-climate-change-20170814-story.html


In Egypt, A Rising Sea — And Growing Worries About Climate
Change's Effects. On Egypt's Mediterranean coast, August should
be prime tourist season. But the seaside restaurants in
Alexandria are almost empty. Worries over security are keeping a
lot of foreign tourists away. But there's a much bigger worry
looming: that hotter weather and a disappearing shoreline could
make Egypt's prospects even worse.
http://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2017/08/13/542645647/in-egypt-a-rising-sea-and-growing-worries-about-climate-changes-effects


Arctic Voyage Shows Global Warming Impact. Arctic voyage finds
global warming impact on historic Northwest Passage's sea ice,
wildlife, native communities. The email arrived in mid-June,
seeking to explode any notion that global warming might turn our
Arctic expedition into a summer cruise. "The most important piece
of clothing to pack is good, sturdy and warm boots. There is
going to be snow and ice on the deck…
https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/alaska/articles/2017-08-14/arctic-voyage-finds-global-warming-impact-on-ice-animals
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/arctic-voyage-finds-global-warming-impact-ice-animals-49199647
 

Refugees of a different kind are being displaced by rising seas —
and governments aren't ready. This week, University of Florida
scientists discovered the sea level along the southeastern U.S.
coast has risen far more quickly than the long-term rate
globally, underscoring new concerns about the effects of climate
change. Increasingly, the phenomenon of rising sea levels has
amplified fears over climate refugees…
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/11/climate-change-refugees-grapple-with-effects-of-rising-seas.html


Climate Change: Is the World Doing Enough To Tackle Global
Warming? The global temperature of Earth is expected to rise by
more than 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) by the end
of the century, and this can lead to an inundation of large areas
of land. Climate change has also been linked to deaths, diseases
and suicides, according to many studies.
http://www.ibtimes.com/climate-change-world-doing-enough-tackle-global-warming-2577506
 

Air-conditioning industry scrambles in HFC ruling's wake. A
federal appeals court's decision to toss an Obama-era rule
against chemicals used in cooling is creating uncertainty for
that industry. At issue are hydrofluorocarbons, known as HFCs,
which are potent greenhouse gases. The previous administration,
with the support of many companies, moved to phase them out as
part of its climate agenda.
https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2017/08/14/stories/1060058744 

China is about to have the world's biggest carbon market. As the
United States reverses its climate policies, the world's top
greenhouse gas emitter is in the midst of setting up a national
carbon-trading system. Chinese officials are preparing to launch
an emissions market later this year that will cover roughly a
quarter of the country's industrial CO2.
https://www.eenews.net/stories/1060058665 

New rules clamp down on greenhouse gases. Massachusetts
regulators finalized a series of rules last week intended to make
deep cuts in the Bay State's carbon emissions. The regulations,
required under state law, establish a state cap-and-trade
program, gradually increasing requirements for renewable energy
and rules for leak detection and repair on pipelines and natural
gas infrastructure.
https://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2017/08/14/stories/1060058725


DIESEL ACTIVITIES

Poop-Powered Electric Feed Truck Debuts at Northern California
Creamery. One of the first things that you pass on the dirt road
to Straus Family Creamery in Northern California is a pond. It
has a white tarp over it, and you don’t want to get too close
because the tarp is collecting methane gas — gas produced by the
poop from the ranch’s nearly 300 cows.
https://ww2.kqed.org/news/2017/08/11/poop-powered-electric-feed-truck-debuts-at-northern-california-creamery/


FUELS

A scientist thinks his gizmo can see methane leaks better.
Research scientist Dirk Richter wants to change the way oil and
gas companies detect methane leaks.
The founder and CEO of Quanta3, a Colorado-based startup, is
developing a lightweight, solar-powered and cloud-connected laser
methane sensor that would allow companies to monitor oil wells
for leaks 24 hours per day, without having to physically visit
their facilities.
https://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2017/08/14/stories/1060058717


GREEN ENERGY

Sierra Club sues U.S. Energy Department over power grid study.
Environmental group the Sierra Club sued the U.S. Energy
Department on Monday in hopes of forcing it to reveal the groups
it has consulted in conducting an eagerly awaited study on the
electricity grid. It was the latest push-back on the department’s
study from backers of renewable energy such as wind and solar
power…
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-powergrid-suit-idUSKCN1AU1T1?il=0


South Australia state follows Tesla battery project with thermal
solar plant. An Australian state leading a push for renewable
energy over fossil fuels is backing a new solar thermal plant
costing A $650 million ($512 million) to replace a coal-fired
generator. The 150-megawatt (MW) facility located in the city of
Port Augusta is the second large-scale renewable power project
planned for the state of South Australia.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-australia-power-solar-idUSKCN1AU0SR


London Solar Auctions Aim to Make City Greenest on Earth.
‎London Mayor Sadiq Khan said he wanted to try city-wide
auctions as part of an environment strategy proposed to more than
double the capital’s solar energy generation capacity by 2030.
The reverse auctions would be similar to the Solarize NYC model
already used in New York, where multiple buyers pool together and
panel sellers compete for one single contract, according to a
draft solar action plan.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-08-11/london-mayor-plans-solar-auctions-in-city-environment-strategy


How to Watch a Solar Eclipse. On Aug. 21, at midday, people who
live in, or have ventured to, a band about 70 miles wide arcing
from Oregon to South Carolina will get to see the moon pass
directly in front of the sun. For a minute or two day will turn
to night. If you are one of the lucky people who will get to see
this total eclipse live and in-person, make sure you take
advantage.
https://www.nytimes.com/guides/science/how-to-watch-a-solar-eclipse


Grid officials say California is ready for the Great American
Eclipse. What's been nicknamed the Great American Eclipse is
going to cast a large shadow on solar generation on the Golden
State. The last time a solar eclipse was seen throughout
California was 1979, when Jimmy Carter was president, the L.A.
Clippers were based in San Diego and solar-powered generation was
largely an afterthought when it came to the grid.
http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/business/sd-fi-eclipse-preparations-20170811-story.html


Severing ties with utilities isn't as easy as cutting the cable
cord. If disaster ever struck, Joe Fleischmann could keep the
lights, refrigerator and big-screen TV running in his Orange
County home, even if the power company went dark. Fleischmann is
an early adopter of home energy storage: In his garage is a
battery strong enough to help keep the essentials in operation.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-home-energy-storage-20170813-story.html


MISCELLANEOUS

California Sues for Answers About Pruitt's EPA Stewardship.
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra sued the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency to compel it to say what steps
were taken to ensure its rule making and procedures remain
impartial even as it’s led by a man who opposed the EPA in at
least a half dozen lawsuits while serving as Oklahoma’s attorney
general.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-08-11/california-sues-for-answers-about-scott-pruitt-s-epa-stewardship

http://www.sfgate.com/science/article/Trump-s-EPA-sued-over-sluggish-response-to-11758885.php


Can Grey Pavement Paint Cool the Planet? Los Angeles to Test. In
Los Angeles, where summer temperatures regularly surpass 100
degree Fahrenheit (38 degree Celsius), workers are coating
streets in special grey treatments in a bid to fight global
warming. In Los Angeles, where summer temperatures regularly
surpass 100 degree Fahrenheit (38 degree Celsius), workers are
coating streets in special grey treatments in a bid to do just
that.
http://www.news18.com/news/world/can-grey-pavement-paint-cool-the-planet-los-angeles-to-test-1490631.html


OPINIONS

How did the air fare in cap-and-trade? The bills (AB 398 and AB
617) that Gov. Jerry Brown signed on July 25 and 26 represent the
culmination of years of debate in the Capitol over global warming
and air quality. Now that those bills have become law, what have
we learned? Californians want to both clean up our local air and
show the world how to reduce climate-changing emissions.
http://capitolweekly.net/air-fare-cap-and-trade/ 

GUEST COLUMN: Climate change opinion column rebuttal. Scott
Weiser's recent column ("Michael 'hockey-stick' Mann headed for
penalty box", August 8) subjected readers to falsehoods about the
science of climate change as well as untruthful assertions about
me. While some of the most egregious untruths were subsequently
removed by the paper's editors, what remains is half-truths…
http://gazette.com/guest-column-climate-change-opinion-column-rebuttal/article/1609020


The urban answer to climate change: Rally a city to capture
stormwater. It may well be in our future. A definitive government
report on climate science makes clear that the frequency and
intensity of precipitation in the northeast (already the highest
in the nation, with a 17% increase in the last 25 years) will
only grow dramatically in years to come. In New York City, we
should brace ourselves.
http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/urban-answer-climate-change-article-1.3404347


BLOGS

Competition Fierce for Manure-to-Energy Projects in California’s
Dairy Industry. Last Friday, several dozen farmers, government
officials, dairy industry representatives and clean energy
professionals met at Philip Verwey Farms in rural Madera County,
160 miles southeast of San Francisco. They congregated near where
5,600 dairy cows contribute to the region’s growing dairy
industry – as well as the state’s greenhouse gas emissions.
http://www.triplepundit.com/2017/08/competition-fierce-manure-energy-projects-californias-dairy-industry/


California's Clean Energy Drive Is Earning It Tens Of Billions Of
Dollars. One of the most common misconceptions about clean energy
is that it’s expensive and will harm the American economy. This
isn’t just untrue, but it’s the exact opposite of what really
happens when nations invest in solar and wind power. Even a
modest expansion of both by 2050 would result in a net saving of
$12.5 trillion to the global economy.
http://www.iflscience.com/environment/californias-clean-energy-drive-is-earning-it-tens-of-billions-of-dollars/


SunPower Unveils Pilot Line for Manufacturing Solar Panels in
California. Solar technology design, manufacturing and
installation methods have come a long way in just 20 years, and
as a trailblazing solar energy company, SunPower has witnessed
the trajectory first-hand. Globally, there is now 305 gigawatts
(GW) of solar capacity, up from around 50 GW in 2010 and
virtually nothing at the turn of the millennium.
http://www.solarnovus.com/sunpower-unveils-pilot-line-for-manufacturing-solar-panels-in-california_N11093.html


California Energy Commission Funds More Hydrogen Fueling
Stations. In a recent announcement, the California Energy
Commission says it awarded more than $16 million to Houston,
Texas-based Equilon Enterprises LLC, which does business as Shell
Oil Products US, to develop seven new hydrogen stations in
Northern California.
https://ngtnews.com/california-energy-commission-funds-hydrogen-fueling-station-development


Aliso Canyon Should Close Permanently, Says California Governor
Jerry Brown. Aliso Canyon Should Close Permanently, Says
California Governor Jerry Brown
A call to phase out Southern California’s biggest natural-gas
storage site in 10 years, and bring in efficiency, solar PV,
energy storage and demand response to take its place.
Aliso Canyon, the leaking natural-gas storage site that’s been
shut down for the past year and a half…
https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/aliso-canyon-should-close-permanently-says-california-gov-jerry-brown


The eclipse will block solar energy production, so adjust your
thermostat. When the total solar eclipse hits on Aug. 21, it's
going to be quite the party. The problem? Solar panels need the
sun to generate electricity. With the sun dimmed, solar energy
sources will be affected. More than 100 million solar panels are
expected to be affected, which will drop output by 20 percent —
or the equivalent of all the energy the city of San Francisco
uses in a week.
http://mashable.com/2017/08/11/solar-eclipse-clean-energy-nest-thermostat/#7b_XCVlHHaqG


Air Pollution Ranking In 32 Cities — How Does Yours Measure Up?
(State of Pollution Series). As we revealed in our previous
article, air pollution is a serious problem that costs millions
of lives each year and is a drain on the world economy. According
to the World Health Organisation (WHO) air pollution is now a
bigger health threat than HIV and Ebola.
https://cleantechnica.com/2017/08/11/air-pollution-ranking-32-cities-measure/


The Republican Retreat From Market-Based Regulation. During the
debate over the repeal of Obamacare, Republicans made frequent
reference to their desire for a “free market” for health care.
This is consistent with the GOP’s long-standing support of
deregulation and free market principles. But all well-functioning
markets are regulated to one degree or another. Consider, for
example, an important set of regulations we mostly take for
granted, weights and measures.
http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Columns/2017/08/14/Republican-Retreat-Market-Based-Regulation


Air pollution is blamed as lung cancer rates among non-smokers
double in just a decade. The number of lung cancer cases among
non-smokers has doubled in the last decade, with experts blaming
air pollution on the rise. If the trend continues, the number of
deaths from lung cancer among non-smokers will leapfrog those
among nicotine users in a decade.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4783676/Air-pollution-blamed-non-smokers-lung-cancer.html#ixzz4pkL5e9FG


How is climate change affecting the Great Lakes? Across the
globe, climate change is increasing temperatures, spurring on
extreme weather, harming ecosystems and raising sea levels. But
what does it mean for the Great Lakes? For the 30 million
Americans and Canadians who live in the Great Lakes basin,
climate change, primarily attributed to human activities
increasing greenhouse gas emissions…
http://www.cleveland.com/weather/blog/index.ssf/2017/08/how_is_climate_change_affectin.html


California counties sue oil and gas companies for damages caused
by climate change. As investigations continue into whether
ExxonMobil misled investors by failing to report its own
scientists’ predictions about global warming, the company and
other fossil fuel titans are being challenged on another legal
front. Marin and San Mateo counties, along with the City of
Imperial Beach in California, are taking 37 companies and trade
groups to court.
https://www.pri.org/stories/2017-08-14/california-counties-sue-oil-and-gas-companies-damages-caused-climate-change


Global warming will leave different fingerprints on global
subtropical anticyclones. Subtropical anticyclones are essential
components of the atmospheric circulation in the subtropics, and
are responsible for the formation of subtropical monsoons and
deserts. There are two subtropical anticyclones in the
subtropical northern hemisphere in boreal summer...
https://phys.org/news/2017-08-global-fingerprints-subtropical-anticyclones.html#jCp


Ozone treaty taking a bite out of US greenhouse gas emissions.
Ozone treaty taking a bite out of US greenhouse gas emissions.
The ozone hole over Antarctica, captured by NASA’s Aura satellite
on October 2, 2015. A new study shows the Montreal Protocol, the
international treaty adopted to restore Earth’s ozone layer in
1989, has significantly reduced …more.
https://phys.org/news/2017-08-ozone-treaty-greenhouse-gas-emissions.html#jCp


A Former EPA Adviser on How to Push for Environmental Justice
Under Trump. “In our country there are two things that move
policy. One is money. The other is the power of people.”
Clean-air crusader Mustafa Ali spent more than two decades and
most of his adult life as an environmental justice adviser with
the Environmental Protection Agency before his abrupt departure
under President Donald Trump.
http://www.yesmagazine.org/planet/a-former-epa-adviser-on-how-to-push-for-environmental-justice-under-trump-20170809
  

Massive El Niño sent greenhouse-gas emissions soaring. Disruptive
weather pattern in 2014–2016 spurred tropical forests to pump out
3 billion tonnes of carbon. The monster El Niño weather pattern
of 2014–16 caused tropical forests to burp up 3 billion tonnes of
carbon, according to a new analysis. That's equivalent to nearly
20% of the emissions produced during the same period by burning
fossil fuels and making cement.
http://www.nature.com/news/massive-el-ni%C3%B1o-sent-greenhouse-gas-emissions-soaring-1.22440