What's New List Serve Post Display

California Air Resources Board News Clips for August 24, 2009. 

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.

U.S. Needs Climate Law Before Copenhagen: Officials. Washington
(Reuters) - The United States needs to have a climate change law
in place before international talks on a climate pact begin in
December, two top Obama administration officials said on Monday.
The U.S. House of Representatives narrowly passed legislation in
June to cut U.S. carbon emissions from utilities, manufacturers
and others 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020.The Senate is set
to take up its own version of the bill in September when
lawmakers return from their summer recess. Posted.
http://www.reuters.com/article/GCA-GreenBusiness/idUSTRE57N3U220090824

Push For Tariff Provision In Climate Bill Causes Debate.
Perrysburg, Ohio -- A group of Midwestern Democrats is pushing
for tariffs on products from countries that don't limit
greenhouse gas emissions, a controversial step the legislators
say is needed to help American manufacturers survive expected
emissions restrictions here. The Democrats say the measure would
level the playing field for U.S. factories, which will likely
face increased energy costs due to global warming legislation
backed by the Obama administration. Posted.
http://www.sacbee.com/702/v-print/story/2133567.html

China Boosts Pollution Oversight. Beijing -- China said it will
strengthen the ways it assesses the environmental impact of new
projects, adding a continuing review to ensure they are on track
or get revised if needed to comply with rules on limiting
pollution. The State Council regulations, issued on the Web site
of the central government over the weekend, gave information on
changes that effect Oct. 1. From that date, environmental
evaluations are required to be carried out before and after a
project gets approved. Posted.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125106308865552125.html#printMode

Waxman To Senate -- 'Get Your Act Together'. Climate policy
heavyweights came out in force last week to drum up enthusiasm
for the climate bill that passed the U.S. House in June and for
California's role in national climate policy. Speaking at the
University of California, Los Angeles, on Friday, Rep. Henry
Waxman (D-Calif.), co-sponsor of the American Clean Energy and
Security Act, said the specifics of H.R. 2454 are extremely open
to negotiation. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2009/08/24/5

Oil Industry Details Costs of Climate Bill. Proposed federal
legislation aimed at curbing global warming would drastically
reduce domestic fuel production, according to a new study
commissioned by the oil industry as part of its campaign to
oppose new restrictions. The report's findings, which are
expected to be released Monday, project that by 2030, U.S.
refining production could drop 17% from today's levels if the
climate bill is passed as currently proposed. Posted.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125108183527152913.html#printMode

China Responds Better To Policy Shifts Than To Caps, Climate
Group Says. Energy policies, not carbon caps, are ultimately
what's most important for cutting carbon dioxide emissions in
developing countries, an international climate group asserts.
Clean technology policies can have significant effects on
emissions from developing countries, even when no carbon cap is
in place, said Mark Kenber, international policy director of the
Climate Group. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2009/08/24/2

China Says Climate Talks Stymied By Political Interests –
Report. Beijing - Little progress has been made so far on a new
pact to combat global warming, with "commercial and political
interests" continuing to prevail, China's senior climate change
official said on Monday. Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2009/08/24/world/international-uk-china-climate-copenhagen.html

How An Investors' Coalition Changes Corporate Climates.
Investors hope they're about to reach a tipping point in their
drive to get companies to consider climate change. Today,
investor coalition Ceres will announce the results of its latest
efforts to influence corporate actions on climate. Among its
accomplishments: getting one company to scrap plans for a
1500-megawatt coal plant and persuading Chevron to set annual
targets to reduce emissions. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2009/08/24/3 

Lower Temperatures Grist For Global Warming Debate. Washington
-- Has Earth's fever broken? Official government measurements
show that the world's temperature has cooled a bit since reaching
its most recent peak in 1998. That's given global warming
skeptics new ammunition to attack the prevailing theory of
climate change. The skeptics argue that the current stretch of
slightly cooler temperatures means that costly measures to limit
carbon dioxide emissions are ill-founded and unnecessary. Posted.
http://www.modbee.com/politics/story/826907.html

Agency Warns Current Climate Proposals Won't Work. Brussels --
Reversing global warming will cost up to $185 billion (euro130
billion) a year before 2020 and require more action by world
governments than currently pledged, an international
environmental analysis group said Thursday. ClimateWorks
Foundation said U.N. climate change talks would fail to reach a
meaningful agreement with the proposals made so far, and that a
new approach was needed. Posted.
http://www.modbee.com/world/story/823768.html

Climate Change Campaign Creates Carbon Crimes. Amsterdam—Customs
agents this week arrested nine people in the London area
suspected of a multimillion dollar fraud in trading carbon
permits, bringing attention to a rich new field for crime sprung
from the fight against climate change. The arrest confirmed fears
among law enforcement officers that swindlers—operating from the
trading floors of Europe to the tropical forests of the
Pacific—are being attracted to a market that has grown to more
than $100 billion. Posted.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/financialmarkets/ci_13177039
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/21/AR2009082101623.html
http://www.modbee.com/business/story/825166.html

Cleaning Up At The Ports Of Los Angeles And Long Beach. The
friendly rivals are attracting, testing and funding cutting-edge
technology to reduce emissions and fuel consumption. The ports of
Los Angeles and Long Beach are so busy that they move more cargo
than the next five largest U.S. ports combined. They're so
efficient that they process more international trade in one month
than most North American harbors handle in an entire year.
Posted.
http://www.latimes.com/news/science/environment/la-fi-cover-greenports23-2009aug23,0,1318904,print.story

Experts: Water Issue Crucial In World Climate Deal.
Stockholm—Thousands of scientists and experts urged world leaders
Friday to include strategies for global water management in the
planned Copenhagen climate agreement. Participants at the World
Water Week conference said climate change will severely affect
water supplies and poorer countries need support to help them
adapt. Posted.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/nationandworld/ci_13176246
http://www.modbee.com/world/story/824963.html

Hybrids Getting Revved. "Experts" have long been saying the
popularity of hybrid vehicles is waning, in parallel to lower gas
prices. Say it ain't so? It ain't! The Hybrid Owners of America
organization reported today that purchases of hybrids in July
were up 35 percent from June numbers, and 31.8 percent from the
year before. July sales also reached a record market share of
3.55 percent of new car sales. Posted.
http://www.sacbee.com/702/v-print/story/2134049.html

United States Becomes World Leader In Wind Power. Aggressive
investments in 2008 helped the United States surpass Germany to
become the world's leader in wind power, according to a report
recently released by the U.S. Department of Energy. And for the
fourth consecutive year, the United States is home to the
fastest-growing wind power market in the world. Wind power
capacity increased by 60 percent, or 8,558 megawatts, in 2008,
representing $16.4 billion in federal and private investments in
new wind projects. Posted.
http://www.sacbee.com/702/v-print/story/2134071.html

Shift To Wind Turbines Is Hardly A Breeze. A Michigan firm finds
that converting from auto parts to a more green business is
fraught with perils. Determined not to sink along with other
links in the auto-supply chain, family-run Dowding Industries
Inc. borrowed $12 million to leap into the "green" future and
leave the dirty assembly line behind. Posted.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-wind24-2009aug24,0,5701698,print.story

Expanding A Network Of Ocean-Based CO2 Monitors. The National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is expanding an instrument
network that will enable more extensive monitoring of when and
where the ocean absorbs carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
Oceans soak up about a quarter of the CO2 that humans now emit.
That's enough carbon to every year fill up coal-carrying railroad
cars that circle the Earth about 13 times, according to Chris
Sabine, an oceanographer at NOAA's Pacific Marine Environmental
Laboratory. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2009/08/24/4

Bay Area Utility Turns Food Scraps Into Energy. Food waste from
2,300 restaurants ends up in a treatment facility where the food
decomposes, creating methane gas that can be turned into
renewable energy. Leftovers from San Francisco Bay Area
restaurants may soon help power the region. The East Bay
Municipal Utility District has created a program, believed to be
the first of its kind in the nation, to generate electricity from
the methane gas produced by food decomposition. Posted.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-food-energy24-2009aug24,0,4258933,print.story

Utilities, Groups At Odds Over Sources For Renewable Energy.
California's electric utilities have accepted that they'll be
required to get a third of their power from renewable sources by
2020. Now, they are battling environmental and labor groups over
where it's going to come from. Utilities say they can't meet the
2020 goal unless the state allows them relatively free access to
renewable power generated far beyond the state's borders, in
places like Wyoming and British Columbia. Posted.
http://www.sacbee.com/business/v-print/story/2133283.html

Alternative Energy Powerhouse Brazil Finds Big Oil. Rio de
Janeiro—Brazil, long proud of its push to develop renewable
energy and wean itself off oil, has a bad case of fossil-fuel
fever. An enormous offshore field in territorial waters—the
biggest Western Hemisphere oil discovery in 30 years—has
Brazilians saying, "Drill, baby, drill," while environmentalists
fear the nation will take a big leap backward in its hunt for
crude. Posted.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/financialmarkets/ci_13189145

Group Wants Military Energy Offensive. Retired generals,
admirals back new technologies for security's sake. A blue-ribbon
panel of retired military leaders is pressing the Department of
Defense to bolster its national-defense strategy by boosting
energy conservation and embracing power sources other than fossil
fuels. Posted.
http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/aug/21/group-wants-military-energy-offensive/?uniontrib

SD Board Oks Air Quality Permit For Oil Refinery. Pierre, S.D.—A
state board voted unanimously Thursday to approve an air quality
permit for a $10 billion oil refinery that Hyperion Resources
wants to build in southeastern South Dakota. The Board of
Minerals and Environment found that Dallas-based Hyperion has met
the requirements set in state laws and rules. It endorsed the
state Environment Department's recommendation to issue the permit
for the first new U.S. oil refinery built since 1976. Posted.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/ci_13171311
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/20/AR2009082003789.html

Central Figure In Amador County Environmental Case Collects
$1.25 Million. It started with an $80 city demolition permit and
the removal of an underground tank from a shuttered gas station.
But what developed in the small Amador County town of Jackson was
a massive environmental crimes investigation. The episode would
span more than a decade, inflame talk radio, tarnish careers –
and yield no criminal conviction. Posted.
http://www.sacbee.com/378/v-print/story/2130267.html

Opinion: The Cap-and-Trade Bait and Switch. The climate bill in
Congress is not the market solution the president promised. As a
candidate for president in April 2008, Barack Obama told Fox News
that "a cap-and-trade system is a smarter way of controlling
pollution" than "top-down" regulation. He was right. With cap and
trade the market decides where and how to cut emissions. With
top-down regulation, as Mr. Obama explained, regulators dictate
"every single rule that a company has to abide by, which creates
a lot of bureaucracy and red tape and often-times is less
efficient." Posted.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203609204574314312524495276.html#printMode

Editorial: A Real Fish Story. Here is an unusual fish story. And
a positive one.
On Thursday, Gary Locke, the secretary of commerce, approved a
plan that would prohibit commercial fishing in a huge swath of
American waters in the Arctic that have never been actively
fished and that nobody is much interested in fishing now.  That
sounds odd, but it’s a smart move based on the assumption that
the rapid melting of Arctic sea ice caused by climate change will
someday make the area more accessible and commercially more
attractive. Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/24/opinion/24mon2.html?_r=2&ref=todayspaper&pagewanted=print

Allergies: Time to Harvest Nuts Means More Dust In the Air.
Since almonds and walnuts are in the top 13 profitable crops in
Tulare County, it’s no surprise that there are groves everywhere.
And since Visalia and its surrounding communities have grown,
they’ve also grown around these trees. Which means that residents
nearby have to contend with pollen in the spring, and dust from
the fall harvest. For those who have allergies or asthma, the
dust can be a health hazard. Posted.
http://www.visaliatimesdelta.com/article/20090824/LIFESTYLE/90824002


Lead Poisoning Investigation Begins In China. Beijing—Health and
environmental officials have been sent to central China to
investigate who is responsible for pollution from a manganese
processing plant that caused more than 1,300 children to become
sickened with lead poisoning, a local government official said
Monday. The poisoning near the Wugang Manganese Smelting Plant in
Wenping township in Hunan province was the second such case
involving a large number of children in the last month. Posted.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/nationandworld/ci_13190588

Hope for Cap-and-Trade? Ironically, the difficulties of passing
health-care reform may boost the chances that cap-and-trade
legislation is revived and passed by the Senate. President Obama
and Hill Democrats are going to need a major legislative victory
and a way to change the subject. Posted.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/21/AR2009082102312.html

A Farm on Every Floor. IF climate change and population growth
progress at their current pace, in roughly 50 years farming as we
know it will no longer exist. This means that the majority of
people could soon be without enough food or water. But there is a
solution that is surprisingly within reach: Move most farming
into cities, and grow crops in tall, specially constructed
buildings. It’s called vertical farming. Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/24/opinion/24Despommier.html?_r=1&scp=8&sq=climate%20change&st=cse


Defense Depot Just About Cleaned Up. A half-century ago, 150
drums of waste oil were tossed in a trench at what was then the
Tracy Defense Depot. The environment, in those days, was an
afterthought. Pesticides, battery acids, radioactive materials
and even embalming fluids were dumped, buried or burned on site,
explaining why the depot - like so many other military
installations - is today among the nation's most polluted places.
Posted.
http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090824/A_NEWS/908240321


Beetles, Wildfire: Double Threat In Warming World. Haines
Junction, Yukon Territory—A veil of smoke settled over the forest
in the shadow of the St. Elias Mountains, in a wilderness whose
spruce trees stood tall and gray, a deathly gray even in the
greenest heart of a Yukon summer. "As far as the eye can see,
it's all infested," forester Rob Legare said, looking out over
the thick woods of the Alsek River valley. Posted.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/nationandworld/ci_13190387
http://www.modbee.com/business/story/827097.html
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/08/23/science/AP-Climate-09-Beetles-and-Smoke.html

Financing Options Revised For TRU ATCM Compliance. The
California Air Resources Board (ARB) has revised the Financing
Options list on the transport refrigeration unit (TRU) compliance
assistance document titled Funding Opportunities for TRU ATCM
Compliance. The revised document is posted at the TRU website at
www.arb.ca.gov/diesel/tru.htm. Look for this document under the
Compliance Assistance Contacts heading. Posted.
http://refrigeratedtrans.com/2010-emissions/financing_options_revised_for_tru_atcm_compliance_0824/

Oakland Truckers Face Lengthy Process To Qualify For Retrofit
Grants. Mamdoh Ibrahim applied in early June for grant money to
install diesel filters on two trucks he owns and uses to haul
cargo from the Port of Oakland. After more than two months, he's
still waiting. Starting next year, all diesel trucks hauling
cargo from the port — at least 2,000 of them, based on
conservative estimates — must comply with state air regulations
concerning diesel emissions or get locked out at the gate.
Posted.
http://www.insidebayarea.com/oaklandtribune/localnews/ci_13171133
http://www.contracostatimes.com/news/ci_13171133

San Jose City Officials To Consider Curb On Plastic Bags. San
Jose officials will begin deciding this week whether to join some
of the world's largest cities in banning the ever-useful but
prodigiously polluting plastic bag. On Monday, a council
committee will consider how to scale back San Jose's contribution
to the 19 billion plastic bags California residents carry out of
stores each year, according to state reports. Posted.
http://www.insidebayarea.com/oaklandtribune/localnews/ci_13189879

Santa Cruz: Pristine Skies Returning After Lockheed Fire? Santa
Cruz's oxygen-challenged air improved Saturday, just in time for
the beach weekend, as exhausted crews drew close to containing
the smoky Lockheed fire. With full containment expected today,
soot levels should drop and skies should brighten — much to the
relief of tourism officials. In terms of publicity, the
nationally reported fire was about as desirable as a flurry of
great white shark attacks. Posted.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/health/ci_13186245

In Hot Water: World Sets Ocean Temperature Record.
Washington—Steve Kramer spent an hour and a half swimming in the
ocean Sunday—in Maine. The water temperature was 72 degrees—more
like Ocean City, Md., this time of year. And Ocean City's water
temp hit 88 degrees this week, toasty even by Miami Beach
standards. Posted.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/environment/ci_13168698
http://www.modbee.com/24hour/healthscience/story/823887.html

Research Finds Higher Acidity In Alaska Waters. Anchorage,
Alaska—Erosion threatens to topple coastal Alaskan villages.
Melting ice threatens polar bears. Now, a marine scientist says
the state's marine waters are turning acidic from absorbing
greenhouse gases faster than tropical waters, potentially
endangering Alaska's $4.6 billion fishing industry. Posted.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/nationandworld/ci_13192135
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/24/AR2009082400438.html
http://www.modbee.com/news/national/story/827674.html

Local Harbors Going Greener. The ports of Los Angeles and Long
Beach have become a magnet for the testing and development of
technologies aimed at moving more cargo with less pollution. In
the past two years, the ports and their partners have handed out
nearly $40 million for the development of devices and systems,
such as a pollution-reducing hood for a ship's smokestack, a Los
Angeles newspaper reported. Posted.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/california/ci_13190919

A Rail Boondoggle, Moving at High Speed. The Obama
administration's enthusiasm for high-speed rail is a dispiriting
example of government's inability to learn from past mistakes.
Since 1971, the federal government has poured almost $35 billion
in subsidies into Amtrak with few public benefits. Posted.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/23/AR2009082302037.html

Winery Celebrates A Year As Green Business. Livermore Valley —
Red and white aren't the only colors on the minds of Livermore
winemakers Linda and Earl Ault, owners of Alameda County's only
certified "green" winery. Friday marked the one-year anniversary
of Cedar Mountain Winery's certification by the county's Green
Business Program. Alameda County is home to about 450 certified
green businesses. Posted.
http://www.modbee.com/business/story/825959.html

Water-Wise Tip: Washing Machines. With California suffering from
drought conditions, the Contra Costa Water District offers weekly
tips on using water wisely. When you save water, you also save
energy. It takes energy to pump and treat water so more water
saved means less energy used. Also, if you save hot water, you
save a lot of the energy that goes into heating it. And when you
save energy you reduce carbon emissions, a leading contributor to
global climate change. Posted.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/homeandgarden/ci_13180062

Blogs

Urban Farming Back in Vogue. As economies around the world have
faltered, abundant signs suggest growing interest among city
dwellers in growing fresh produce and raising livestock. In
Britain, the demand for plots of farmland on the outskirts of
cities has been so strong that there  are waiting lists in many
places. Some seed companies have begun selling more products to
grow vegetables than flowers. Posted.
http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/24/urban-farming-back-in-vogue/?scp=5&sq=climate%20change&st=cse


Buying Into the Health of the Planet. This month the health care
debate seems to be sucking most of the oxygen out of the policy
atmosphere. Meanwhile, we’re still emitting levels of carbon
dioxide that threaten the long-run health of the planetary
economy. The House of Representatives took historic action in
June, approving the Waxman-Markey bill (officially titled the
American Clean Energy and Security Act, or ACES) that would
implement a “cap-and-trade” system of carbon-emissions permits,
increasing the prices of carbon-based fuels to discourage their
consumption. Posted.
http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/24/buying-into-the-health-of-the-planet/


Future Shock: Refiners’ Visions of Doom. Forget The Road , Nine
and The Book of Eli. This year’s scariest dystopian tale comes
from U.S. refiners, who see the federal push to curb carbon
emissions, scheduled to hit the Senate in September, as the
beginning of the end. That’s the dire warning coming from a study
commissioned by the American Petroleum Institute. The study is
due for release on Monday; check back for a link when it’s
available. Posted.
http://blogs.wsj.com/environmentalcapital/2009/08/24/future-shock-refiners-visions-of-doom/tab/print/

"Cash For Clunkers": Did It Work? On the sidewalks of the far
west side of Manhattan, two well-dressed car salesmen are taking
a break. Have they noticed a difference in their business since
the government's "cash for clunkers" program began in July? "Oh,
yes," says one, waving his cigarette. "Totally," echoes his
colleague, between drags. "There was nothing going on before, and
now we're being run off our feet." Their bosses, who do not allow
sales people to speak to reporters, would doubtless agree.
Posted.
http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/08/24/business/econwatch/entry5262084.shtml
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=112141127&ps=cprs

Perspectives On The Future Of Ethanol. Since the farm gate blog
was initiated in the late fall of 2005, ethanol has been one of
the most powerful dynamics driving farm policy, economics, and
marketing in the Cornbelt. On this 1,000th installment of the
farm gate blog it is appropriate to take a closer look at how
well ethanol is driving this bus and check the roadmap to see
what hazards lie ahead. Posted.
http://www.cattlenetwork.com/Perspectives-On-The-Future-Of-Ethanol/2009-08-24/Article.aspx?oid=828912&fid=CN-LATEST_NEWS_

What Are The Best Strategies For Reducing Greenhouse Gas
Emissions In Transportation? As climate change legislation moves
from the House to the Senate, the transportation sector -- which
contributed 28 percent of all U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in
2007, according to EPA's latest inventory -- is being called upon
to provide a substantial share of the reductions needed to meet
the goal of slashing carbon emissions from major U.S. sources by
80 percent (compared to 2005 levels) by 2050. Posted.
http://transportation.nationaljournal.com/2009/08/what-are-the-best-strategies-f.php?print=true

Climate Study Projects Hotter Augusts for D.C. August in the
Mid-Atlantic is notorious for its heat and humidity, which has
long driven an annual exodus of official and unofficial
Washington to cooler destinations. It's no accident; after all,
that Congress takes the month of August - and not say October -
off. According to a new analysis by the nonprofit organization
Climate Central, by the middle of this century climate change is
likely to make August in Washington significantly hotter and more
uncomfortable, making the congressional schedule even more
enviable. Posted.
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/capitalweathergang/2009/08/think_august_is_hot_now_hotter.html?hpid=news-col-blog