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California Air Resources Board News Clips for August 25, 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. Chamber Of Commerce Seeks Trial On Global Warming. The
business lobby, hoping to fend off potentially sweeping emission
limits, wants the EPA to hold a 'Scopes'-like hearing on the
evidence that climate change is man-made. The nation's largest
business lobby wants to put the science of global warming on
trial. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, trying to ward off
potentially sweeping federal emissions regulations, is pushing
the Environmental Protection Agency to hold a rare public hearing
on the scientific evidence for man-made climate change. Posted.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/washingtondc/la-na-climate-trial25-2009aug25,0,5331388,print.story
http://www.sacbee.com/702/v-print/story/2136442.html

State Gets New Plant For Climate Control. California officials
on Monday inaugurated a new $181 million central heating and
cooling plant that brings the state back into compliance with its
own environmental standards. The central plant, at Seventh and Q
streets, feeds the climate-control systems that keep things
comfortable for more than 20,000 state workers in 23 buildings,
including the Capitol. Posted.
http://www.sacbee.com/topstories/v-print/story/2136157.html

Will U.N. Talks Give Climate Concerns A Shot In The Arm, Or In
The Foot. United Nations -- Anticipation is building for the next
major step in the ongoing international climate change talks, a
summit of top leaders in New York next month organized by U.N.
chief Ban Ki-moon. But concern is equally mounting that the
gathering could fail to deliver any tangible results, further
weakening a secretary-general already battered by a spate of
diplomatic failures and negative press reports. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2009/08/25/1

Los Angeles-Area Ports Providing Seed Money For Green Startups.
The busy ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, which together move
more cargo than the next five largest U.S. ports combined, have
become accidental venture capitalists, in a way, funding 14
environmental projects aimed at improving the ports' green
credentials. Over the past two years, the ports and their
partners have handed out nearly $40 million to stimulate these
projects. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2009/08/25/6

After National Park Tour, Udall, Mccain Agree Global Warming A
Problem But Stay Quiet On Fixes. Estes Park, Colo. (AP) — Global
warming is threatening America's national parks. But there is no
consensus about how to prevent the harm. Republican Sen. John
McCain of Arizona and Democratic Sen. Mark Udall of Colorado
toured Rocky Mountain National Park Monday then heard testimony
from parks officials and scientists about how global warming is
harming the park system. Posted.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-us-global-warming-national-parks,0,5613239,print.story
http://www.contracostatimes.com/nationandworld/ci_13194351

Alaska Senator Hosting Climate-Change Tour. Anchorage,
Alaska—Sen. Mark Begich says he'll host four other senators on a
"climate change" tour this weekend in Alaska. The senators will
see retreating glaciers, forests damaged by invasive species, and
drying wetlands. They'll also visit the North Slope to see the
Prudhoe Bay oilfield. Posted.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/news/ci_13199293

First Phase Of Ethanol Hub Under Construction In Rialto. A
Houston company announced Monday it has begun work on a new
ethanol transport hub with facilities in Rialto and Colton, the
latest of several energy-focused projects under way in the same
area of San Bernardino County. Posted.
http://www.pe.com/business/local/stories/PE_Biz_S_ethanol25.37c9bf3.html

Plans Afoot To Keep Bay Area Commuters Afloat. San Francisco — A
part of the Bay Area water transportation industry since 1979,
Capt. Keith Stahnke no longer commands ferry vessels: He helps
manage an entire fleet of them. He spends his days helping an
obscure state-created, regional agency morph from what was purely
a planning entity to a hands-on operator of vessels and a
post-disaster emergency responder — one that could help San
Francisco cope if a "big one" hits. Posted.
http://www.insidebayarea.com/oaklandtribune/localnews/ci_13195155

Vacans To Ride New Bus. The city of Vacaville is sporting a new
set of wheels. The first of 10 compressed natural gas city buses
is now rolling a regular route through town. The entire fleet
will be in Vacaville by the end of September and will replace all
diesel City Coach buses in the community. "There will be a lot
less pollutants," said Brian McLean, transit manager. "It's a way
of removing harmful emissions and to adhere to more stringent air
quality standards." Posted.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/news/ci_13193737

Project to Power Europe With Sahara Sun Gains Momentum. Rabat,
Morocco — A 400 billion plan to power Europe with sunlight from
the Sahara is gaining momentum, despite warnings about starting a
large corporate project using new technologies in countries of
northern Africa where the rule of law is weak. Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/25/business/global/25sahara.html

White House Task Force Crafting 'Marching Orders' for Managing
Oceans. The Obama administration is working to craft a new
overarching national ocean policy that could change how federal
agencies address new projects at sea -- from offshore energy
development to aquaculture to marine conservation. Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2009/08/24/24greenwire-white-house-task-force-crafting-marching-orders-504.html

China Racing Ahead of U.S. in the Drive to Go Solar. Wuxi, China
— President Obama wants to make the United States “the world’s
leading exporter of renewable energy,” but in his seven months in
office, it is China that has stepped on the gas in an effort to
become the dominant player in green energy — especially in solar
power, and even in the United States. Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/25/business/energy-environment/25solar.html?em

Lockheed Fire Contained, No Longer A Threat. For the hundreds of
firefighters working to tame the Lockheed Fire, reaching the
point of 100 percent containment was just another day on the
line. "There's always as sense of accomplishment when this
happens," said Cal Fire Captain Tim Gose. "(But) every single day
we're making progress." Posted.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/california/ci_13195269

Insurance Dulls Hydrogen Scorpion’s Sting. Sonoma County,
California — The hydrogen-powered Ronn Scorpion may or may not be
the future of high performance automobiles, but it sure looks the
part. Say what you will about its choice in fuel, the car looks
sweet.We were supposed to get behind the wheel of the Scorpion,
which combines high performance with eco-awareness in a car that
Ronn Motor Co. claims gets 40 mpg, but fate had other plans.
Posted. http://www.wired.com/autopia/2009/08/hydrogen-scorpio/.

Air Board Puts Brakes on Vernon Cycle Vendor. AUTOMOTIVE: Viva
closes after $268,000 fine for bikes failing to meet standards.
By HOWARD FINE. LOS ANGELES BUSINESS JOURNAL STAFF. Vernon
motorcycle importer Viva Motorsports Inc. shut its doors within
weeks of receiving a $268,000 fine from the California Air
Resources Board for allegedly selling motorcycles that did not
meet standards. The air board began investigating the motorcycle
and recreational vehicle importer in 2006 after a routine
inspection at dealerships turned up all-terrain vehicles and
motorcycles that did not meet California air emission standards.
Board investigators traced the vehicles back to Viva Motorsports
and three operating subsidiaries. Some of the vehicles had
already been sold; the purchasers were notified and some returned
their motorcycles or ATVs immediately. Others did not return them
and are subject to registration cancellations if they fail
emission tests. The air board sued Viva Motorsports in Los
Angeles Superior Court. In June, the court issued a $1.9 million
judgment against the importer and its subsidiaries. Air board
staff agreed to lower the fine to $268,000, which could increase
if further violations are discovered. “There are plenty of great
motorcycles that meet clean air standards,” said Mary Nichols,
Air Resources Board chairwoman. “Most dealers know this and carry
only bikes that have their California smog certificate. Those who
try to cut corners put themselves in a lose-lose situation.”
Shahrokh Mokhtarzadeh, a Century City attorney who represented
Viva Motorsports, said his client had no choice to settle, since
they could not afford the estimated $500,000 it would have cost
to mount an appeal.   He also said the $268,000 fine effectively
put Viva Motorsports out of business.   “They came up with the
money to pay off the fine, but saw that with the economy the way
it was and the money they paid out, they could not continue to
operate,” Mokhtarzadeh said. Karen Cesar, a spokeswoman for the
air board, said the agency did not intend to put the company out
of business. “Quite the contrary,” she said. “We worked with the
judge to negotiate a penalty that both sides could live with. If
we wanted to put them out of business, we would have pursued the
full stipulated penalty.” Posted.
http://www.labusinessjournal.com/weekly_article_pay.asp?aID=140006


Blogs

Study: Businesses Need To Double Emissions Cuts. Major global
companies will need to double the rate that they are reducing
carbon dioxide emissions in order to prevent dangerous climate
change, says an analysis by the Carbon Disclosure Project, a
nonprofit based in London. The International Panel on Climate
Change has recommended that the developed world cut emissions by
80% by 2050. To meet this target, businesses would have to reduce
emissions at a rate of 3.9% per year, but the companies surveyed
are only on target to reduce their emissions by 1.9% per year,
the report says. Posted.
http://blogs.usatoday.com/sciencefair/2009/08/study-businesses-need-to-double-emissions-cuts.html

Inherit the Wind: A Scopes Trial for Climate Change? Don’t tell
Al Gore, but it seems the science behind climate change isn’t
settled to everyone’s satisfaction. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce
wants the Environmental Protection Agency to hold a public
hearing to put “the science of climate change on trial,” the Los
Angeles Times reports today. And the Chamber already has another
famous trial in mind: Posted.
http://blogs.wsj.com/environmentalcapital/2009/08/25/inherit-the-wind-a-scopes-trial-for-climate-change/tab/print/