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newsclips -- Newsclips for October 16-19, 2009.
Posted: 19 Oct 2009 11:11:45
California Air Resources Board News Clips for October 16-19, 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. Fiscal Impact Of State Climate Law Disputed. A local academic has emerged as the leading source of dark forecasts in a recession-fueled debate over whether California's war on global warming will hurt or help its economy. Sanjay Varshney, dean of the business school at California State University, Sacramento, predicts dire consequences if the state moves forward with plans to cut greenhouse gas emissions. His figures – dismissed by some economists – have been cited by business groups and politicians calling on the state to delay carrying out AB 32, the state's landmark climate change law. Posted. http://www.sacbee.com/capitolandcalifornia/story/2262347.html Environmental Concerns Delay Solar Projects In California Desert. Several companies seek to build renewable-energy facilities on public land -- a goal backed by the White House -- but the slow permit process and fears over imperiled species have hindered construction. Across the desert flatlands of southeastern California, dozens of companies have flooded federal offices with applications to place solar mirrors on more than a million acres of public land. Posted. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-solar19-2009oct19,0,2039806,print.story Another View: Failure To Agree Hurts Green Industry. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Democrats who control the Legislature have plenty to disagree about. So it's a shame they can't even get together on an important issue on which they say they agree. California has long been a leader in pushing the electricity industry to use renewable sources of energy to power the state's grid. Current law calls for the utilities to use renewables for 20 percent of their electricity production by 2010. Posted. http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/opinions/ci_13589627 Energy Firms Are Split on Bill to Battle Climate Change. Washington — As the Senate prepares to tackle global warming, the nation’s energy producers, once united, are battling one another over policy decisions worth hundreds of billions of dollars in coming decades. Producers of natural gas are battling their erstwhile allies, the oil companies. Electrical utilities are fighting among themselves over the use of coal versus wind power or other renewable energy. Posted. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/19/business/energy-environment/19fuel.html?_r=1&bl=&pagewanted=print Local Assaults on the Global Climate Problem. New York — This month, the mayor of Mesa, Arizona, a city of about 500,000 inhabitants in the American Southwest, became the 1,000th local leader to sign on to a climate change agreement under the United States Conference of Mayors. In signing the compact — initiated in 2005 by Greg Nickels, the mayor of Seattle and the president of the conference — local leaders commit to reducing their cities’ carbon emissions in concert with the national goals laid out by the Kyoto Protocol: a 7 percent reduction over 1990 emissions levels by 2012. Posted. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/19/business/energy-environment/19iht-green19.html?sq=environment&st=cse&scp=4&pagewanted=print Mcdonnell Confronts Climate Change. Republican gubernatorial candidate Robert F. McDonnell said Saturday he thinks the globe is warming but wouldn't fix blame on man-made carbon emissions as its cause. Posted. http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/oct/18/climate-change-confronts-mcdonnell-after-rally/?feat=home_top5_commented Climate Concerns Turn City's Smell Into Cash Cow. The smell of manure hangs over Greeley as it has for half a century. These days it's more than just a potent reminder of the region's agricultural roots and the hundreds of thousands of cattle raised on the city's outskirts. Posted. http://www.modbee.com/2032/story/896916.html http://www.contracostatimes.com/nation-world/ci_13584253 Pranksters Pose As U.S. Chamber, Unveil Climate 'About Face'. A group masquerading as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce issued a statement proclaiming the business group's support for Senate climate change legislation. The stunt -- which included a fake press conference that was attended by about 20 reporters -- led to news stories reporting that the chamber supported climate legislation and also wanted it to include a carbon tax. Posted. http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/print/2009/10/19/1 U.S. Chamber Of Commerce Backs Climate Change Bill. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce said on Monday it will no longer opposes climate change legislation, but wants the bill to include a carbon tax. Posted. http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2009/10/19/us/politics/politics-us-chamber-climate-legislation.html http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/19/AR2009101901259.html Courts Follow Landmark 2nd Circuit Ruling With 2 GHG Decisions. Less than a month after a federal appeals court in New York issued a historic ruling regarding citizen and government enforcement of greenhouse gas emissions, decisions in two similar cases have come down. Their divergent results could have immediate implications for future climate change lawsuits." We now have rulings out of the 2nd Circuit and the 5th Circuit that, together, represent mounting legal authority that the Constitution is not a barrier to climate tort litigation," said Bruce Myers, a senior attorney with the Environmental Law Institute. Posted. http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/print/2009/10/19/2 Boston Globe: An Ambitious Climate Bill. The highly anticipated Senate climate-change bill sponsored by Sens. John Kerry and Barbara Boxer makes noteworthy improvements on the similar bill passed by the House last summer. Posted. http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20091018/OPINION/910169907 Beijing Sees Clearer Skies, But Much Room To Improve. Beijing's air quality is beginning to show signs of improvement after a string of nearly perfect October days and reports that the city has greatly reduced the number of days with dangerously high pollutants. Through September, the government counted 221 "blue-sky days" in which the 0-to-500 pollution index was below 101, the highest number since daily measurements were first published in 1998. At the same time, the city said it has recorded only 2 days with elevated pollution levels, the lowest number in a decade and 17 fewer than were recorded in 2000. Posted. http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/print/2009/10/19/21 GUEST OPINION: Combatting Greenhouse Gases. It’s easy for community leaders to join the fight against climate change. It’s much more difficult for us to take the actions necessary to make real differences. Example: In 2005, Sonoma County and all nine cities in its borders adopted resolutions that set goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 25 percent below 1990 levels by 2015. Posted. http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20091019/OPINION/910169913 Beijing’s Air Is Cleaner, but Far From Clean. This city’s network of arterials, five ring roads that are fed by nine more freeways, is barely two decades old, but it is already sclerotic. Roughly four million vehicles clog Beijing roads, seven times the number about 15 years ago. On any given day, another 1,500 new vehicles join the crush. Posted. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/17/world/asia/17beijing.html 'Green Energy' Will Destroy More Jobs Than It Creates. Don't let the hype about "green jobs" fool you. The global warming bill approved earlier this year by the House of Representatives would destroy far more jobs than it could ever possibly create. Posted. http://www.modbee.com/opinion/national/story/897765.html Another View: Failure To Agree Hurts Green Industry. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Democrats who control the Legislature have plenty to disagree about. So it's a shame they can't even get together on an important issue on which they say they agree. Posted. http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/opinions/ci_13589627 New Program Aims To Encourage Weatherization Of Homes. The White House Monday will release a plan to remove some of the obstacles that prevent middle-class Americans from getting energy audits and making their homes more energy-efficient. America’s nearly 130 million homes generate about 20 percent of the nation's emissions of carbon dioxide, the principal heat-trapping gas, says a report being released Monday by the White House Council on Environmental Quality and Vice President Joe Biden's Middle Class Task Force. McClatchy obtained an early copy. Posted. http://www.modbee.com/politics/story/898272.html New Plan Promotes Making Homes More Energy-Efficient. Washington The White House today will release a plan to remove some of the obstacles that prevent middle-class Americans from getting energy audits and making their homes more energy-efficient. Posted. http://headlines.ocregister.com/news/energy-47296-house-program.html The Year Of Living Green. New York Colin Beavan sat under the light of a single bulb, freaking out. Along with his wife and young daughter, he had just spent a year trying to reduce the family's environmental impact to almost zero. With a flip of a switch, they had cut their Manhattan apartment off from the electrical grid. They had stopped using anything disposable or buying anything new. Posted. http://www.ocregister.com/articles/beavan-family-once-2608879-year-conlin Rush To Comply With New Year's Ban On Dirty Trucks At Port of Oakland. In mid-August Mamdoh Ibrahim was nervous but excited. Since June, the trucker had been wading his way through the application process to get a state grant to buy new air filters for two big rigs his business uses to haul cargo to and from the Port of Oakland. He wasn't through yet, but he had been assigned a project number, which was a hopeful sign. Posted. http://www.insidebayarea.com/oaklandtribune/localnews/ci_13581934 http://www.contracostatimes.com/environment/ci_13581934 UK's Brown Urges Progress On Climate Pact. London—Failure to strike a new global deal on reducing greenhouse emissions would be catastrophic, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Monday, urging other national leaders to attend this year's climate summit in Denmark. Posted. http://www.contracostatimes.com/nation-world/ci_13592983 VT Willow Harvest Promises Cheap Biomass Fuel. Middlebury, Vt.—Middlebury College used to heat its buildings with oil, then switched to wood chips. Now it has planted a sustainable and relatively cheap fuel source—willow shrubs —that could help cut demand on the state's forests. Posted. http://www.contracostatimes.com/business/ci_13589688 Sunnyvale's Picarro Positioning Itself To Be Leader In Monitoring Greenhouse Gases. From a nondescript strip mall in Sunnyvale, a company called Picarro is positioning itself to be a leader in greenhouse gas monitoring and reporting. With Congress under pressure to act on global warming legislation before December's United Nations climate change conference in Copenhagen, there's a lot of talk about the emerging "cap-and-trade" economy. Posted. http://www.contracostatimes.com/technology/ci_13569519 Rising Seas Threaten Shanghai, Other Major Cities. Shanghai—This city of 20 million rose from the sea and grew into a modern showcase, with skyscrapers piercing the clouds, atop tidal flats fed by the mighty Yangtze River. Now Shanghai's future depends on finding ways to prevent the same waters from reclaiming it. Posted. http://www.contracostatimes.com/nation-world/ci_13589710 NASA Flies Over Antarctica To Measure Icemelt. Above Antarctica—Hoping to better understand how a melting Antarctica could swamp the planet, a NASA plane outfitted with lasers and ground-penetrating radar made its first flight over the icy continent on Friday. Posted. http://www.contracostatimes.com/nation-world/ci_13577749 Berlin Landmark Backdrop For Climate Protest. Berlin—Environmental activists have hung a giant banner from a prominent Berlin landmark, the Victory Column, urging Germany's leader to take the lead in combatting climate change. A group of Greenpeace activists descended on ropes from the landmark's viewing platform to put in place the nearly 50-foot (15-meter) banner Friday. Posted. http://www.contracostatimes.com/news/ci_13576487 US Seeks Tougher Protections For Polar Bear. Washington—With global warming shrinking Arctic sea ice that polar bears depend upon for survival, the United States is seeking to remove another major threat: international trade in the bears' fur and other parts. Posted. http://www.contracostatimes.com/nation-world/ci_13577187 U.S., Britain Say Global Climate Deal Possible. London (Reuters) - The world can still agree a deal in December to curb greenhouse gas emissions and prepare for a warmer world, co-chairs of a meeting of major polluters in London -- Britain and the United States -- said on Sunday. Posted. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/18/AR2009101800986.html U.S. Hunters, Anglers Lobby For Climate Bill. Dallas/Washington (Reuters) - An unlikely lobbying group is pressing the U.S. Senate to curb greenhouse gas emissions: American hunting and fishing groups who fear climate change will disrupt their sport. Posted. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/18/AR2009101800966.html Republican Senator Says Open To U.S. Climate Bill. Washington (Reuters) - A senior Republican in the United States Senate, conservative Senator Lisa Murkowski, said she would consider voting for a "cap and trade" climate change bill Democrats are pushing if it also contains a vigorous expansion of nuclear energy and domestic oil drilling. Posted. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/17/AR2009101700831.html Maldives Sends Climate SOS With Undersea Cabinet. Male (Reuters) - The Maldivian president and ministers held the world's first underwater cabinet meeting on Saturday, in a symbolic cry for help over rising sea levels that threaten the tropical archipelago's existence. Posted. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/17/AR2009101700571.html BLOGS State OKs basing car insurance on actual mileage driven. California motorists will soon have the option of having their auto insurance based on the actual miles they drive every year, state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner announced today. Posted. http://ocbiz.freedomblogging.com/2009/10/16/state-oks-basing-car-insurance-on-actual-mileage-driven/15307/ Clashes and Arrests at Coal Plant Protest in England. Activists in Europe are aggressively practicing civil disobedience, and more, in their actions against the coal industry. In the latest confrontation, police in the English county of Nottinghamshire arrested more than 50 protesters at a coal-fired power station over the weekend when scuffles broke out with climate campaigners. Posted. http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/19/clashes-arrests-at-coal-plant-protest-in-england/?pagemode=print Report Shows Hidden Costs of Energy. Most people can easily quote the price of gasoline or how much they pay for their power bills at home. But what’s the cost of energy production and consumption on health? “Hidden Costs of Energy: Unpriced Consequences of Energy Production and Use,” a new report from the National Research Council, a branch of the National Academies, attempts to put a dollar figure on what economists call externalities. Posted. http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/19/report-shows-hidden-costs-of-energy/?pagemode=print Carbon Capture Is "Essential" for Developing World, And Still a Pipe Dream. Unproven and Expensive. Here's a climate conundrum. Last week, the International Energy Agency said in a report (pdf) that to avoid climate catastrophe, 2,000 carbon capture and sequestration (CSS, or sometimes "clean coal") plants need to be built in developing countries by 2050. And fortunately, it turns out that China, the biggest coal burner, is a great place to bury greenhouse gases. "Study Says China Is Ripe for Carbon Storage," is the headline of the Green Inc story. http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/10/clean-coal-essential-developing-nations-untested-expensive.php?dcitc=th_