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California Air Resources Board News Clips for October 28, 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.

CARB Fines Socal Waste Removal Co. $219,500. The California Air
Resources Board fined waste removal company EDCO Disposal
Corporation $219,500 for emissions violations during 2005 and
2006. An ARB investigation showed Southern California based, EDCO
was in compliance with the state's trash truck emissions rule,
but had failed to perform the annual smoke inspection test on
some of its diesel trucks as required by law at its Agua Mansa,
Armour, Buena Park, Escondido, Fallbrook, Federal, Long Beach,
Ramona and San Marcos facilities. Posted.
http://www.thebusinessjournal.com/index.php/the-business-journal-state-news/38-state/2761-carb-fines-socal-waste-removal-co-219500

Obama Says Momentum Growing For Climate-Change Legislation. At a
Florida solar farm, the president urges lawmakers to pass a
measure that limits carbon emissions. Critics call his visit a
public relations exercise. Arcadia, Fla. President Obama declared
Tuesday that a "consensus is building" around climate-change
legislation and characterized opponents as preoccupied with the
past instead of a "clean-energy future." Posted.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-obama-energy28-2009oct28,0,3149332,print.story

Refiners Warn Of 'Staggering' Costs, Job Losses From Senate
Bill. The CEO of refining giant Valero Energy Corp. warned today
that the Senate climate legislation would give a competitive
advantage to foreign refiners and cost U.S. jobs. Addressing the
Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, Valero's Bill
Klesse alleged that the Senate bill and its House counterpart
would create large new costs that would drive domestic gasoline
and diesel production offshore, cause job loss, and reduce U.S.
energy security. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/print/2009/10/28/1

White House Wooing Business Execs On Cap And Trade. Obama
administration officials met with business executives at the
White House today to rally support for climate and energy
legislation in Congress. It was the third such meeting this
month, and administration officials promise more to come as U.N.
negotiators prepare to gather in Denmark to broker a successor to
the Kyoto Protocol. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/print/2009/10/28/2

House-Senate Negotiators Adopt 'Cow Tax' Amendment. House and
Senate conferees on the appropriations bill funding U.S. EPA for
fiscal 2010 approved an amendment yesterday to block agency
efforts to require Clean Air Act permits for greenhouse gases
emitted by livestock. The amendment was agreed to last night as
part of the $32.2 billion House-Senate conference package to fund
EPA, the Interior Department and the Forest Service for fiscal
2010. Posted. http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/print/2009/10/28/3

Opinion: In Today's Pages: Immigration, Global Warming And
Afghanistan. Departing Police Chief William Bratton prods
immigration culture warriors today with an op-ed explaining why
the LAPD doesn't, and shouldn't, participate in the controversial
287(g) program, which gives local law enforcement officers the
powers of federal immigration agents. Turning police into de
facto Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents harms community
policing and discourages witnesses who might be illegal
immigrants from coming forward. Posted.
http://opinion.latimes.com/opinionla/2009/10/in-todays-pages-.html

Letter to Editor: Lead Us Not Into the Temptation of Climate
Change.  It was cheering to read the Ecumenical Patriarch
Bartholomew describing the spiritual dimension of protecting the
environment ("Our Indivisible Environment," op-ed, Oct. 26).
There is strong support in the religious community for respecting
God's earth, in both word and deed. The rationale for doing so
can be found, among other places, in the Old and New Testaments
as well as in statements from Baptist, Lutheran, Episcopal and
other churches. Judaism and Islam also share the approach of
stewardship of creation. Posted.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704335904574497720858597560.html?mod=googlenews_wsj#

White House Steps Up Climate Efforts. Washington — The Obama
administration and some Senate Democrats expressed fresh urgency
on Tuesday about the need to address climate change and refashion
the nation’s energy economy. But they faced determined opposition
from Republicans, new concerns from some Democrats and reminders
of the financial, technological and political hurdles in remaking
the way the nation produces and consumes power. Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/28/us/politics/28climate.html?_r=1&sq=climate%20change&st=cse&scp=5&pagewanted=print

Envoy: No China-US Climate Pact From Obama Visit. Shanghai --
President Barack Obama's visit to China next month is not likely
to yield a separate accord on countering global warming, though
both countries are pushing for progress for upcoming global talks
in Copenhagen, the top U.S. envoy on climate change said
Wednesday. ''I don't think we're going to get an agreement per
se,'' said Todd Stern, the U.S. special envoy for climate change.
Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/10/28/world/AP-AS-China-US-Climate-Change.html?sq=climate%20change%20or%20global%20warming&st=cse&scp=3&pagewanted=print
http://www.contracostatimes.com/nation-world/ci_13657417?nclick_check=1

Inexact Land Use Theory Could Limit Promising Potential of
Biofuels, Favor Continued Fossil Fuels Use. Franklinton, N.C.-
Suggestions that the increased use of fuel produced from biomass
will automatically lead to increased deforestation globally
ignores existing science, continued technological advances, and
numerous international policies and principles under development
to regulate biofuels, according to experts at
Novozymes, a Danish manufacturer of enzymes used to produce
biofuels. Posted.
http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS118261+28-Oct-2009+BW20091028

UN Lowers Expectations For Copenhagen Climate Deal. * Officials,
diplomats don’t expect a legally binding deal on reducing
emissions. United Nations: The United Nations on Monday lowered
expectations for clinching a legally binding agreement at a UN
climate change summit in Copenhagen in December, saying it might
take longer to secure a final deal. For months Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon and other top officials at the United Nations have
been urging industrialized and developing nations to overcome
their differences so they can “seal the deal” and get a binding
agreement in Copenhagen.  Posted.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/print.asp?page=20091028story_28-10-2009_pg4_1

Europe Faces Oversupply Of Kyoto Carbon Credits. A vast surplus
of carbon emissions credits from the Kyoto Protocol in Central
and Eastern Europe has the potential to dramatically disrupt CO2
caps, a senior European official said yesterday. These "hot air"
credits are available largely in Central and East European
countries, which saw their economies -- and carbon emissions --
collapse during the 1990s, resulting in an oversupply of permits.
Posted. http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/print/2009/10/28/8

Palm Oil Initiative May Split Over CO2 Emissions. A British
consortium of companies and environmental groups used to certify
sustainable sources of palm oil is divided over the need to
control carbon dioxide emissions as part of its standards. The
fissure is threatening to break up the Roundtable on Sustainable
Palm Oil (RSPO) within days. Such a divide would have
implications for the British government, which is relying on the
fuel suppliers to provide additional biofuels, many of which stem
from palm oil. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2009/10/28/8

SEC Reverses Bush-Era Policy On Climate Disclosure. In a policy
reversal long sought by shareholder advocates, the U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission ruled yesterday that investors
can directly call on public companies to describe the financial
risks they face from global warming. A staff bulletin, issued a
month before the start of the 2010 corporate proxy season,
reversed a Bush administration policy of tossing out resolutions
asking companies to disclose their climate-related financial
exposure. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2009/10/28/5

Deal Struck On Great Lakes Ship Pollution. Traverse City,
Mich.—Congressional negotiators reached a deal Tuesday that would
effectively exempt 13 ships that haul iron ore, coal and other
freight on the Great Lakes from a proposed federal rule meant to
reduce air pollution. Posted.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/business/ci_13652448

UN Climate Chief Doubts Full Treaty This Year. Amsterdam—The
U.N. climate change chief says reaching a final global warming
treaty will be impossible this year, but that the principles of
that accord must be determined at a conference in December.
Posted. http://www.contracostatimes.com/nation-world/ci_13658786

Chavez's new appeal to Venezuelans: Save Energy. Caracas,
Venezuela—A nation built atop a sea of energy is struggling to
keep the lights on. Demonstrators angrily brandish surge-damaged
blenders, televisions and stereos outside the offices of
Venezuela's state utility company. Others burn electricity bills
in the streets to protest recurring blackouts. Posted.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/business/ci_13658837

Ailing Planet Seen As Bad For Human Health. Climate change will
make Americans more vulnerable to diseases, disasters and heat
waves, but governments have done little to plan for the added
burden on the health system, according to a new study by a
nonprofit group. Posted.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/26/AR2009102602402.html?hpid=topnews

The Tiny Leader of the Pack. Bangalore, India — Depending on
whom you ask, this tiny company is either the next big thing in
automobiles, or a maker of glorified golf carts. What is
indisputable is that as the whole automotive world seems to be
racing suddenly toward the age of electricity, the Reva Electric
Car Company is in the lead, ahead of better-known local
competitors like Tata Motors and global giants like General
Motors and Toyota. Daimler and Toyota are supposed to start
trials of electric versions of the Smart Car and the Prius,
respectively, by the end of the year. Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/28/business/global/28reva.html?_r=1&ref=energy-environment&pagewanted=print

Fisker To Build Hybrid Cars At Idled Del. GM Plant. Wilmington,
Del. — Luxury automaker Fisker Automotive is buying a shuttered
General Motors assembly plant in Delaware to produce plug-in
hybrid electric cars, officials said Tuesday. The
California-based company has signed a letter of intent with
Motors Liquidation Co. (MLC), formerly known as General Motors
Corp., to purchase the Wilmington plant for $18 million after a
four-month evaluation period. Posted.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5j6ZzZOiZq-4Ngwz4bZyNB7iV-yrAD9BJNFR00
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=arP5LCH.J88s

BLOGS

Selling Offsets By Mobile Phone in Ethiopia. Veli Pohjonen Small
farmers near Bahir Dar, Ethiopia, are testing a carbon offset
market facilitated by mobile phones. One of the most daunting
hurdles for the trade in carbon offsets is the logistical
challenge of connecting customers — typically carbon dioxide
emitting companies based in America or Europe — with offset
producers in places like South America, Asia, and Africa. Posted.
http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/28/selling-offsets-by-mobile-phone-in-ethiopia/?pagemode=print

Divided Senate Takes Up Boxer's Climate Change Legislation.
Washington - Leading Senate Democrats and top Obama
administration officials today defended legislation aiming to
overhaul the nation's energy policy, saying the proposal is
essential to address the threats of global climate change and
usher in thousands of new, green jobs. Republicans, meanwhile,
continued their assault on the so-called cap-and-trade bill
during a congressional hearing today on Capitol Hill. Posted.
http://blogs.pe.com/news/digest/2009/10/divided-senate-takes-up-boxers.html

Climate Change Policy and Safe Investing. Countries that provide
robust incentives for the renewable energy industry create a more
attractive environment for investors, a new study suggests.
Countries that adopt policies obliging utilities to purchase a
percentage of their power from renewable sources at above-market
prices — also known as a “feed-in tariff” — represent the safest
harbors for investors looking to finance clean-energy ventures,
according to a broad-ranging risk analysis released Monday by
Deutsche Bank’s global asset management group and Columbia
University’s Earth Institute. Posted.
http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/27/climate-change-policy-and-safe-investing/?pagemode=print

Calm Before The Storm. Emissions law sure to usher in new era of
power plays over land-use decisions. The state of California
wants you to drive less and live closer to work. But who will
have the last word on how this happens? Senate Bill 375, a piece
of sweeping anti-greenhouse-gas-emissions legislation signed in
September 2008 by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, may mean a future
of fewer automobiles on California’s roadways and future
development projects that create tighter-spaced, denser
communities tied to public transit. Posted.
http://www.sdcitybeat.com/cms/story/detail/calm_before_the_storm/8629/

Meat Industry Says Lord Made Pig’s Ear Of Global Warming
Comment. Farmers and meat companies across Britain reacted with a
mixture of anger and exasperation yesterday after one of the
world’s leading climate change campaigners urged people to become
vegetarian to help to fight global warming. The offensive by Lord
Stern of Brentford in The Times was especially timely as about
100 leading meat and farm industry figures sat down to breakfast
in the elegant Cholmondeley Room in the House of Lords to
celebrate champions in the pig industry. Posted.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article6893037.ece