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newsclips -- ARB Newsclips 25, 2012
Posted: 25 Apr 2012 13:42:56
ARB Newsclips for April 25, 2012. 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. AIR POLLUTION Hess to Spend $46 Million to Settle Refinery Pollution Case. Hess Corp. agreed to spend $45 million on pollution controls at its petroleum refinery in Port Reading, New Jersey, and pay $850,000 in penalties to resolve a government lawsuit over harmful emissions. A consent decree, entered today in federal court in Newark, New Jersey, settled a lawsuit filed last week by the U.S. and state governments. Under the agreement, emissions of nitrogen oxides will decline by 181 tons a year and volatile organic compounds also will decrease. Both contribute to smog and asthma. Posted. http://sfgate.bdc.bloomberg.wallst.com/SFChronicle/Story?docId=1376-M31FWB6VDKIC01-006HQF5Q982CUV1R3B5P2GFT7P http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20120425-713970.html http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/25/hess-refinery-idUSL2E8FPAZ920120425 Healthier buildings for healthier occupants. It is estimated that people spend at least 90 percent of their lives indoors. Much of this indoor time may be spent working inside of an airtight office building without operable windows, where exposure to air pollutants is significantly greater as compared to being outdoors. Over the past several decades, office buildings have become increasingly airtight in order to maximize comfort and improve energy efficiency through central heating and cooling systems. Posted. http://www.contracostatimes.com/ci_20474367/healthier-buildings-healthier-occupants?IADID=Search-www.contracostatimes.com-www.contracostatimes.com Bakersfield area near top for bad air rankings -- again. In a conference call detailing the American Lung Association's latest air quality report card, one city's name came up again and again: Bakersfield. Bakersfield-Delano ranked worst in the nation for short-term particle pollution as well as annual particle pollution. The region ranked third worst for ozone pollution, behind the Los Angeles and Visalia areas. That's actually a slight improvement from last year, when Bakersfield held the No. 2 spot for ozone. Posted. http://www.bakersfieldcalifornian.com/local/x1537704538/Bakersfield-area-near-top-for-bad-air-rankings-again http://www.fresnobee.com/2012/04/24/2812768/valleys-air-quality-news-good.html http://www.mercedsunstar.com/2012/04/25/2321330/merced-makes-top-ten-list-for.html Air Quality Improving in Many U.S. Cities: Report. Air quality in America's most polluted cities has improved significantly over the past decade, according to a new report from the American Lung Association. Even Los Angeles, famous for its morning smog, is the cleanest it's been in 13 years, the association noted. Santa Fe, N.M. leads the pack, having been ranked as the cleanest city in the nation. Despite progress in reducing the level of smog and soot in the air, the "State of the Air" report warned that unhealthy levels of air pollution still persist around the country. Posted. http://news.yahoo.com/air-quality-improving-many-u-cities-report-160404765.html http://money.cnn.com/2012/04/25/real_estate/pollution-cities/ State Of The Air 2012: American Lung Association Reports Improvements, Challenges. More than 127 million Americans -- about 41 percent of the country -- still suffer from pollution levels that can make breathing dangerous, according to a new report. The American Lung Association State of the Air 2012, released Wednesday, shows signs of air-quality improvement, but also indicates struggles in many regions nationwide. Posted. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/25/state-of-the-air-2012-american-lung-association_n_1446786.html DIESEL EMISSIONS YUCAIPA: City to purchase new firetruck. Yucaipa will purchase a new $485,992 firetruck from an Ontario company. The City Council voted 5-0 Tuesday night to buy the truck as a replacement for a 30-year-old American La France that has logged nearly 151,000 miles. Fire Chief Steven Shaw, who supervises 26 firefighters under a contract with Cal Fire, told the council it would have cost more money to refurbish the La France than to buy a new firetruck. Even selling it for scrap, he said, would only net the city about $2,000. Posted. http://www.pe.com/local-news/san-bernardino-county/san-bernardino-county-headlines-index/20120424-yucaipa-city-to-purchase-new-firetruck.ece CARB: Companies that report on-road info will be listed online. Trucking companies that register their truck information with the California Air Resources Board know they may be eligible for additional compliance time. They may not know, however, that CARB is posting their company’s names online. In an apparent attempt to reward early compliers, CARB announced Friday, April 20, that its Truck and Bus regulation registry will feature a search function that “allows anyone to look up the company name of fleets that have reported to the ARB to comply” with the regulation. “Brokers and motor carriers can use the search feature to confirm whether the truck owners they hire have reported to the ARB.” Posted. http://www.landlinemag.com/Story.aspx?StoryID=23558 EPA making $20M available for clean diesel projects. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued a Request for Proposals (EPA-OAR-OTAQ-12-05) with up to $20 million in FY 2012 grant funding to establish clean diesel projects aimed at reducing pollution from the existing fleet of diesel engines. In addition to these grants, approximately $9 million will be available through direct state allocations. Eligible diesel vehicles, engines and equipment may include buses; medium-duty or heavy-duty trucks; Posted. http://www.greencarcongress.com/2012/04/epa-20120425.html VEHICLES 4 auto parts makers downplay resin shortage. Executives from four auto parts companies said Tuesday that they don't expect widespread fallout from a shortage of a key ingredient in plastic resin following a factory explosion. Officials with Delphi Automotive, Illinois Tool Works, AK Steel and Parker Hannifin said during conference calls to discuss their companies' earnings that a shortage of PA-12 shouldn't disrupt their operations. Posted. http://www.modbee.com/2012/04/24/v-print/2172060/4-auto-parts-makers-downplay-resin.html SUBSCRIPTION ONLY GREEN ENERGY Solar panels cause clashes with homeowner groups. The government wants you to install solar panels at your house, and will even give you a tax break to do it. But your neighbors? Maybe not. It's a lesson Angel and David Dobs discovered when their homeowners association north of Atlanta denied their request to install solar panels on their roof. Neighborhood officials said the panels would look out of place and might lower home values in a community that regulates details as fine as the coloring of roof tiles, the planting of trees and the storage of trash cans. Posted. http://www.fresnobee.com/2012/04/25/2812885/solar-panels-cause-clashes-with.html#storylink=misearch http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/as-solar-panels-proliferate-so-do-clashes-between-neighbors-over-aesthetics-solar-rights/2012/04/25/gIQAZl6HgT_story.html Donald Trump demands Scotland nix wind turbines. He came, he saw, he blustered. Donald Trump on Wednesday swept into Scotland's parliament to demand the country end plans for an offshore wind farm he fears will spoil the view at his exclusive new $750-million-pound ($1.2-billion) golf resort. In a typically blunt display, the New York property tycoon told an inquiry into renewable energy to stop the wind power efforts in the country's north. "Scotland, if you pursue this policy of these monstrous turbines, Scotland will go broke," he said. "They are ugly, they are noisy and they are dangerous. Posted. http://www.nctimes.com/entertainment/donald-trump-demands-scotland-nix-wind-turbines/article_87f0ddc0-6172-5ab3-97ff-0776fa3ca367.html OPINIONS Viewpoints: Potential of low carbon fuel will drive California forward. For the first time since the 1950s the United States is exporting more gasoline and diesel than it imports. To become energy secure, we need to invest in homegrown fuels, but also develop fuel-efficient vehicles that go farther on a gallon of gas, while producing as little pollution as possible. That's where California's low carbon fuel standard comes in. The low carbon fuel standard, the first of its kind in the world, was enacted in 2009 and incentivizes all producers of motor fuels, including gasoline and corn ethanol, to reduce by 10 percent the carbon content of motor fuels sold in California. Posted. http://www.sacbee.com/2012/04/25/4439739/potential-of-low-carbon-fuel-will.html A Model for the Nation. LEARNING FROM EUROPE’S MISTAKES. JANUARY 1 WILL MARK THE START of a dramatically different new year in California, for it also marks the launch of California's greenhouse gas cap-and-trade program established by then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the state legislature in 2006. California has moved deliberately to ensure that our program will effectively reduce GHG emissions while avoiding any serious pitfalls. California is not the first state to implement a GHG cap-and-trade program. Posted. http://www.energybiz.com/magazine/article/265685/model-nation BLOGS Why we pay too little for energy. There are two ways to think about the cost of energy. There’s the dollar amount that shows up on our utility bills or at the pump. And then there’s the “social cost” — all the adverse consequences that various energy sources, from coal to nuclear power, end up foisting on the public. Economists have been working to quantify these social costs for some time: from the premature deaths due to air pollution to the damage wrought by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf Coast. Posted. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/post/why-we-pay-too-little-for-energy/2012/04/25/gIQAMyqqgT_blog.html Discovery’s Soggy Logic on ‘Frozen Planet’. Here’s a question to ponder after reviewing the video of melting penguin ice sculptures above shot at the glitzy New York City celebration of the American production of “Frozen Planet.” How can Discovery Communications, the same giant media company that has brought the world the one-sided, and popular, “Whale Wars,” say it excluded any substantial mention of human-driven climate change in its wildly popular “Frozen Planet” series on the basis of objectivity? Posted. http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/24/discoverys-soggy-logic-on-frozen-planet/?partner=rss&emc=rss U.S. drivers to save $68 billion in 2030 with new CAFE standards. What an extra few hundred bucks a year or so in everyone's pocket will buy almost two decades from now is anyone's guess, but for us, that's beside the point. U.S. drivers will save about $68 billion in refueling expenses in 2030 if the more stringent fuel-economy and greenhouse-gas-emissions standards proposed by the Obama Administration go into effect as planned in 2025, according to one report. Posted. http://green.autoblog.com/2012/04/24/u-s-drivers-to-save-68-billion-in-2030-with-new-cafe-standards/ General Electric CEO says electric vehicles will reach 'tipping point'. True belief or wishful thinking? That's the question some may ask about General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt and his statement that electric vehicles will become more than a just niche market in the U.S. Immelt, speaking at a Detroit automotive conference on Tuesday, said GE will continue to invest in battery-electric vehicle technology with the belief that lower costs and improved performance will allow EVs to reach "a tipping point," Reuters reportedPosted. http://green.autoblog.com/2012/04/25/general-electric-ceo-says-electric-vehicles-will-reach-tipping/