What's New List Serve Post Display
Below is the List Serve Post you selected to display.
newsclips -- ARB Newsclips for October 19, 2012.
Posted: 19 Oct 2012 14:30:36
ARB Newsclips for October 19, 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 Officials to beef up air monitors near refineries. Local air quality officials have approved a new plan to more tightly monitor pollution near refineries after gaps in the system were exposed during a fire at Chevron's Richmond refinery. The Contra Costa Times reports ( http://bit.ly/R5uuwU) that the Bay Area Air Quality Management District approved the plan at its meeting Wednesday. The new strategy sets an 18-month timetable for creating a new rule to more accurately measure toxic air pollution from refineries. Posted. http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_21801644/officials-beef-up-air-monitors-near-refineries http://www.sfgate.com/news/science/article/Officials-to-beef-up-air-monitors-near-refineries-3962214.php http://www.contracostatimes.com/ci_21801644/officials-beef-up-air-monitors-near-refineries?IADID=Search-www.contracostatimes.com-www.contracostatimes.com WHY IT MATTERS: Clean air and water, but at what price? The issue: Everyone wants clean air and water. But people also want to drive their cars whenever they wish and light up a room by flipping a switch. It’s a never-ending balancing act for government as it tries to protect health and the environment while promoting economic growth and jobs. Where they stand: President Barack Obama achieved historic increases in fuel-economy standards that would save drivers money at the pump while raising the cost of new vehicles. Posted. http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gf8yYp4eptVyvHDfqt8QOWc03AMQ?docId=32f0df95e9404d76b1034ff4133e1eff Other related articles: http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/why-it-matters-clean-air-and-water-but-at-what-price/2012/10/19/c6a90d94-19c3-11e2-ad4a-e5a958b60a1e_story.html http://www.nctimes.com/news/national/govt-and-politics/why-it-matters-the-environment/article_30682f95-2776-54e0-9764-7a0813d2fc52.html CLIMATE CHANGE REFILE-In climate puzzle for crops, ancient tree offers clues. On a windswept Swedish mountain, a 10,000-year-old spruce with a claim to be the world's oldest tree is getting a new lease of life thanks to global warming, even as many plants are struggling. Scientists are finding that the drift of growing areas for many plants out toward the poles is moving not in a smooth progression but in fits and starts, causing problems for farmers aiming to adapt and invest in cash crops that are more sensitive to climate than is this ancient conifer known as "Old Tjikko". Posted. http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/19/climate-plants-idUSL5E8LJ3QC20121019 A Rogue Climate Experiment Outrages Scientists. A California businessman chartered a fishing boat in July, loaded it with 100 tons of iron dust and cruised through Pacific waters off western Canada, spewing his cargo into the sea in an ecological experiment that has outraged scientists and government officials. The entrepreneur, whose foray came to light only this week, even duped the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in the United States into lending him ocean-monitoring buoys for the project. Posted. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/19/science/earth/iron-dumping-experiment-in-pacific-alarms-marine-experts.html?_r=0 Ocean scientists condemn iron-dumping experiment. A California businessman chartered a fishing boat in July, loaded it with iron dust and cruised through Pacific waters off western Canada, spewing 100 tons of his cargo into the sea in an ecological experiment that has outraged scientists and government officials. The entrepreneur, whose foray only came to light this week, even duped the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in the United States, which lent him ocean-monitoring buoys for the project. Posted. http://www.sacbee.com/2012/10/19/v-print/4923239/ocean-scientists-condemn-iron.html Americans increasingly believe in global warming, Yale report says. For the first time since the United States entered a deep recession five years ago, 70% of Americans now say they believe global warming is a reality, according to researchers. In a report released Thursday by the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication, authors wrote that America’s concern about global warming is now at its highest level since 2008, and that 58% of Americans expressed worries about it. Posted. http://www.latimes.com/news/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-climate-change-poll-20121018,0,5956821.story?track=rss 7 in 10 Americans say they believe in climate change. Following months marked by drought, floods, wildfires and violent storms, a new national survey by Yale and George Mason universities shows that seven in 10 Americans now believe in climate change. Figures jumped by 13 percentage points over the last two and a half years, from 57 percent in January 2010 to 70 percent in September 2012, according to the poll. The number of Americans who say climate change is not happening fell from 20 percent to 12 percent over the same period. Posted. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2012/10/19/6 BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY As waters warm, predators may go hungry. Predators of the North Pacific Ocean - among them many sharks, whales, seals and sea turtles - will be forced to swim farther from their food supplies or go hungry as the world's warming climate shifts their normal habitats, a marine scientist has concluded. Yet the changes pushed by ocean warming may benefit some seabirds and fast-swimming tuna, which are built to forage farther than their competitors…Posted. http://www.sfgate.com/science/article/As-waters-warm-predators-may-go-hungry-3961643.php#ixzz29lGOZYr6 Activists want climate change on presidential debate agenda. Despite a year that has produced unprecedented ice melts in the Arctic and Greenland, a devastating drought across much of the country and hundreds of record high temperatures around the world, the subject of climate change has managed to remain in the deep freezer of presidential politics. At a small rally in Miami Beach on Thursday, environmentalists took one last longshot at making global warming a meaningful campaign issue…Posted. http://www.fresnobee.com/2012/10/19/3034877/activists-want-climate-change.html#storylink=misearch http://www.modbee.com/2012/10/19/2420205/activists-want-climate-change.html#storylink=misearch Environmentalists worry California's cap-and-trade plan will hurt national efforts. REDD, Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation, the United Nations plan to reduce emissions from deforestation and degradation, is an attractive idea: have rich countries pay tropical forest nations to keep trees standing and soaking up carbon. With the international Kyoto Climate Treaty stalled, Norway has done some REDD deals on its own in Brazil and Indonesia, and now California is getting ready to follow suit. Posted. http://www.pri.org/stories/science/environment/environmentalists-worry-california-s-cap-and-trade-plan-will-hurt-national-efforts-11830.html Hillary Clinton puts clean energy, climate change on State's marching orders. A global clean energy transformation is key to economic development, national security and fighting climate change, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said yesterday. In a major speech at Georgetown University on energy diplomacy, Clinton called the transformation to greener pathways "essential to reducing the world's carbon emissions and at the core of a strong 21st-century global economy." Posted. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2012/10/19/3 BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY FUELS British engineers create petrol from air and water. A small British company has developed a way to create petrol from air and water, technology it hopes may one day contribute to large-scale production of green fuels. Engineers at Air Fuel Synthesis (AFS) in Teeside, northern England, say they have produced 5 liters of synthetic petrol over a period of three months. The technique involves extracting carbon dioxide from air and hydrogen from water, and combining them in a reactor with a catalyst to make methanol. The methanol is then converted into petrol. Posted. http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/19/us-science-petrol-idUSBRE89I0V720121019 U.S. officials to visit Indonesia for palm oil emissions talks. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will visit Indonesia next week, officials said on Friday, in what may prove a crucial step in the battle to meet green standards and open up a potentially huge market for the world's top palm oil producer. Indonesia is seen as a key player in the fight against climate change and is under intense international pressure to curb its rapid deforestation rate and destruction of carbon-rich peatlands. Posted. http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/19/us-indonesia-epa-palm-idUSBRE89I0F520121019 Pump prices continue slide in capital, state. Gasoline prices in Sacramento and statewide fell 3 cents a gallon on Thursday, and the pace of declining at-the-pump costs seems to be picking up speed. After falling about a penny a day late last week, prices fell a nickel a gallon over a two-day period. In Sacramento, AAA said the average for unleaded regular Thursday was $4.41 a gallon, down from $4.44 on Wednesday and $4.53 one week ago. Gas prices soared shortly after Oct. 1, when a series of production disruptions at refineries throughout California lowered statewide supplies. Posted. http://www.sacbee.com/2012/10/19/4922965/pump-prices-continue-slide-in.html#storylink=cpy Alternative fuels are the best remedy for gas prices. This week, a study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicated that high gas prices may have reduced drunken driving among American kids. "Teens are especially sensitive to increases in gasoline prices and declines in economic conditions, which might have decreased their miles driven since 2007." Reducing drinking and driving among teenagers is a public good. But I am not sure, and neither is the report sure…Posted. http://www.ocregister.com/articles/gas-375064-prices-gasoline.html Growing biofuels on 'surplus' land may be harder than estimated – study. There's money to be made in the barren corners of the world. From the California desert to the badlands around Chernobyl, Ukraine, bioenergy is taking root in the form of moss and algae. In Ireland and Denmark, farmers are planting switchgrass and miscanthus in low-grade soil, hoping to turn a profit on biofuels markets. Surplus land, or land unused in either conservation or agricultural production, offers an elegant solution to the food versus fuel arguments that have plagued bioenergy since its inception. Posted. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2012/10/19/7 BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY HIGH-SPEED RAIL Fresno looks to smooth the high speed rail route. The city council approved seeking some changes to the high speed rail route through the city. The public works department is asking for an underpass to be built at Ventura and G Street, and for an overpass to be built at Church and East. Both moves would ease traffic flow after the project is built, and during construction. Scott Mozier said, "Also to phase the construction to keep roads open, not close them all at the same time." Posted. http://abclocal.go.com/kfsn/story?section=news/local&id=8852256 GREEN ENERGY AES says energy storage business is unfazed by A123's fall. Despite a key battery supplier's filing for bankruptcy this week, the head of AES Energy Storage LLC said the developments would not affect his company's current and future grid-scale projects. A123 Systems Inc., which develops lithium iron phosphate batteries for cars and grid-level storage, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Tuesday (Greenwire, Oct. 16). The firm's batteries power several of AES's energy storage projects, including a 32-megawatt storage system at the Laurel Mountain Wind Farm near Belington, W.Va. Posted. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2012/10/19/4 BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY MISCELLANEOUS Hybrid vehicle battery creator Ovshinsky, 89, dies. Stan Ovshinsky, the self-taught inventor who developed the nickel-metal hydride battery used in the hybrid vehicle industry, has died at his home in suburban Detroit after a fight with cancer. He was 89. Ovshinsky, who ran Energy Conversion Devices, a car battery development company, also created a machine that produced 9-mile-long sheets of thin solar energy panels intended to bring cheaper, cleaner power to homes and businesses. Posted. http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_OBIT_OVSHINSKY?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2012-10-18-21-19-23 Challenge the 3,000-mile oil-change habit. Local oil filter exchange event on Saturday. Should motorists change their vehicle’s oil every 3,000 miles? Not necessarily, according to the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle). Their “Check Your Number” campaign encourages drivers to rethink current habits and only change motor oil as recommended in your vehicle’s owner manual. Posted. http://www.thecalifornian.com/article/20121019/LIFESTYLE/310190020/Challenge-3-000-mile-oil-change-habit California DTSC stands by Safer Consumer Products Regulation. DTSC director describes economic analysis criticism as "pinnacle of misinformation". California's Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) has defended the economic arguments used in the state's proposed Safer Consumer Products Regulation. “Economic impacts have always been front and centre of this regulation, “DTSC director Debbie Raphael told Chemical Watch. Posted. http://chemicalwatch.com/12639/california-dtsc-stands-by-safer-consumer-products-regulation OPINIONS Climate change activists beg more attention from Romney, Obama. With just 2 1/2 weeks left before election day, there’s an urgency on all fronts in the presidential race. For activists, it’s not just about whether President Obama or Mitt Romney will win, but whether either man will pay attention to their issue. Perhaps no interest community has been as disappointed as those who worry about global climate change. They have repeatedly called for more attention to the issue and, for the most part, failed to get it. This week’s presidential debate prompted a new round of regret and demands for Romney and Obama to address the topic, as both candidates spent their most notable time arguing about how much coal they would extract from federal lands. Posted. http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-climate-change-romney-obama-20121018,0,5707469.story Why aren't candidates debating climate change? The following editorial appeared in the Philadelphia Daily News on Friday, Oct. 19: The past 12 months have been the hottest on record, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Throughout the nation, drought, wildfires, floods and other extreme weather have made global warming a visible reality. So it was maddening - and tragic - that both presidential candidates spent significant time during Tuesday's debate trying to one-up each other on how much more fossil fuels they plan to extract, burn and allow into the atmosphere. Posted. http://www.sacbee.com/2012/10/19/4923972/why-arent-candidates-debating.html#storylink=cpy BLOGS Toward a Hip Solar Historic Landmark. Solar panels on an 1850’s building? In New York City, where most buildings were built before the Second World War, owners of historic rowhouses and brownstones have special considerations to deal with when it comes to installing solar panels or green roofs or undertaking efficiency retrofits that have the potential to interfere with some distinctive architectural feature. But preservation officials said there’s no reason why historic buildings can’t be part of the city’s efforts to rein in fossil fuel consumption to adapt to climate change. Posted. http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/19/toward-a-hip-solar-historic-landmark/ With Tight Research Budgets, Is There Room for the Eternal Promise of Fusion? Moving beyond the country’s, and the world’s, existing energy menu, which is still by far dominated by abundant and relatively cheap fossil fuels, is hard, whatever your preferred path. To use a sports analogy (and setting aside, for the moment “stasists” locked into the status quo), the debate tends to break down to those pushing the ground game…Posted. http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/18/with-tight-research-budgets-is-there-room-for-the-eternal-promise-of-fusion/ Sign-ups open for catalytic converter etching event in Rocklin. The Rocklin Police Department and Sierra College Auto Club will team up to offer free catalytic converter etching Nov. 3. The event will be held from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the auto shop on the Sierra College campus, 5000 Rocklin Road, Rocklin. Participants' vehicle license plate number will be etched on the converter and the etching painted for easy recognition. Each vehicle also will receive a small window decal indicating "This vehicle's catalytic converter has been etched by Rocklin PD" Posted. http://blogs.sacbee.com/crime/archives/2012/10/sign-ups-open-for-catalytic-converter-etching-event-in-rocklin.html#storylink=cpy Will Obama and Romney Address Climate Change in Florida Debate? What a difference four years makes. In 2008, during the second presidential debate--a town hall format similar to what we witnessed a few days ago--an audience member asked the two candidates: "I want to know what you would do within the first two years to make sure that Congress moves fast as far as environmental issues, like climate change and green jobs?" In response, John McCain and Barack Obama both acknowledged the reality of global warming. Posted. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/elliott-negin/third-debate-climate-change_b_1982523.html Gettin' down with cap 'n trade. Next month, California will hold the first auction as part of its carbon cap and trade program. The program, which will be the second largest CO2 emissions trading system in the world, has been in the works since 2006, when the Golden State passed the Global Warming Solutions Act, a piece of legislation that mandated chiseling down greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. A cap and trade system puts a limit on the total amount of carbon dioxide polluters can emit – that’s the cap. For its initial cap, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) set a CO2 limit of 162 million tons. Posted. http://www.hcn.org/blogs/goat/gettin-down-with-cap-n-trade Amp stops conversion SUV plans, shifts focus to electric delivery trucks. It's a turn in the road for Amp Electric Vehicles. The conversion electric vehicle (EV) company announced this week that it was no longer planning on making or selling EVs based on passenger vehicles like the Jeep Grand Cherokee and Mercedes-Benz ML. Instead of the SUVs, Amp will now put all of its focus into delivery trucks, like the recent conversions for Navistar and FedEx. On a conference call yesterday, CEO Steve Burns said Amp will convert medium-sized step vans from 10 miles per gallon diesel beasts into quiet electric-drive trucks. Posted. http://green.autoblog.com/2012/10/18/amp-stops-conversion-suv-plans-shifts-focus-to-electric-deliver/