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newsclips -- ARB Newsclips for November 6, 2012.
Posted: 06 Nov 2012 14:11:17
ARB Newsclips for November 6, 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 Minnesota company to pay for violating California air rules. The California Air Resources Board said Birchwood Laboratories, a Minnesota-based distributor of various consumer products, has agreed to pay $500,000 for violating rules that protect air quality. ARB said Birchwood sold Casey Gun Scrubber Solvent/Degreaser in California, and the product exceeded state limits for chemicals known as volatile organic compounds which contribute to the formation of smog. The product also contained trichloroethylene, a toxic air contaminant. Posted. http://www.sacbee.com/2012/11/05/4962469/minnesota-company-to-pay-for-violating.html http://www.sanluisobispo.com/2012/11/05/2285631/minnesota-company-to-pay-for-violating.html Former EPA air chief calls for factoring compliance costs into ozone standards. Former U.S. EPA air chief Jeff Holmstead called on the agency's advisory panel to take cost into consideration when recommending a new ozone air standard next year. Under the Clean Air Act, EPA is forbidden from considering costs when developing national ambient air quality standards. The law requires that the agency focus solely on protecting public health. Posted. http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/2012/11/06/4 BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY CLIMATE CHANGE Indian monsoons may fail more often due to climate change-study. The Indian monsoon is likely to fail more often in the next 200 years threatening food supplies, unless governments agree how to limit climate change, a study showed on Tuesday. The monsoon rains could collapse about every fifth year between 2150 and 2200 with continued global warming, blamed mainly on human burning of fossil fuels, and related shifts in tropical air flows, it said. "Monsoon failure becomes much more frequent" as temperatures rise…Posted. http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/06/climate-monsoon-idUSL5E8M5COP20121106 Cooling gases must fall to curb global warming. F-gases, used in refrigeration and linked with high levels of global warming, need to be cut substantially by 2030, Europe's climate boss said on Tuesday. She added that she would be pushing for a global plan on cutting fluorinated gases at U.N. climate change talks in Doha beginning later this month. "F-gases should be two-thirds reduced from today's levels by 2030," Climate Commissioner Connie Hedegaard told an audience representing the refrigeration industry. Posted. http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/06/eu-fgas-idUSL5E8M6BGD20121106 EU to Propose Tighter Rules on Fluorinated Greenhouse Gases. The European Union aims to propose “in the coming days” tighter rules on fluorinated greenhouse gases as a part of the bloc’s sustainable development drive, Climate Commissioner Connie Hedegaard said today. Hedegaard said she hoped national governments and the European Parliament will give “a high priority” to the planned draft revised regulation on the so-called F-gases. EU regulation already in place would lead to the stabilization of fluorinated gas emissions at current levels…Posted. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2012-11-06/eu-to-propose-tighter-rules-on-fluorinated-greenhouse-gases-1-.html EU Carbon for December Erases Gains as Auctions List Published. European Union carbon erased gains after reaching its highest in almost two months as a list of EU allowances auctions for the third phase of the bloc’s market showed less volume than expected was to be sold this year. The European Energy Exchange AG yesterday published an updated list of auctions that showed twelve of 25 EU member states will sell at least 4.48 million tons of permits in each of nine sales from Nov. 20 through Dec. 18. Posted. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-11-06/eu-carbon-for-december-trades-near-two-month-high-on-auctions.html Climate policy advances in the states, but slowly. While Tuesday’s election may not break the national logjam over how to address climate change, a few states will take decisive action on energy policy in the coming week. On Nov. 14, California will hold the nation’s largest-ever auction of carbon pollution allowances, requiring many of the state’s biggest utilities and manufacturers to either cut their greenhouse-gas output or buy permits to compensate for it. Michigan residents vote Tuesday on whether the state will require that 25 percent of its electricity be produced from renewable energy by 2025. Posted. http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/climate-policy-advances-in-the-states-but-slowly/2012/11/05/89380eee-1eb7-11e2-ba31-3083ca97c314_print.html California's first auction of greenhouse-gas credits nears. Some industrial businesses are still fighting the cap-and-trade program, which requires big polluters to either reduce their emissions or buy credits to cover the difference. The auction is Nov. 14. After six years of preparation, California is poised to become the first state to combat global warming by capping greenhouse gas emissions and making major polluters pay to release more of these gases into the atmosphere. Posted. http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-calif-pollution-credits-20121106,0,2129447.story Live Oak looking at greenhouse gas emissions. A report by the Sierra Business Council on greenhouse gas emissions in Live Oak, part of an effort to address climate change that the group says will continue unless emissions are reduced, goes before the Live Oak City Council when it meets Wednesday. "The next step for the city is whatever we choose," said Jim Goodwin, city manager. "We don't have any next step planned." He described the report as simply a starting point to see what policy choices Live Oak may make. All such studies point to vehicles as the primary contributor to emissions, Goodwin said. Posted. http://www.appeal-democrat.com/articles/emissions-120834-oak-live.html Carbon buried in soil doesn't stay there. Carbon buried in soil rises again as carbon emissions, a clue to understanding past and future global climate change, U.S. and European scientists say. Researchers, including plant scientist Johan Six of the University of California, Davis, say that while earlier studies have found erosion can bury carbon in the soil, acting as a carbon sink or storage, part of that sink is only temporary. They estimated roughly half of the carbon buried in soil by erosion will be re-released into the atmosphere within about 500 years, and possibly faster due to climate change. Posted. http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2012/11/05/Carbon-buried-in-soil-doesnt-stay-there/UPI-53441352167158/#ixzz2BSsYprfV Clouded future for climate change negotiators. While many of Washington's armchair election watchers speculate which Cabinet secretaries might stay or go if President Obama wins a second term today, international environmental advocates have their eyes on the lower-tier, yet critical, post of climate ambassador. U.S. Special Envoy for Climate Change Todd Stern, the United States' point person on global warming, has given little indication of his future plans. Posted. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2012/11/06/4 BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY Carbon benefits of soil erosion wear off over time – study. The net benefits of soil erosion could only be a temporary fix for mitigating climate change in the long run, a study finds. While erosion is often pointed to as a process that unearths carbon in the soil and releases it into the atmosphere to accelerate climate change, the opposite is also true, said Johan Six, a professor of plant sciences at the University of California, Davis, and author of a study in this week's Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Posted. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2012/11/06/5 BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY World must cut carbon intensity by 5% every year – report. Carbon intensity will have to be cut by 5 percent per year till 2050 to limit global temperature rise to below 2 degrees Celsius, according to a report by the London office of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC). That's a far cry from the 0.8 percent yearly cut in carbon intensity seen between 2000 and 2011. In its annual Low Carbon Economy Index, PwC examined the progress of developed and emerging economies toward reducing their carbon intensity, or their emissions per unit of gross domestic product. Posted. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2012/11/06/11 BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY DIESEL EMISSIONS South Coast AQMD Awards $34.2M to Replace, Clean Up Diesel School Buses. The South Coast Air Quality Management District awarded $32.9 million to Southern California school districts on Friday to help them purchase clean-burning buses to replace older diesel school buses in their fleets. The AQMD also awarded $1.3 million to enable districts to retrofit their diesel school buses with particulate matter traps that reduce diesel emissions. Posted. http://www.stnonline.com/home/latest-news/4867-south-coast-aqmd-awards-342m-to-replace-clean-up-diesel-school-buses CARB-approved DPF recalled after another brush fire. The recent product recall of a diesel particulate filter was issued after a three-acre brush fire in early August – the second fire started by a particular make and model built by Cleaire Advanced Emission Controls. According to the California Air Resources Board, which announced the recall last week, a three-acre brushfire was ignited Aug. 4 after the failure of a LongMile diesel particulate filter. LongMile is made by San Diego-based Cleaire. Posted. http://www.landlinemag.com/Story.aspx?StoryID=24384 FUELS Alternative fuel delivery approved for New Jersey after Sandy. U.S. biofuel providers are being allowed to reroute critical supplies to New Jersey to help alleviate shortages caused by Hurricane Sandy, two U.S. Senators said Tuesday. A barge bearing 17.6 million gallons of fuel should arrive into New Jersey by Thursday following an easing of rules approved by Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson that had been requested by U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg and Sen. Robert Menendez, both Democrats from New Jersey. Posted. http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/06/storm-sandy-biofuels-idUSL1E8M66GG20121106 Food waste from Marin restaurants may soon be generating electricity. A big chunk of the commercial food waste that central Marin County produces could soon be diverted from landfills and converted into methane gas for electricity generation. The Central Marin Sanitation Agency in San Rafael expects to complete about $250,000 in upgrades to its treatment plant by January to allow it to process food waste and more caustic fats, oil and grease. An on-site power station at the plant already produces enough electricity from sewage-generated methane to run the plant for 12 hours a day. Adding food waste would make the plant's methane digester more efficient. Posted. http://www.mercurynews.com/california/ci_21935299/food-waste-from-marin-restaurants-may-soon-be Pacific Ethanol to separate corn oil at Stockton plant. Low-carbon ethanol producer and marketer Pacific Ethanol Inc. announced Monday it will implement a high-tech system to separate out corn oil at its plant in Stockton. Pacific Ethanol (NASDAQ: PEIX) has awarded a contract to Edeniq Inc. to implement the Visalia-based company’s patented oil separation technology at the plant by the second quarter of 2013. In June, Sacramento-based Pacific Ethanol said it intends to implement corn oil separation at each of its ethanol plants. Posted. http://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/news/2012/11/05/pacific-ethanol-corn-oil-separation.html Fuel economy of new vehicles sold hits record high. The average fuel economy of new vehicles purchased in the United States hit a record-breaking high last month, according to research by the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI). The average window-sticker value of all new cars, light trucks, minivans and SUVs purchased in October was 24.1 mpg, up from 23.8 mpg in September. Last month's fuel economy levels mark a 20 percent increase, or a 4 mpg improvement, from October 2007, when UMTRI began its recording project. Posted. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2012/11/06/9 BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY HIGH-SPEED RAIL State panel vote may clear path for high-speed rail land deals. A vote today at the state Capitol could clear the way for buying land needed for high-speed rail right of way through the central San Joaquin Valley. The state Public Works Board, which includes the directors of the state's Finance, General Services and Transportation departments, will meet at 10 a.m. to consider streamlining the purchase of about 1,100 parcels along the California High-Speed Rail Authority's proposed train route between Madera and Bakersfield. Posted. http://www.fresnobee.com/2012/11/05/3055711/state-panel-vote-may-clear-path.html GREEN ENERGY Calif. initiative could send $2.5B to clean energy. California voters will decide today whether to approve a ballot measure that would change how some businesses are taxed and use half of an expected $1 billion annually in new state revenues to fund clean energy. Proposition 39 would mandate that all businesses operating in California pay taxes based on their in-state sales. Under current law, companies can chose that method or one that also factors in buildings and workers in the Golden State. The change is expected to produce that $1 billion yearly in new proceeds. Posted. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2012/11/06/3 BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY MISCELLANEOUS Diablo Canyon nuke plant quake study is opposed. California Coastal Commission staff members have opposed an offshore earthquake survey near the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant, saying it could disturb and even kill marine animals. The commission was expected to vote Nov. 14 on a request by Pacific Gas & Electric Co. to conduct the survey over hundreds of square nautical miles off the San Luis Obispo County coast. Posted. http://www.sfgate.com/business/energy/article/Diablo-Canyon-nuke-plant-quake-study-is-opposed-4012753.php#ixzz2BTEKuo3n State receives federal grant for Santa Susana field lab cleanup. The California Department of Toxic Substance Control, tasked with overseeing the cleanup of the polluted Santa Susana Field Laboratory, received a $5.6 million grant from the Energy Department to aid in the work. The DOE owns the part of the land at the 2,850-acre former test site that was home to 10 experimental nuclear reactors. Rocket engine testing took place in different areas on the property that sits in the hills south of Simi Valley. The land is now contaminated with chemical and radiological materials. Posted. http://www.vcstar.com/news/2012/nov/05/state-receives-federal-grant-for-santa-susana/?print=1 Brazilian, U.S. firms to launch world's largest biofuel marketer. Brazil's Copersucar and U.S. Company Eco-Energy announced Monday that they are linking their ethanol operations to create the largest biofuel marketer in the world. The two firms together control 12 percent of the global market for ethanol, with a combined supply capacity of 2.6 billion gallons (10 billion liters) of biofuel per year, the partners said in a press release. Brazil makes ethanol from sugar, while U.S. producers use corn as raw material. http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2012/11/05/brazilian-us-firms-to-launch-world-largest-biofuel-marketer/#ixzz2BSzb2dR9 OPINIONS Geoengineering is the answer to climate change. Unless it isn’t. Is it time to get serious about geoengineering our way out of climate change? Dozens of schemes have been devised to cool the planet. We could launch a vast fleet of ships to whiten the clouds by spraying salt mist, or squirt sulfuric acid into the stratosphere to reflect the sun. Send a swarm of mirrors into deep space. Engineer paler crops. Fertilize the oceans. Cover the world’s deserts in shiny mylar. Spread cloud-seeding bacteria. Release a global flock of micro-balloons. Posted. http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/geoengineering-is-the-answer-to-climate-change-unless-it-isnt/2012/11/05/aef1c418-073d-11e2-858a-5311df86ab04_story.html Letters: The war on global warming. Re "Where the shore used to be," Nov. 4. The decade from 2001 to 2010 holds the record for the most Category 5 Atlantic hurricanes: eight. In 2005, Hurricane Katrina destroyed much of New Orleans and severely damaged other cities on the Gulf Coast. Now we have Sandy, which has caused tens of billions of dollars in damage in New York and New Jersey. Will this decade break the previous record? How many more hurricanes and tornadoes must occur before the governments of the world admit that "we have met the enemy, and he is us," as Pogo famously proclaimed? Posted. http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/letters/la-le-1106-tuesday-sandy-jersey-shore-20121106,0,7309883.story Frankenstorms fed by climate change triple whammy. It was the day the ocean came ashore. As Hurricane Sandy lurched into the East Coast, we watched in horror as floodwaters crippled Manhattan and inundated more than 70 percent of Atlantic City. This Frankenstorm has given us a hair-raising look at the power of nature - and the harm and heartbreak it can inflict. But as a scientist, I think it's critical to understand these disasters are becoming more unnatural. The terrifying truth is that we face a future full of Frankenstorms because of manmade climate change. Posted. http://www.sacbee.com/2012/11/06/4964132/frankenstorms-fed-by-climate-change.html#storylink=cpy Nov. 6 Readers' letters: Cap and trade, Hurricane Sandy and voting by mail Clean energy doesn't have to be a trade-off. Our region didn't get to the top of the cleantech sector by accident. ("San Jose ranks No. 1 in cleantech," Page 2C, Oct. 25) Silicon Valley boasts savvy entrepreneurs and forward-looking venture capital firms. We also have a valuable asset that cities outside the state lack: policies aimed at strengthening the clean-energy economy while cleaning up the environment. Posted. http://www.mercurynews.com/opinion/ci_21935946/nov-6-readers-letters-cap-and-trade-hurricane?source=rss BLOGS Prepare for Warm World, Says PwC. One of the main goals of the international efforts to fight to climate change is to prevent global temperature from rising over two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Such a temperature change would cause dramatic changes to the earth’s climate and have deadly consequences by way of increased extreme weather recurrences. Governments recognized that goal at the United Nations-sponsored Copenhagen meeting three years ago –one of the minor outcomes of a summit that had triggered huge expectations for a global, binding treaty to limit greenhouse gas emissions. Posted. http://blogs.wsj.com/brussels/2012/11/06/prepare-for-warm-world-says-pwc/ How Natural Gas Kept Some Spots Bright and Warm as Sandy Blasted New York City. As New York City and other communities buffeted, flooded or darkened by the remains of Hurricane Sandy consider steps beyond the immediate recovery, officials, business owners and residents would be wise to spend time examining places where the power did not fail. That's the essence of the approach to post-disaster review suggested last week by the meteorologist William Hooke, a senior policy fellow at the American Meteorological Society. Posted. http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/11/05/how-natural-gas-kept-some-spots-bright-and-warm-as-sandy-blasted-new-york/?src=twr&pagewanted=print U.S. Fuel Economy Is at All-Time High, Researchers Say. University of Michigan researchers said Monday that new cars and light trucks sold in the United States in October had the highest average fuel economy ever recorded on American vehicles — 24.1 mpg combined. Michael Sivak, one of the researchers, said in a telephone interview that new vehicle sales showed a four mile-per-gallon gain from October 2007 to October 2012, an improvement of about 20 percent. Posted. http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/11/06/u-s-fuel-economy-is-at-all-time-high-researchers-say/