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newsclips -- Newsclips for March 6, 2013.
Posted: 06 Mar 2013 15:34:37
Newsclips for March 6, 2013. ARB Newsclips for March 6, 2013 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 Spare the Air tickets issued to 20 county residents. The 2012-2013 Winter Spare the Air season ended Feb. 28, with a total of 10 Spare the Air Alerts issued by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District. Although the Winter Spare the Air season began in November, stormy weather helped the Bay Area keep a clean slate in the fall of 2012, until a couple of strong, long-term high pressure systems moved in and accounted for nine of the alerts in January, with an additional alert taking place in early February, the district said in a news release. Posted. http://napavalleyregister.com/news/local/spare-the-air-tickets-issued-to-county-residents/article_70cc2606-868b-11e2-85fb-001a4bcf887a.html?print=true&cid=print Winter air quality shows improvement as fewer wood-burning bans issued. The Central Valley’s season of wood-burning curtailments came to an end Feb. 28 with far fewer bans issued because of unhealthy air than in the previous year. The San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District closed the 10th season of the Check Before You Burn program with a more than 50 percent decrease in the number of burn prohibitions issued. For the 2012-13 season, the air district issued 187 curtailments Valley-wide, compared to 381 last season. Posted. http://www.turlockjournal.com/section/12/article/19059/ US scientists report big jump in heat-trapping CO2. The amount of heat-trapping carbon dioxide in the air jumped dramatically in 2012, making it very unlikely that global warming can be limited to another 2 degrees as many global leaders have hoped, new federal figures show. Scientists say the rise in CO2 reflects the world's economy revving up and burning more fossil fuels, especially in China. Carbon dioxide levels jumped by 2.67 parts per million since 2011 to total just under 395 parts per million…Posted. http://www.sbsun.com/ci_22721803/us-scientists-report-big-jump-heat-trapping-co2#ixzz2MmQkeHjU Worst Air in the World Reaches Bay Area. Bay Area residents may be tempted to breathe easy, with the nearest cities with bad air pollution in the Central Valley or an ocean away in Asia. But that air also reaches lungs in the Bay Area, according to Slate, which analyzed the list of the world's worst cities for air quality. The bad smog and air pollution in Beijing has made headlines in the Western world, where "most Americans and Europeans now enjoy cleaner air than they did for much of the last century," Slate reported. Meanwhile, "air pollution is worsening in Asia, claiming millions of lives every year." Posted. http://www.nbcnews.com/id/51057753#.UTeTsXe3Vjc CLIMATE CHANGE Volcanic emissions can have cooling effect – study. Moderate volcanic eruptions can mask some of the effects of global warming, a study showed. While 2000 to 2010 was the warmest decade on record, the planet didn't heat up as much as scientists had expected. According to a new study, detailed online in Geophysical Research Letters, chemicals emitted during volcanic eruptions during the same period could be the reason. Scientist observed an increase in sun-scattering aerosols -- such as sulfur dioxide -- in the atmosphere in the last decade. Posted. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2013/03/06/9 BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY FUELS Gas prices in for bumpy ride. Enjoying those higher gasoline prices? If so, likely you're going to enjoy what's ahead: on July 1 the state's excise tax on gasoline goes up by 3.5 cents a gallon. California motorists may not see the entire hike at the pump. The tax is applied at something called the terminal rack, which is one step along the path from the refineries to the pumps where drivers buy their fuel. Fuel distributors and retailers could decide to eat a portion of the tax, or they could make their retail customers swallow the entire increase. Posted. http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130306/A_OPINION01/303060304&cid=sitesearch Exxon Mobil predicts lower production this year. Exxon Mobil Corp. expects production to decline by about 1 percent this year due to weaker output of natural gas, then rise in the next few years as new projects start up. The oil and gas giant expects annual production to rise by 2 percent to 3 percent per year through 2017. The company gave the forecast Wednesday at its annual meeting with analysts. Posted. http://www.dailynews.com/ci_22729226/exxon-mobil-predicts-lower-production-this-year?IADID=Search-www.dailynews.com-www.dailynews.com http://www.insidebayarea.com/ci_22729226/exxon-mobil-predicts-lower-production-this-year http://www.contracostatimes.com/ci_22729226/exxon-mobil-predicts-lower-production-this-year http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/exxon-mobil-expects-production-to-dip-this-year-on-drop-in-natural-gas-then-rise-next-4-years/2013/03/06/3f7c72f0-8671-11e2-a80b-3edc779b676f_story.html http://www.dailybulletin.com/ci_22729226/exxon-mobil-predicts-lower-production-this-year Japan nuke plant progressing in fuel removal plans. The operator of Japan's tsunami-ravaged nuclear power plant said Wednesday that work was steadily progressing in its plans to remove fuel rods from a cooling pool at the center of international concerns. The Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant suffered meltdowns at three reactors as a result of the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami. Posted http://www.fresnobee.com/2013/03/06/3200752/japan-nuke-plant-progressing-in.html#storylink=misearch#storylink=cpy http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/japans-fukushima-nuclear-plant-says-it-is-making-progress-in-plans-to-remove-fuel-from-pool/2013/03/06/aa5d4fde-8655-11e2-a80b-3edc779b676f_story.html http://www.dailybulletin.com/ci_22728768/japan-nuke-plant-progressing-fuel-removal-plans http://www.sbsun.com/ci_22728768/japan-nuke-plant-progressing-fuel-removal-plans#ixzz2MmRdjU00 VEHICLES CERAWEEK-GM targets 15 pct weight cut in cars through model year 2016. General Motors Co is targeting a reduction in the weight of its vehicles of up to 15 percent through the 2016 model year, the U.S. automaker's top executive said on Wednesday. "We will reduce vehicle mass," Chief Executive Dan Akerson said in a speech he is scheduled to deliver at the IHS CERAWeek energy conference in Houston. "A good rule of thumb is that a 10 percent reduction in curb weight will reduce fuel consumption by about 6.5 percent." Posted. http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/06/ceraweek-gm-ceo-idUSL1N0BXAGB20130306 GREEN ENERGY Solar Panels Rare Amid the Steeples. More than three decades ago, after an energy crisis that gripped the world, a Catholic priest in the Texas city of Lubbock took a stand for the environment. His congregation needed a new church. So the priest, the Rev. Joe James, anchored the building deep in the earth to optimize insulation. He also ordered five wind turbines for the church grounds. The largest was called Big Bird, because it stood 80 feet tall. Posted. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/07/business/energy-environment/07iht-green07.html LEDs will soon light your home. Forget mercury-laden compact fluorescents. The efficient homes of tomorrow will be lit with LEDs. Or so say executives at Cree, a lighting company that has started selling affordable LED lightbulbs that outwardly resemble the traditional, energy-hogging incandescent bulbs of old. Posted. http://grist.org/news/leds-will-soon-light-your-home/ OPINIONS Dan Walters: California bullet train faces new challenges. Facing a looming federal deadline for moving dirt, managers of California's bullet train project are trying to clear away legal and political impediments that threaten to delay the project. They resolved two of the lawsuits that challenged the project on environmental grounds, but two legal requirements - one in federal law, another in the bullet train bond issue - remain as potential hurdles for building the initial line in the San Joaquin Valley. Posted. http://www.sacbee.com/2013/03/05/5239072/dan-walters-california-bullet.html#mi_rss=Dan%20Walters#storylink=cpy Two Enlistees in the Climate Wars. In 2009, President Obama pledged to reduce America’s greenhouse gas emissions by 17 percent from 2005 levels by 2020. Thanks to several factors, the country is halfway there. On Monday, Mr. Obama announced the appointment of two seasoned officials who could fulfill that pledge — but only if the president himself helps them navigate the formidable political obstacles ahead. Posted. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/06/opinion/two-enlistees-in-the-climate-wars.html?_r=0 Editorial: Climate change brings less snow, tending to fall all at once. It does seem that every time some earnest group puts out a report on the dangers of global warming, there’s a major Mother Nature event somewhere the next day. Turns out, there’s an explanation for the seemingly regular appearance of once-in-50-year storms, one that, like most things having to do with climate change, is slightly ominous. Experts say that long-term we are likely to see more giant blizzards in the Northern Hemisphere but less snow overall…Posted. http://www.vcstar.com/news/2013/mar/05/editorial-climate-change-brings-less-snow-to-all/#ixzz2MmM1lcZp Another view: Environmentalists are fighting the wrong battles. President Obama began his second term with a promise to push harder on energy and climate change. The events of the past week remind us that he won't have to contend just with Republicans and coal-state Democrats determined to oppose reasonable measures to combat global warming. He will also have to sidestep environmentalists demanding that he fight the wrong battles. Posted. http://www.dailynews.com/ci_22727526/another-view-environmentalists-are-fighting-wrong-battles?IADID=Search-www.dailynews.com-www.dailynews.com http://www.dailybulletin.com/ci_22727526/another-view-environmentalists-are-fighting-wrong-battles As Carbon Dioxide Levels Continue To Rise, Global Temperatures Are Not Following Suit. New data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration show atmospheric carbon dioxide levels are continuing to rise but global temperatures are not following suit. The new data undercut assertions that atmospheric carbon dioxide is causing a global warming crisis. NOAA data show atmospheric carbon dioxide levels rose 2.67 parts per million in 2012, to 395 ppm. The jump was the second highest since 1959, when scientists began measuring atmospheric carbon dioxide levels. Posted. http://www.forbes.com/sites/jamestaylor/2013/03/06/as-carbon-dioxide-levels-continue-to-rise-global-temperatures-are-not-following-suit/ BLOGS Crowdfunding Clean Energy. If you wanted to get large numbers of people actively engaged in helping to solve global warming, how might you go about it? For years, the main approach in the environmental movement has been to sound the alarm bell and implore people to consume less, switch to green products, recycle, and speak up to companies and politicians. It hasn’t always been an easy sell. However, if the approach of a promising Oakland-based start-up takes hold, there may be another line of action that could become available to ordinary people: directly financing renewable energy. Posted. http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/03/06/crowd-funding-clean-energy/ Learning from the cap-and-trade debate. Two months ago, my report “Naming the Problem: What It Will Take to Counter Extremism and Engage Americans in the Fight Against Global Warming” [PDF] was posted online (along with an important companion report, “The Too Polite Revolution” [PDF], by journalists Petra Bartosiewicz and Marissa Miley). These reports probed what happened with the big push for cap-and-trade legislation in 2009 and 2010, and mine used the results of months of research to place this episode within the larger political trends that have been playing out in U.S. politics in recent years. http://grist.org/climate-energy/learning-from-the-cap-and-trade-debate/