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newsclips -- ARB Newsclips for July 1, 2013.
Posted: 01 Jul 2013 14:21:49
ARB Newsclips for July 1, 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. CAP AND TRADE New Compliance Association Unites California Offset Project Developers. The latest cap-and-trade development to come out of California is reflective of the Golden State’s reputation as the prevailing leader in domestic climate policy. The newly-minted Compliance Offset Developers Association (CODA) is an alliance of six project developers…Posted. http://www.ecosystemmarketplace.com/pages/dynamic/article.page.php?page_id=9803§ion=news_articles&eod=1 AIR POLLUTION Beijing Advises Reduced Outdoor Activities as Smog Blankets City. Beijing advised the young, elderly and ill among its 20 million people to avoid outdoor activities as a U.S. Embassy pollution monitor showed air quality at “unhealthy” levels in the Chinese capital. Concentrations of PM2.5, fine air particulates that pose the greatest health risk…Posted. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-01/beijing-advises-reduced-outdoor-activities-as-smog-blankets-city.html California EPA to focus on improving enforcement in target areas. The state Environmental Protection Agency is forming a new working group focused on improving enforcement of environmental laws in communities that face particularly hazardous pollution problems. Secretary Matthew Rodriquez said in a statement Friday that creating the working group will “ensure that California communities disproportionately affected by pollution are given particular consideration.” Posted. http://voices.mydesert.com/2013/06/28/california-epa-to-focus-on-improving-enforcement-in-target-areas/ CLIMATE CHANGE Calif.'s Sierra a 'living lab' for climate change. In parts of California's Sierra Nevada, marshy meadows are going dry, wildflowers are blooming earlier and glaciers are melting into ice fields. Scientists also are predicting the optimal temperature zone for giant sequoias will rise hundreds and hundreds of feet, leaving trees at risk of dying over the next 100 years. As indicators point toward a warming climate…Posted. http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_CLIMATE_CHANGE_SIERRA?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT http://www.sfgate.com/news/science/article/Calif-s-Sierra-a-living-lab-for-climate-change-4637806.php http://www.contracostatimes.com/breaking-news/ci_23577191/sierra-living-lab-climate-change http://www.vcstar.com/news/2013/jun/29/califs-sierra-a-living-lab-for-climate-change/#ixzz2XoFa3ji1 Obama says climate change is make-or-break issue. President Barack Obama is trying to frame climate change as a make-or-break political issue, urging Americans to vote only for those who will protect the country from environmental harm. He says people in the United States already are paying a price for climate change, including in lost lives and hundreds of billions of dollars. Posted. http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_OBAMA_CLIMATE_CHANGE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/obama-asks-americans-to-declare-they-wont-vote-for-those-who-dont-act-on-climate-change/2013/06/29/1c5e6e2c-e0a3-11e2-a0de-145598a7b2b7_story.html http://www.modbee.com/2013/06/29/2785489/obama-make-climate-change-a-must.html#storylink=cpy Germany blocks EU carbon cap to protect automakers. Germany has blocked a European Union agreement on capping car carbon emissions because the deal could have cost jobs and harmed its domestic auto industry, officials said Friday. The blunt admission that Europe's biggest economy put business interests before environmental standards is at odds with Germany's image as a champion of green issues. Posted. http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_GERMANY_EU_AUTO_EMISSIONS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT El Nino Was Unusually Active in Possible Link to Climate Change. The El Nino weather pattern that can bring drought to Australia and rain to South America was “unusually active” at the end of the 20th century, possibly due to climate change, a University of Hawaii study found. Researchers studied 2,222 tree-ring records as proxies for temperature and rainfall over the past 700 years, the university wrote in an online statement dated yesterday. Posted. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-01/el-nino-was-unusually-active-in-possible-link-to-climate-change.html Should giant sequoias be watered? Scientists ponder impacts of climate change across Sierra. In parts of California’s Sierra Nevada, marshy meadows are going dry, wildflowers are blooming earlier and glaciers are melting into ice fields. Scientists also are predicting the optimal temperature zone for giant sequoias will rise hundreds and hundreds of feet, leaving trees at risk of dying over the next 100 years. As indicators point toward a warming climate…Posted. http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/energy-environment/should-giant-sequoias-be-watered-scientists-ponder-impacts-of-climate-change-across-sierra/2013/06/29/e0bc5dda-e0bf-11e2-a0de-145598a7b2b7_print.html Drought conditions threaten Sacramento River salmon. In a sign of growing drought in California, state officials recently took the unusual step of loosening environmental water quality rules in hopes of protecting salmon in the Sacramento River. The move illustrates how drought forces difficult trade-offs in modern-day California, where water supplies are stretched to the limit even in normal years. Posted. http://www.sacbee.com/2013/06/27/5527560/drought-conditions-threaten-sacramento.html#storylink=cpy EPA sends climate rule to White House. EPA just hit the accelerator in its push to fulfill President Barack Obama’s climate promises. The agency has sent the White House a new draft of its proposed greenhouse gas rule for future power plants, POLITICO learned Monday — less than a week after Obama announced he was ordering the Environmental Protection Agency to undertake a huge effort to throttle carbon pollution from the power industry. Posted. http://www.politico.com/story/2013/07/epa-climate-rules-white-house-93612.html#ixzz2XoxOt2Xa Years of Lobbying Helped Transportation Fuels Industry Win Exemptions From California’s Climate Rules. For four years oil companies, airlines and ground transportation industry groups have petitioned California for exemptions from the state’s cap-and-trade greenhouse gas market, saying consumers would take the hit through higher prices at the pump and in stores. And in court they are still arguing that the state lacks the regulatory authority to compel participation. Posted. http://sfpublicpress.org/climatechange Climate Change for the GOP. It’s time for a conservative alternative to liberal alarmism. President Barack Obama’s climate agenda announced last week represents the latest of many Democratic party efforts to address climate change. Although it includes no new legislation, the president’s plan makes unprecedented use of executive branch powers and offers a great many things that appeal to core Democratic constituencies. Implemented in full, the new power plant carbon rules…Posted. http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/climate-change-gop_738063.html DIESEL EMISSIONS EU Seeks Monitoring of Ship Emissions to Spur Global Curbs. European Union regulators proposed monitoring greenhouse gases from ships starting in 2018 in a plan to encourage global curbs on maritime pollution tied to climate change. The draft law would oblige the owners of ships larger than 5,000 gross tons using EU ports to report annual discharges of carbon dioxide, the main gas blamed for global warming. Posted. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2013-06-28/eu-monitoring-of-ship-emissions-proposed-to-spur-global-curbs.html http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/28/eu-shipping-co-idUSL5N0F33VH20130628 FUELS Fracking critics unhappy with Obama climate speech. President Barack Obama's speech this week on climate change forcefully rejected some key arguments made by opponents of natural gas fracking, upsetting some environmental groups that otherwise back his climate goals. Obama, in his address Tuesday calling for urgent action to address climate change, praised what he called "cleaner-burning natural gas"…Posted. http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_GAS_DRILLING_OBAMA_SPEECH?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT U.S. says oil market can cope with more Iran export cuts. The top U.S. energy official said world oil markets could cope with further cuts in Iran's oil exports from tighter sanctions over its nuclear program as rising supply from the United States and Iraq offsets the loss. U.S. lawmakers are embarking this summer on a campaign to deal a deeper blow to Iran's diminishing oil exports, and analysts say the ultimate goal could be a near total cut-off. Posted. http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/01/us-energy-usa-idUSBRE9600EE20130701 U.S. is not waging 'war on coal': Energy Secretary Moniz. The U.S. government is not waging a "war on coal" but rather expects it to still play a significant role, U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said on Sunday, rejecting criticism of President Barack Obama's climate change plan. Obama tried last week to revive his stalled climate change agenda, promising new rules to cut carbon emissions from U.S. power plants and other domestic actions including support for renewable energy. Posted. http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/30/us-energy-usa-coal-idUSBRE95T0J120130630 Analysis: Shale oil storm blows U.S. tanker trade out of doldrums. Thanks to the U.S. shale energy boom, the once-quiet niche of U.S.-flagged oil tankers is in unprecedented flux. A half-dozen vessels that typically carried gasoline to Florida are now rushing crude oil along the Texas coast. Major investment at the port of Corpus Christi, which now exports more than half of all Eagle Ford shale oil, suggests more to come even as new pipeline projects promise further market shifts. Posted. http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/01/us-usa-tankers-jonesact-analysis-idUSBRE96004K20130701 Report rebuts a concern about Keystone XL tar-sands oil. Tar-sands oil for the Keystone XL pipeline is no more likely to cause leaks than other types, a new study finds. The type of crude oil that would be pumped through the Keystone XL pipeline is no more likely to corrode pipelines or heighten the chance of leaks than other kinds of petroleum…Posted. http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-keystone-pipeline-20130629,0,2006401.story White House has coal country on the defensive. After several years of taking a beating from the poor economy, new pollution rules and a flood of cheap natural gas, the coal industry was on the rebound this year as mining projects moved forward in the Western U.S. and demand for the fuel began to rise, especially in Asia. But almost overnight, coal is back on the defensive, scrambling to stave off a dark future amid President Barack Obama's renewed push to rein in climate change. http://www.sfgate.com/business/energy/article/White-House-has-coal-country-on-the-defensive-4640513.php Fracking near Shafter raises questions about drilling practices. One afternoon last fall, Tom Frantz cradled a video camera in his hand and pointed it at an oil well on the edge of this San Joaquin Valley farm town. Workers shuffled amid trucks and drilling equipment, preparing the site for hydraulic fracturing – fracking, for short – the controversial drilling method that has the potential to spark an economic boom in California and perhaps even free the state from foreign oil. Posted. http://www.sacbee.com/2013/06/30/5534452/fracking-near-shafter-raises-questions.html http://www.modbee.com/2013/06/30/2786458/fracking-near-shafter-raises-questions.html#storylink=cpy New electric system may make carbon capture more efficient – MIT. Using electricity instead of heat, researchers have developed a potentially cheaper, more energy-efficient system to capture carbon dioxide from power plants and factories. The process, called Electrochemically Mediated Amine Regeneration (EMAR), is easier to retrofit on existing fossil fuel generators and industrial emitters than conventional scrubbing methods. Posted. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1059983716/print BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY Obama plan highlights natural gas industry's methane dilemma. When President Obama unveiled plans to address climate change last week, the announcement was widely regarded as a boon for the natural gas industry (EnergyWire, June 26). Obama's plan seemed to accept natural gas as a key intermediary power source as the nation moves away from high-emitting coal. But some are challenging gas's climate benefits. Posted. http://www.eenews.net/energywire/stories/1059983705/print BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY VEHICLES Company fleets pave the way for alternative transportation. Neapolitan Express food trucks are fueling New Yorkers with piping hot pizza and now delivering less emissions, too, as they switch from running on diesel to natural gas. Dish Network service vans across the country are similarly lowering their carbon footprint by converting to propane. And today thousands of General Electric employees are getting to work in plug-in hybrid vehicles. Posted. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1059983708/print BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY GREEN ENERGY Column: Are consumers ready to be empowered by smart power meters? Used right, the new generation of smart power meters could cut peak electricity consumption by up to 20 percent, avoiding the need to construct 2,000 new power plants across the United States. Installing them, however, is the easy part. The industry faces years of battling to convince consumers to use them to change the way they use electricity…Posted. http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/01/us-column-kemp-smart-meters-idUSBRE9600QH20130701 At one Army base, a vision for a new shade of green. Maj. Gen. Dana J.H. Pittard, as commander at Ft. Bliss, moves to cut energy use, increase recycling, conserve water and more. To him, it's a matter of security. The endless desert that makes up Ft. Bliss looks a lot like places where the United States fought its recent wars or where it might fight its next one. Tanks are manned by soldiers whose faces are wrapped against the blowing sand. Dust devils rise, stagger and fall to the desert floor. Posted. http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-green-army-20130701,0,6233025,print.story RIVERSIDE COUNTY: Spending formula created for solar fee. Twenty-five percent of the money gained through fees on Riverside County solar energy projects will be spent in areas directly affected by those projects, according to a new funding formula. The formula unanimously approved by the county Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, June 25, calls for 75 percent of the money to go to the county’s general fund, which pays for the bulk of public services. Posted. http://www.pe.com/local-news/politics/jeff-horseman-headlines/20130630-riverside-county-spending-formula-created-for-solar-fee.ece Clean energy leaders see 'loophole' in new energy strategy. Clean energy advocates praised a proposed new World Bank energy financing blueprint that restricts new coal lending but warned that it includes a loophole large enough to allow a controversial lignite-fired power plant in Kosovo to still go forward. The draft strategy obtained by ClimateWire moves on issues long embraced by environmentalists: Posted. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1059983714/print BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY MISCELLANEOUS Obama nominates Colo. energy regulator to FERC. President Barack Obama on Thursday nominated the former head of Colorado's Public Utilities Commission to chair the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Ronald Binz sat on Colorado's utilities commission from 2007 to 2011 and helped oversee efforts to reduce Colorado's reliance on coal-fired utility plants and increase the state's use of renewable energy. Posted. http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_FERC_CHIEF?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT Western governors unveil 10-year energy 'vision.' Western governors have unveiled a regional 10-year energy "vision" that stresses cooperation among states in interstate projects such as transmission lines, increased oil production and modernization of pipeline infrastructure. At the same time, the document released by the Western Governors Association calls for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, protecting wildlife and supporting technologies that reduce water demand. Posted. http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/jun/30/western-governors-unveil-10-year-energy-vision/ It’s official, Davis is California’s ‘Coolest’ city. Three cities were honored Thursday at an award ceremony before the California Air Resources Board, wrapping up a yearlong CoolCalifornia Challenge in which thousands of households in cities across the state competed for the biggest citywide carbon footprint reduction. Known for its longtime commitment to environmental sustainability, the city of Davis was crowned the state’s “Coolest California City” by the Air Resources Board out of eight cities that began the competition. Posted. http://www.davisenterprise.com/local-news/davis-tapped-as-coolest-california-city/ OPINIONS COLUMN-China CO2 growth has turned a corner: Gerard Wynn. The relentless growth in China's carbon emissions looks to have peaked and started to slow, in part simply because of a cooling economy but also the result of new targets to curb pollution and climate change. China alone emitted more than a quarter of global carbon dioxide last year, and in the past decade has accounted for two-thirds of the net annual growth in global emissions. Posted. http://www.reuters.com/assets/print?aid=USL5N0F10UD20130701 Storytelling science illuminates climate views. What's the moral of the story? A hero you like seems to shape our understanding of news stories, shows a scientific experiment with climate science news stories. Who's your hero? Superman? Batman? The Environmental Protection Agency?The answer may say something about how you read news stories about climate change…Posted. http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/columnist/vergano/2013/06/29/climate-categories-news/2471945/ Stuck in Purgatory. President Obama’s new regulatory agenda on climate change will face inevitable legal and political challenges. But in all fields — not just energy and the environment but health, safety and labor — one of the most formidable obstacles to reform has been the administration’s own resistance to finalizing new rules, even when it has expressed support for the causes those rules would address. Posted. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/01/opinion/stuck-in-purgatory.html?_r=0 Editorial: Climate protection needs a champion. During his February State of the Union address, President Barack Obama asked Congress to send him legislation to reform immigration, reduce gun violence and combat climate change. Immigration legislation is happening, at least in the Senate. Gun violence legislation has stalled. Congress has done nothing on climate change. Posted. http://www.sacbee.com/2013/06/30/5532833/editorial-climate-protection-needs.html#storylink=cpy On pipeline, obama makes like keystone cop. The key backdrop to the speech is the “brown revolution” — the sharp gains in U.S. fossil-fuel production in recent years. This is primarily due to a newly refined drilling process called hydraulic fracturing, in which underground water cannons guided precisely by advanced sensors blast away rocks and allow access to previously unreachable natural gas and oil reserves. Posted. http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/jul/01/tp-on-pipeline-obama-makes-like-keystone-cop/ Green Desert: Huge solar project just the start of changes. I was in an aisle seat so it was only by coincidence that I happened to look out of the window of my flight back from San Antonio on Sunday and see BrightSource Energy’s Ivanpah solar project — three 459-foot-tall solar towers, surrounded by 300,000 reflecting mirrors, or heliostats. At 30,000 feet or so, one can’t actually see the towers and mirrors. Posted. http://www.mydesert.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2013306290015 Obama is right on climate change. The goals President Barack Obama set out Tuesday in his Climate Action Plan -- including cutting pollution from coal plants and aggressively pursuing clean energy alternatives -- won't solve all the challenges of climate change, but they are a big first step in protecting the planet from its worst effects. Posted. http://www.cnn.com/2013/06/28/opinion/field-obama-climate-change Editorial: A war on climate change. Climate change is surely the looming disaster of our time. Scientists say it’s inevitable that sea levels will rise 2 1/2-6 1/2 feet — sufficient to endanger or wipe out many cities. One scientist believes that in the long-term, 69 feet of sea level rise is inescapable. And the source of the swelling oceans — rising temperatures — will stress the nation’s food system…Posted. http://www.freep.com/article/20130630/OPINION01/306300083/climate-change-obama-carbon-cap BLOGS LA orders up to 25 electric buses for transit duty in car-loving city. The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) has signed a contract with BYD Motors for up to 25 new all-electric buses, of a $30-million clean air bus technology pilot project. This is the first time Metro has purchased and placed into revenue service any all-electric buses and is giving the transit agency an opportunity to determine whether electric buses can meet LA's rigorous transit needs. Posted. http://green.autoblog.com/2013/07/01/la-orders-up-to-25-electric-buses-for-transit-duty-in-car-loving/ Tesla officially gets behind White House petition to allow direct EV sales. A Tesla fan's petition to the White House – asking the federal government to "allow Tesla Motors to sell directly to consumers in all 50 states" – is gaining official traction. Over the weekend, Tesla Motors sent out an email to supporters asking them to add their name. Posted. http://green.autoblog.com/2013/07/01/tesla-officially-gets-behind-white-house-petition/ Reducing Greenhouse Gases and Promoting Sustainability in the Global Economy. When the EPA finally begins to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, as promised by President Obama last week, one impact will be a reduction of coal consumption here in the United States. Unfortunately, that doesn't mean that we will mine less coal or burn less of it. Instead of mining coal and burning it locally, we will simply export the coal to China…Posted. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/steven-cohen/reducing-greenhouse-gases_b_3528216.html?view=print&comm_ref=false