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ARB Newsclips for July 12, 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

Salinas growers asked to oppose AB 32. Salinas was the stop
Wednesday for an activist’s road show against California’s “cap
and trade” emissions regulation. The Pacific Legal Foundation, a
national nonprofit that advocates for limited government, made a
stopover in Salinas to brief mostly agricultural interests on its
lawsuit to halt implementation of Assembly Bill 32, the state law
that established so-called carbon credits for emitters of
greenhouse gases. Posted.
http://www.thecalifornian.com/article/20130711/BUSINESS/307110014/Salinas-growers-asked-oppose-AB-32?nclick_check=1


AIR POLLUTION

Hong Kong Pollution Kills 1,600 Prematurely: Study Finds. Hong
Kong’s air pollution caused more than 1,600 premature deaths in
the first half of the year, almost 40 times the number of
fatalities attributed to the H7N9 avian flu virus, according to a
study by the Clean Air Network. The air pollution also cost
HK$18.7 billion ($2.4 billion) in the six months ended June
30…Posted.
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/2013-07-11/emissions-a-concern-after-nuclear-plant-shutdown


Study: Air pollution causes over 2 million deaths a year. Global
air pollution contributes to the premature deaths of more than 2
million adults each year, according to new research. In a study
published Friday in the journal Environmental Research Letters,
scientists used a number of mathematical models to estimate the
effects of fine particulate matter -- tiny particles, or soot,
that penetrate deep into the lungs -- and ozone, the main
component of smog. Posted.
http://www.latimes.com/news/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-air-pollution-causes-more-than-2-million-deaths-a-year-20130711,0,3387516.story#


Emissions a concern after nuclear plant shutdown. The first
legislative hearing on the permanent closure of the San Onofre
nuclear power plant focused on the shutdown's impact on
California's greenhouse gas emissions, leaving discussion on how
the plant will be safely decommissioned for future meetings.
Posted.
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/2013-07-11/emissions-a-concern-after-nuclear-plant-shutdown
 

S. Cal smog agency to consider fire pit regs. Sparks may fly
Friday as Southern California's regulators decide whether to
restrict beach fire pits. The South Coast Air Quality Management
District board is scheduled to consider a staff proposal to
prohibit fire rings within 700 feet of homes. That would force
relocation or removal of dozens of rings but it's an alternative
to completely banning them. The proposal also would include a
pilot program to fuel the rings with gas instead of wood. There
are more than 750 beach fire pits in Los Angeles and Orange
County. Posted.
http://www.fresnobee.com/2013/07/12/3384590/s-cal-smog-agency-to-consider.html#storylink=cpy

http://www.voiceofoc.org/countywide/this_just_in/article_e0528086-e9f7-11e2-96ec-0019bb2963f4.html

http://www.vcstar.com/news/2013/jul/12/s-cal-smog-agency-to-consider-fire-pit-regs/


CLIMATE CHANGE

Climate change report: Weather, rising seas imperil power plants.
Power plants across the country are at increased risk of
temporary shutdown and reduced power generation as temperatures
and sea levels continue to rise and water becomes less available,
the Energy Department said Thursday. By 2030, there will be
nearly $1 trillion in energy assets in the Gulf Coast region
alone at risk from increasingly costly extreme hurricanes and sea
level rises, according to an Energy Department report on the
effects of climate change on energy infrastructure. Posted.
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-pn-climate-change-weather-energy-20130711,0,3279077.story


Climate change will disrupt energy supplies, DOE warns. How does
climate change affect energy supplies? A new government report
says rising temperatures make it more difficult for some power
plants to operate and sea level rise threatens others. U.S.
energy supplies will likely face more severe disruptions because
of climate change and extreme weather, which have already caused
blackouts and lowered production at power plants, a government
report warned Thursday. Posted.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/07/11/climate-change-energy-disruptions/2508789/


Prominent Dem prepares climate bill as others seek business
support for carbon tax. Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) is crafting
a climate bill that would cap greenhouse gases on upstream
emitters while providing payments to the U.S. public, a design
that's meant to deflate attacks about its effect on rising energy
prices. The cap-and-dividend bill will be similar to a measure
that Van Hollen introduced at the height of climate action in
2009…Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1059984277/print BY
SUBSCRIPTION ONLY

Past is prologue for climate threats to energy – report. Energy
and climate change are intertwined, a fact that the Obama
administration recently acknowledged with plans to regulate
greenhouse gas emissions from generators. Experts note, however,
that shifting rainfall, heat waves and storms have severe
consequences for the energy sector, as well. The Department of
Energy issued a report yesterday definitively linking certain
energy infrastructure…Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1059984293/print BY
SUBSCRIPTION ONLY

FUELS

EPA Delay on Greenhouse Gas Biofuel Rules Tossed by Court. A
decision by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to delay for
three years making rules to curb carbon dioxide emissions from
biofuels was thrown out by the U.S. Court of Appeals in
Washington. The EPA failed to spell out what the delay, known as
the deferral rule, would accomplish, according to a 2-1 ruling by
a three-judge panel. Posted.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2013-07-12/epa-delay-on-greenhouse-gas-rules-for-biofuels-tossed-by-court.html


Natural Gas Gains in Survey on Outlook for Hotter U.S. Weather.
Natural gas futures may climb next week as hotter weather boosts
demand for the power-plant fuel, a Bloomberg survey showed. Seven
of 14 analysts, or 50 percent, predicted that futures will
advance on the New York Mercantile Exchange through July 19. Six,
or 43 percent, said gas will decline and one predicted prices
will stay the same. Last week, 42 percent of participants said
gas would fall. Posted.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2013-07-12/natural-gas-gains-in-survey-on-outlook-for-hotter-u-s-weather.html


Brazil Ethanol Producers Get $167 Million Aid to Combat Drought.
Brazil is preparing to disburse 380 million reais ($167 million)
of subsidies to ethanol mills in the northeast by 2014 to renew
sugar-cane crops and help growers recover from the worst drought
in five decades. Companies in the region will be eligible for 20
centavos of government funds for every liter of fuel they sold in
the domestic market during the 2011-12 harvest season…Posted.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2013-07-12/brazil-ethanol-producers-get-167-million-aid-to-combat-drought.html


Ethanol Strengthens Against Gasoline on Higher Production Costs.
Ethanol strengthened against gasoline on concern that higher
pre-harvest corn prices are boosting production costs for
producers of the biofuel. The spread, or price difference,
narrowed 2.15 cents to 55.24 cents a gallon as corn for July
delivery rose to the highest level since February. The grain is
the primary ingredient used to make ethanol in the U.S., with one
bushel making at least 2.75 gallons of the fuel. Posted.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2013-07-11/ethanol-strengthens-against-gasoline-on-higher-production-costs.html


State regulator says oil industry's use of acids to unlock shale
reserves is safe. The state’s top oil regulator told lawmakers
Tuesday that Californians have nothing to fear about an oil
production stimulation practice known as acidization that is
expected to become much more broadly used as producers seek to
extract billions of barrels of previously unrecoverable shale oil
reserves. Posted.
http://www.vcstar.com/news/2013/jun/18/state-regulator-says-oil-industrys-use-of-acids/?print=1


California considers tighter safety standards for oil refineries.
California might tighten regulations on how oil refineries are
run if the state follows through on a 257-page report prompted by
the August 2012 explosion and fire at Chevron Corp’s refinery in
Richmond, east of San Francisco. The fire created a vaporized
plume that spread to surrounding communities. Posted.
http://www.centralvalleybusinesstimes.com/templates/print.cfm?ID=23796


Fracking and energy exploration connected to earthquakes, say
studies. The rivers of water pumped into and out of the ground
during the production of natural gas, oil and geothermal energy
are causing the Earth to shake more frequently in areas where
these industrial activities are soaring, according to a series of
studies published today. While the gas extraction process known
as hydraulic fracturing (aka "fracking") causes some small
quakes…Posted.
http://www.nbcnews.com/science/fracking-energy-exploration-connected-earthquakes-say-studies-6C10604071


Texas regulators take to the skies to monitor oil and gas
emissions. Environmental regulators in Texas are conducting
flyovers across 22 counties in a summer sweep of oil and gas
producers. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality is
deploying helicopters laden with infrared video equipment
designed to detect volatile organic compounds and other
hydrocarbons. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/energywire/stories/1059984256/print BY
SUBSCRIPTION ONLY

VEHICLES

GM promises higher-mileage vehicles, emissions cuts. General
Motors pledged Thursday to double its number of models that get
at least 40 miles per gallon on the highway by 2017 and said it
would cut the emissions its U.S. vehicles produce 15% by 2016.
The efforts are part of GM's broader push to become a more
environmentally sustainable company. The company surprised
environmental groups earlier this year when it became the first
automaker to sign a declaration asserting that going green is
good for business. Posted.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2013/07/11/gm-higher-mileage-lower-emissions/2510145/


GREEN ENERGY 

House Passes $30.4 Billion Energy-Water Spending Measure.
Government spending on renewables and other green energy programs
would be halved and incandescent light bulbs dropped from federal
regulation under the fiscal 2014 Energy-Water Development
appropriations bill passed today in the House. The 227-198 vote
on H.R. 2609 was largely along party lines. Posted.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2013-07-11/house-passes-30-4-billion-energy-water-spending-measure.html


States Defend Clean-Energy Mandates Targeted by Conservatives.
State legislatures from North Carolina to Kansas rejected efforts
to repeal or reduce renewable-energy mandates sought by
conservative groups funded by oil companies and utilities. None
of the 26 bills to roll back requirements passed before most
state legislature sessions ended, according to a July 9 report
from Colorado State University’s Center for the New Energy
Economy. Posted.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2013-07-11/house-passes-30-4-billion-energy-water-spending-measure.html


EU Offshore Wind Installation Rate Doubles as Siemens Leads Way.
The installation rate of offshore wind turbines in Europe doubled
in the first half of the year, with Siemens AG (SIE) machines
taking the bulk of the market. A total of 1,045 megawatts of
capacity of wind turbines were connected at sea, compared with
523.2 megawatts in the year-earlier period, the European Wind
Energy Association said today in an e-mailed report. Posted.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2013-07-12/eu-offshore-wind-installation-rate-doubles-as-siemens-leads-way.html

OPINIONS

Do Unto Exxon as You Would Do Unto Yourself. Last week’s
resolution on climate change by the General Synod of the United
Church of Christ has garnered mostly admiring attention from the
news media. But I must admit to a degree of perplexity and sorrow
over the document, which seems to place the blame for our heavy
use of fossil fuels on the companies that produce them -- not the
consumers who demand them. Posted.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-11/do-unto-exxon-as-you-would-do-unto-yourself.html


The E.P.A. May Get a Boss After all. Earlier this week, Senator
David Vitter, a Louisiana Republican, said that he would drop his
threat of a filibuster and allow an up-or-down vote on Gina
McCarthy, President Obama’s nominee to lead the Environmental
Protection Agency. This is welcome news, not just for the agency
but for the planet. More than any other federal official, Ms.
McCarthy will be responsible for carrying out Mr. Obama’s promise
to confront the threat of climate change. Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/12/opinion/the-epa-may-get-a-boss-after-all.html?pagewanted=print


California state government fixes the heat wave! Having just
recently concluded my first stretch of 100 degree plus weather in
Sacramento (today it's only 99), people have asked me how I've
been holding up. Being from Portland, Oregon most recently, this
kind of heat is a rumor. In fact, I would say that the typical
summer temperature in Portland is 66, a number that is just warm
enough to make you sweat in a fleece, but makes you cold if you
don't have a fleece. Posted.
http://www.sacbee.com/2013/07/09/5555751/california-state-government-fixes.html#storylink=cpy


BLOGS

How climate change makes it harder to keep the lights on. Coal
plants are shutting down because of a lack of cooling water.
Hydropower dams are struggling to generate electricity because
reservoir levels are dropping. Western wildfires are damaging
power lines, causing blackouts in cities like San Diego. A
recreational boat cruises Lake Mead, the reservoir created by the
Hoover Dam. Posted.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/07/11/heres-how-climate-change-will-make-it-harder-to-keep-the-lights-on/


Worldwide Air Pollution Deaths Per Year Number Over 2 Million,
New Study Claims. Air pollution may be responsible for more than
2 million deaths around the world each year, according to a new
study. The study estimated that 2.1 million deaths each year are
linked with fine particulate matter, tiny particles that can get
deep into the lungs and cause health problems. Exposure to
particle pollution has been linked with early death from heart
and lung diseases, including lung cancer, the researchers said;
meanwhile…Posted.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/12/outdoor-air-pollution-deaths-yearly-annually_n_3586153.html