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newsclips -- ARB Newsclips for August 1, 2013.
Posted: 01 Aug 2013 13:45:13
ARB Newsclips for August 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 California says no to linking emissions schemes. The head of the Californian emissions trading scheme – which will ultimately become the world's third largest – says the US state has no plans to link with Australia's carbon price. Mary Nichols, chairman of the California Air Resources Board and recently named one of TIME Magazine's 100 most influential people in the world, said the state introduced a scheme this year to place a limit on its greenhouse gas emissions…Posted. http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/california-says-no-to-linking-emissions-schemes-20130801-2r0wi.html#ixzz2ajhcJsvD http://www.eco-business.com/news/california-says-no-linking-emissions-schemes/ AIR POLLUTION Air quality from California wildfire could deteriorate by weekend, officials say. FRESNO, Calif.-Wildfire smoke continues to drift into California's San Joaquin Valley, causing soot levels to climb, but the problem could get worse by the weekend, local air-quality leaders say. A high pressure system is expected to settle into the region by Saturday, possibly allowing soot and ozone levels to spike as they did earlier this week, according to the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District. Posted. http://www.sacbee.com/2013/07/31/5613674/air-quality-from-california-wildfire.html#storylink=cpy http://www.fresnobee.com/2013/07/31/3417489/wildfire-smoke-spreads-in-valley.html http://www.bakersfieldnow.com/news/health/Wildfires-to-the-north-causing-unhealthy-air-in-Kern-County-217808341.html http://www.contracostatimes.com/california/ci_23768352/ http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130731/A_NEWS/130739981&cid=sitesearch Oregon smoke affecting air quality. Air quality in San Luis Obispo County is being affected by smoke from wildfires burning in Southwestern Oregon, according to a warning issued Wednesday by the County Air Pollution Control District. APCD officials said smoke traveling down the coast from Oregon is impacting California coastal communities. The greatest impacts in San Luis Obispo County are along the coast, where the air quality index was at the moderate…Posted. http://www.lompocrecord.com/mobile/article_355c3eb0-fa6e-11e2-a5be-0019bb2963f4.html http://www.nbcnews.com/id/52634719/ns/local_news-san_luis_obispo_ca/t/prescribed-burn-postponed-due-poor-air-quality/ Chevron fined $284K for pollution law violations. Chevron has agreed to pay a $284,000 fine and help buy four clean-running school buses after inspectors found pollution law violations at a Salt Lake City refinery. The Environmental Protection Agency announced the settlement with the company Wednesday. Inspectors say the refinery's equipment was producing higher levels of nitrogen oxide, which contributes to acid rain and the destruction of ecosystems. Posted. http://www.sbsun.com/ci_23774794/chevron-fined-284k-pollution-law-violations#ixzz2ajewaO97 US bank sued over pollution from coal exports. Environmental activists sued the federal government Wednesday over the exports of Appalachian coal to Europe and Asia, arguing it approved a $90 million loan guarantee to one company without considering the implications for air and water pollution along the transportation route. The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco says communities near the mines, ports and railways that connect them are all affected…Posted. http://www.businessweek.com/ap/2013-08-01/us-bank-sued-over-pollution-from-coal-exports http://www.vcstar.com/news/2013/jul/31/us-bank-sued-over-pollution-from-coal-exports/#ixzz2ajWGWpCd CLIMATE CHANGE A Climate Catch-22: How a Carbon Tax Could Save Coal. Here's coal's Catch-22: A tax on carbon dioxide emissions, which are driving global climate change, would raise the costs of coal-fired power, negating the fuel's price advantage over cleaner sources, like wind and solar power, and reduce its use. On the other hand, a tax could provide the impetus for investing in technologies to capture and store carbon that have largely floundered in the marketplace. That could save coal. Posted. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-01/a-climate-catch-22-how-a-carbon-tax-could-save-coal.html Capitol Alert: Poll finds Californians back climate change fight, skeptical on fracking. An overwhelming majority of Californians believe the state should act to curtail greenhouse gas emissions, according to a new poll, while residents narrowly oppose hydraulic fracturing and support construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. Climate change represents a concrete threat for a majority of Californians…Posted. http://www.modbee.com/2013/07/31/2839363/capitol-alert-poll-finds-californians.html#storylink=cpy http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/aug/01/tp-californians-are-committed-to-global-warming/ http://www.contracostatimes.com/politics-government/ci_23769755/new-poll-californians-want-more-action-climate-change?IADID=Search-www.contracostatimes.com-www.contracostatimes.com http://www.insidebayarea.com/politics-government/ci_23769755/new-poll-californians-want-more-action-climate-change?IADID=Search-www.insidebayarea.com-www.insidebayarea.com http://www.fresnobee.com/2013/07/31/3418644/capitol-alert-poll-finds-californians.html http://www.capradio.org/7840 http://www.scpr.org/news/2013/08/01/38474/poll-californians-like-brown-want-action-on-climat/ http://www.sgvtribune.com/california/ci_23769755/new-poll-californians-want-more-action-climate-change Report: Climate change and California's rising sea levels. More Californians than ever say the state should take action immediately on climate change, according to a new poll from the Public Policy Institute of California. Many of those surveyed believe the effects of climate change are already here, with a quarter of Californians saying their biggest weather worry is flooding or rising seas. Scientists studying sea level rising are working hard to get the rest of society to pay more attention to the issue. Posted. http://www.scpr.org/programs/take-two/2013/08/01/33012/report-climate-change-and-california-s-rising-sea/ DIESEL EMISSIONS Hollande Seeking $10.6 Billion From Diesel Irks Carmakers. As heat waves blanket France this summer, pollution made worse by diesel exhaust is adding to the woes of sweaty Parisians. For six days in July, smog levels hit “highs,” according to Airparif, which monitors air quality around the French capital. Among the culprits: emissions from engines running on diesel, by far the most widely used fuel for vehicles in France and the focus of growing debate about whether it should continue to be taxed less than gasoline. Posted. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-31/hollande-seeking-10-6-billion-from-diesel-irks-carmakers.html Emission regulations classes offered in Lompoc. During the month of August, Allan Hancock College is offering two free courses at the college’s Lompoc Valley center. The college and the Central California Environmental Training Center are offering the classes in collaboration with the California Air Resources Board. Fundamentals of Enforcement, or “Smoke School,” is a three-day course that provides a basic overview of air pollution. Posted. http://www.santamariasun.com/school-scene/10146/emission-regulations-classes-offered-in-lompoc/ FUELS As Keystone stalls, TransCanada OKs bigger East Coast line. TransCanada Corp gave the green light to building a $12 billion oil pipeline to ship Canada's Western oil sands crude to refiners on its east coast and beyond, scaling up the project as its U.S.-bound Keystone XL line remains stalled in Washington. The company said it would move forward with building a 1.1 million barrel per day Energy East Pipeline after "strong market support." Posted. http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/01/us-transcanada-pipeline-idUSBRE9700OZ20130801 HIGH-SPEED RAIL EDC launches high-speed rail business support program. The Economic Development Corporation serving Fresno County has launched a program to give information and assistance to businesses affected by California's high-speed rail project. The new High-Speed Rail Business Support Program comes out of a joint effort by the EDC and both the city and county of Fresno. Posted. http://www.thebusinessjournal.com/news/transportation/7100-edc-launches-high-speed-rail-business-support-program GREEN ENERGY Wind farm back with fix for fallen blade. A desert wind farm supplying electricity to San Diego is back online after the conclusion of a probe into a fallen turbine blade. Turbine manufacturer Siemens found that the detachment of a 170-foot blade at the Ocotillo Wind power plant in May, along with a second blade at an Iowa wind farm April, were the result of insufficient adhesive bonding. Posted. http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/jul/31/ocotillo-wind-farm-returns/ What's the state of solar energy in California? The future of solar energy in California is bright and uncertain. As more and more residential and commercial panels go up, increased energy goes into the small solar-power grid. This has the state’s big utilities worrying about how to pay for the big master grid in years to come. Even though the market for solar power has never been better, the future is still uncertain as the state’s energy policy undergoes major reconstruction this summer. Posted. http://www.newsreview.com/sacramento/what-39-s-the-state-of-solar/content?oid=10848214 U.S. concentrated solar technology launches in China. BrightSource Energy Inc. announced a deal with multiple Chinese groups yesterday to supply Shanghai with the country's first-ever commercial-scale concentrated solar thermal power technology (CSP) project. The deal forms partnerships between BrightSource, located in Oakland, Calif., and the utility China Power Investment Corp. (CPI) and the China Renewable Energy Engineering Institute (CREEI). Posted. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1059985444/print BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY MISCELLANEOUS Barbara Boxer pushes ahead on chemical safety law. Sen. Barbara Boxer seized control of a major overhaul of chemical safety law Wednesday, putting Republicans and moderate Democrats on the defensive and demanding tougher regulation of thousands of industrial chemicals blamed for rising rates of cancer, asthma, early puberty and other maladies. Posted. http://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/Barbara-Boxer-pushes-ahead-on-chemical-safety-law-4699870.php OPINIONS Methane Gas Emissions. To the Editor: Anthony R. Ingraffea’s most recent attack on natural gas (“Gangplank to a Warm Future,” Op-Ed, July 29) is based on flawed research. As Mr. Ingraffea hangs onto his 2011 paper’s assertions about methane controls, science has emerged and passed him by. He conveniently does not mention the Environmental Protection Agency’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory, released in April of this year, which confirms that natural gas production-related methane emissions have actually declined as shale production skyrocketed. Posted. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/01/opinion/methane-gas-emissions.html?_r=0&pagewanted=print Viewpoints: Drill for energy? Yes, for more geothermal. The age of natural gas fracking is upon us, and the debate about how hydraulic fracturing will be done in California has begun. Even assuming conservative estimates of natural gas reserves in the lower 48 states, the United States could easily move from a coal-based electrical portfolio to one that is based on natural gas. So why invest in renewable energies when natural gas is so cheap and for the time being, plentiful? Posted. http://www.sacbee.com/2013/08/01/5613899/drill-for-energy-yes-for-more.html#storylink=cpy California energy efficiency efforts have saved billions. Re "Economist eviscerates a big boast" (Dan Walters, July 29): Citing a recent economic working paper, Dan Walters' column asserts that California's energy conservation rules have had relatively little to do with California's per-capita power use remaining roughly unchanged since 1973, while United States per capita use rose by 50 percent. Posted. http://www.sacbee.com/2013/07/31/5612215/california-energy-efficiency.html#storylink=cpy Two-Stroke Motorcycle Engines. ON THE road, I often see tricycles emitting smoke like an anti-dengue fogging machine. Sometimes these polluters leave a cloud of smoke that result in almost zero-visibility, making the road dangerous for motorists. Worst, the drivers don’t seem to care. How in the world did they pass the LTO emission test? The pollution caused by tricycles cannot be ignored. In fact, a study conducted by the World Bank entitled “Improving Urban Air Quality in South Asia by Reducing Emissions …Posted. http://www.sunstar.com.ph/pampanga/opinion/2013/08/01/pena-two-stroke-motorcycle-engines-295593 Riding to the rescue. ALL through Kings County, in central California, signs cry out: “No to high-speed rail”. They reflect the intensity of opposition across much of the San Joaquin Valley to the $68-billion proposal, the largest-ever infrastructure scheme in a state with a fondness for them, and one of America’s last high-speed-rail plans to survive the age of austerity. The rail link, if completed, is meant to zip between Los Angeles and …Posted. http://www.economist.com/news/united-states/21582556-can-huge-public-works-project-save-san-joaquin-valley-riding-rescue BLOGS The Daily Startup: Carbon Venture Partners to Ride California Cap-and-Trade. Carbon Venture Partners, which opened its doors in April, will aim to help startups and public companies alike navigate the regulatory and legal landscape that has come about with California’s changing environmental laws. The firm is looking to provide funding rounds in return for equity in as many as 20 startups with environmentally friendly technologies over the next year…Posted. http://blogs.wsj.com/venturecapital/2013/08/01/the-daily-startup-carbon-venture-partners-to-ride-california-cap-and-trade/tab/print/