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newsclips -- ARB Newsclips for August 26, 2013.
Posted: 26 Aug 2013 14:10:51
ARB Newsclips for August 26, 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 Plan would offer carbon offsets to timber owners. Older mid-Willamette Valley landowners selling timber from their forest lands to pay for health care could get an alternative soon. An Oregon conservation group has proposed a health initiative linking landowners with carbon offset buyers, getting money to the older owners for health care costs while more effectively managing their timber. Posted. http://www.sacbee.com/2013/08/24/5677931/program-offer-carbon-offsets-to.html#storylink=cpy http://www.vcstar.com/news/2013/aug/24/plan-would-offer-carbon-offsets-to-timber-owners/#ixzz2d5fJOdyT AIR POLLUTION Air board will start monitoring pollution next to SoCal freeways. Under EPA requirements, monitors will be installed at four sites, providing data about what the 1 million Southern Californians who live within 300 feet of a freeway are breathing. Air quality regulators will begin monitoring pollution levels near major Southern California traffic corridors next year, for the first time providing data important to nearly 1 million Southern Californians who are at greater risk of respiratory illness because they live within 300 feet of a freeway. Posted. http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-freeway-pollution-20130826,0,709429.story http://www.sacbee.com/2013/08/26/5681516/smog-monitors-to-be-installed.html http://www.sacbee.com/2013/08/26/5680372/epa-takes-action-against-smog.html http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/Smog-monitors-to-be-installed-near-S-Cal-freeways-4761164.php http://www.modbee.com/2013/08/26/2884933/smog-monitors-to-be-installed.html#storylink=cpy http://www.insidebayarea.com/breaking-news/ci_23928015/bay-areas-most-congested-freeways-get-air-pollution?IADID=Search-www.insidebayarea.com-www.insidebayarea.com A look at findings of Pa. fracking health project. An environmental project is providing some of the first specific numbers about people who may have been affected by the boom in natural gas drilling. Here's what the Southwest Pennsylvania Environmental Health Project has found in Washington County south of Pittsburgh and how experts and the industry are reacting to it:- Air pollution seems to be more of a threat than water pollution. Posted. http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_GAS_DRILLING_HEALTH_GLANCE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT OTHER RELATED STORIES http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/Fracking-health-project-puts-numbers-to-debate-4759572.php http://www.sacbee.com/2013/08/25/5679413/a-look-at-findings-of-pa-fracking.html http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/fracking-health-project-puts-numbers-to-debate-suggests-air-pollution-may-be-bigger-concern/2013/08/25/596d1134-0da2-11e3-a2b3-5e107edf9897_story.html http://www.salon.com/2013/08/26/frackings_real_health_risk_may_be_from_air_pollution/ http://www.vcstar.com/news/2013/aug/25/a-look-at-findings-of-pa-fracking-health-project/#ixzz2d5etgX00 Wayne State study seeks to cut mercury pollution. Scientists at Wayne State University are using a $557,000 grant to develop a system for reducing the amount of poisonous mercury that power plants pump into the air when they burn fossil fuels. The Detroit school says the Great Lakes Protection Fund is paying for the 2-year project, directed by engineering professor Carol Miller.Wayne State says Miller's team will "refine, test and market"…Posted. http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/Wayne-State-study-seeks-to-cut-mercury-pollution-4760193.php http://www.sacbee.com/2013/08/25/5680044/wayne-state-study-seeks-to-cut.html Valley may be near meeting air standard, avoiding fine. The San Joaquin Valley's first Air Alert of the year has ended with zero violations of an ozone pollution standard, meaning the Valley may be closer than ever to meeting that standard and ditching a $29 million annual penalty. The Air Alert was called as hot temperatures earlier this week, combined with back-to-school traffic, boosted levels of harmful ozone. Posted. http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130823/A_NEWS/308230318&cid=sitesearch&template=printart Events canceled as Calif. fires send smoke to Nev. Dense smoke from major California wildfires continued to pour into the Reno-Lake Tahoe area Saturday, causing event cancellations to mount and local health officials to expand pollution warnings into Tuesday. The latest weekend events scrubbed included a fundraising outdoor concert for cancer patients in Carson City, an outdoor family concert and a star-gazing party in the Minden area, and a Nevada-USF women's soccer game in Reno. Posted. http://www.vcstar.com/news/2013/aug/24/events-canceled-as-ca-wildfires-send-smoke-to-nv/#ixzz2d5gGegDx Feds satisfied with Butte County winter pollution levels. Butte County's air is now clean enough of one kind of pollution to satisfy the federal government. Thursday the Environmental Protection Agency issued a determination the county has met small particulate pollution air quality standards. The finding had been expected. Small particulate pollution are microscopic bits of ash and soot, byproducts of combustion, that can drift in the air for hours. Posted. http://www.chicoer.com/breakingnews/ci_23929697/feds-satisfied-butte-county-winter-pollution-levels CLIMATE CHANGE Ocean Acidification Will Make Climate Change Worse. Given that they cover 70% of the Earth’s surface—and provide about 90% of the planet’s habitable space by volume—the oceans tend to get short shrift when it comes to climate change. The leaked draft of the forthcoming coming new report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change highlighted the atmospheric warming we’re likely to see…Posted. http://science.time.com/2013/08/26/ocean-acidification-will-make-climate-change-worse/ DIESEL EMISSIONS CARB Will Hold Carriers Responsible for Dispatching Non-Compliant Owner Operators. Businesses that dispatch vehicles or owner operators in California must verify that each contracted vehicle is in compliance with the California Truck & Bus regulation or has reported compliance to the California Air Resources Board. This requirement applies to all motor carriers, whether based in California or not. Posted. http://www.truckinginfo.com/news/story/2013/08/carb-will-hold-carriers-responsible-for-dispatching-non-compliant-owner-operators.aspx FUELS Canadian Documents Suggest Shift on Pipeline. Ever since President Obama said in June that a litmus test for the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada was whether it would “significantly” worsen global warming, Canadian government officials have insisted it would not. Posted. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/26/business/global/canadian-documents-suggest-shift-on-pipeline.html?ref=earth Students press schools to drop fossil fuel stocks. San Francisco State moved this summer to divest. But the UC system and others express concern about the financial impact. In the 1980s, student protests against apartheid led universities to sell off stocks in companies doing business in South Africa. More recently, concerns about genocide in Darfur, the health effects of tobacco and handgun violence led to more college divestments. Now another issue — the effect of fossil fuels on global temperatures…Posted. http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-college-divest-20130826,0,4449441.story Utah oil refinery settles pollution violations. Another Utah oil refinery has reached a settlement with federal regulators over pollution violations. The U.S. Department of Justice and the Environmental Protection Agency announced Friday that Big West Oil LLC has agreed to pay a $175,000 fine and cut emissions of soot, nitrous oxide and sulfur dioxide. Big West Oil operates a refinery in North Salt Lake. It agreed to spend $18 million to update emission controls, plus $353,000 to improve the monitoring of potential hydrofluoric acid releases. Posted. http://www.sacbee.com/2013/08/23/5675666/utah-oil-refinery-settles-pollution.html#storylink=cpy Obama position on fracking leaves both sides grumbling. President Barack Obama’s embrace of fracking is earning wrath from environmentalists but little love from the oil and gas industry. Obama praised the U.S. natural gas boom in a recent climate change speech and credited it with delivering cleaner energy. The boom is a result of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking…Posted. http://www.sacbee.com/2013/08/23/5676140/obama-position-on-fracking-leaves.html#storylink=cpy Acidizing could rival fracking in Monterey Shale. Fracking hasn't unleashed an oil production boom in California, at least not yet. Could acid? Companies trying to pry oil from a vast shale formation beneath Central California have been pumping powerful acids underground to dissolve the rock and free the petroleum within. And there are hints that the process, known as "acidizing" a well, may work better than hydraulic fracturing in California's Monterey Shale…Posted. http://www.sfgate.com/green/article/Acidizing-could-rival-fracking-in-Monterey-Shale-4760329.php Sales of E85 to flex-fuel vehicles on the rise. More gas stations are selling gasoline containing up to 85 percent ethanol, or E85, to owners of flex-fuel vehicles this year, according to renewable fuel groups. In Iowa, sales of fuel to flex-fuel vehicle owners jumped 43 percent in the second quarter of 2013, the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association said last week. Gas stations in the Hawkeye State sold 2.62 million gallons of E85 in the second quarter…Posted. http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/stories/1059986447/print BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY VEHICLES Top 15 Nissan LEAF markets in US in 2013. Nissan provided a list of the top 15 markets in the US for the Nissan LEAF battery-electric vehicle. Nissan LEAF sales in the United States are up by 335% year-over-year since the launch of the enhanced 2013 model in March. (Earlier post.) Nissan has sold 11,703 LEAFs in the US during the first 7 months of 2013—an increase of 230% from the 3,543 units for the same period in 2012. Posted. http://www.greencarcongress.com/2013/08/20130826-leaf.html GREEN ENERGY New York's choice is a natural one. Now that President Barack Obama and Gov. Andrew Cuomo have toured New York, it is worth considering the goals we should have for the 21st century, the role natural gas could play and what is broadly at stake. The world is watching New York. As the Earth's population grows from 7 billion to 10.5 billion, meeting future energy goals requires that the global energy supply expand from 15 terawatts to 75 terawatts. Posted. http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/New-York-s-choice-is-a-natural-one-4760496.php Environmentalists push cities to compost more food. The morning after Felicity Britton threw a big party for 65 people at her condo, her trash can was virtually empty. All that remained were a few plastic bags and a broken wine glass. Everything else was recycled or composted. In her Linden Hills neighborhood, the city of Minneapolis collects food scraps from residents and composts them. Posted. http://www.sacbee.com/2013/08/25/5672427/environmentalists-push-cities.html#storylink=cpy Ygrene seeks green in energy retrofits. Nearly two years after it launched amid national media attention, Santa Rosa's Ygrene Energy Fund has financed its first projects for making older buildings green. The company, which fashioned its business after a program pioneered by the County of Sonoma, is providing financing and administration to retrofit homes and commercial buildings in Sacramento and Miami. Posted. http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20130825/business/130829783?title=Ygrene-seeks-green-in-energy-retrofits Western wind, solar could compete with gas in 2025 -- DOE study. Renewable wind and solar power could be cost-competitive with natural gas in Western states without subsidies in 2025, when current state renewable energy standards are set to expire, according to a new federal study. The study by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory found that wind and solar power from remote lands in Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico…Posted. http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/stories/1059986414/print BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY MISCELLANEOUS Reform of CEQA requires compromise. A bill to update the California Environmental Quality Act, which often hampers Development in the state, has passed the Senate and is being debated in the Assembly. California's economy is crawling back, but the state still suffers from a national reputation for being anti-business. It's a high-tax state. But even worse for entrepreneurs and investors, California is known as a "no build" zone because of an agonizing maze of regulatory red tape. Posted. http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-cap-environment-20130826,0,810524.column?track=rss OPINIONS Is Green the New Black? It's not surprising that Al Gore put on weight after he lost that election. The guy has more whoppers than a Burger King. Yesterday we noted that in an interview with the Washington Post's Ezra Klein, Gore had misrepresented the content of his own movie by characterizing his outlandish "climate change" doomsaying as having been merely an accurate prediction of last year's weather. Posted. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324165204579030964264137216.html?KEYWORDS=global+warming The Ethanol Mandate and the Interests of Consumers. Cellulosic ethanol's time is just beginning. It will lower gasoline prices and extend the supply. Your editorial "Put A Corn Cob in Your Tank" (Aug. 17) calls cellulosic ethanol a failure and asserts that oil companies are being forced to blend a nonexistent fuel. The Journal also claims that ethanol blending increases pump prices. Whether you like ethanol or not, it certainly doesn't increase gas prices. Posted. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324165204579028860222562386.html?KEYWORDS=fuels Air board plans big gift to PG&E, other utilities. Congratulations, PG&E. Recent attention has focused on how much PG&E will be fined for the 2010 pipeline explosion in San Bruno. After months of controversy, the California Public Utilities Commission proposed last month that the fine be $300 million, not counting expenditures on past and future safety measures. Posted. http://www.sfgate.com/opinion/openforum/article/Air-board-plans-big-gift-to-PG-amp-E-other-4760292.php Air board finds a way to profit on emission goals. If you've been pummeled by California's confiscatory taxes before, this would be a good time to duck. A sucker punch is being thrown by the California Air Resources Board, under the guise of regulating carbon dioxide. The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, known as AB32, requires the air board to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in California to 1990 levels by 2020. Posted. http://www.sfgate.com/opinion/openforum/article/Air-board-finds-a-way-to-profit-on-emission-goals-4760293.php Dan Walters: Steinberg's bills show his visions for California. Five years ago, Darrell Steinberg carried into law a sweeping revision of California's local land-use rules, aimed at creating what the legislation called "sustainable communities." His legislation, Senate Bill 375, is still reverberating as all 58 counties and more than 400 cities, plus regional planning bodies, revise their land-use policies to emphasize high-density… Posted. http://www.sacbee.com/2013/08/26/5680375/dan-walters-steinbergs-bills-show.html#mi_rss=Dan%20Walters#storylink=cpy BLOGS Should Canada and the U.S. Strike an Energy and Environment Pact? Should Washington and Ottawa be discussing an integrated energy and environment pact, modeled after the historic free-trade agreement between the two countries clinched in the late 1980s? That would reduce uncertainty among oil and gas investors eyeing the North American market, according to a study released Monday. But such discussions aren’t likely to unfold between the governments until there’s a “crisis”…Posted. http://blogs.wsj.com/canadarealtime/2013/08/26/should-canada-and-the-u-s-strike-an-energy-and-environment-pact/tab/print/?KEYWORDS=CLIMATE+CHANGE Outlook for cap-and-trade brightens in California. As the federal government gets started implementing a national Climate Action Plan, the country’s boldest state-level experiment is making strong progress. California last week announced the results of its latest auction of carbon pollution permits, completely selling out of permits for future carbon pollution for the first time. Posted. http://www.greenbiz.com/blog/2013/08/26/california-cap-and-trade-program-makes-encouraging-headway-see-more-httpinsightswr Is climate change humanity’s greatest-ever risk management failure? Humans are generally very risk-averse. We buy insurance to protect our investments in homes and cars. For those of us who don’t have universal healthcare, most purchase health insurance. We don’t like taking the chance — however remote — that we could be left unprepared in the event that something bad happens to our homes, cars, or health. Posted. http://grist.org/climate-energy/is-climate-change-humanitys-greatest-ever-risk-management-failure/ How hospitals can help fight climate change. Primum non nocere. The Latin phrase, meaning “First, do no harm,” is a core tenet taught to aspiring medical professionals. It most commonly applies to physicians to ensure they do nothing that could potentially hurt a patient, but the healthcare sector has begun applying it in a broader context — specifically, to fight climate change. Posted. http://grist.org/climate-energy/how-hospitals-can-help-fight-climate-change/ Michelin tires help green up Yellowstone National Park. Indeed, the tiremaker has donated more than 1,400 tires to the National Park Service since 2008, enough so that the NPS has saved around $300,000 in annual expenses for its 800-vehicle fleet. Moreover, Michelin says its tires help cut Yellowstone vehicles' greenhouse-gas emissions in a number of ways. Posted. http://green.autoblog.com/2013/08/25/michelin-tires-help-green-up-yellowstone-national-park/