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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/


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