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newsclips -- ARB Newsclips for December 5, 2013.

Posted: 05 Dec 2013 15:12:06
ARB Newsclips for December 5, 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

Large Companies Prepared to Pay Price on Carbon. More than two
dozen of the nation’s biggest corporations, including the five
major oil companies, are planning their future growth on the
expectation that the government will force them to pay a price
for carbon pollution as a way to control global warming. The
development is a striking departure from conservative orthodoxy
and a reflection of growing divisions between the Republican
Party and its business supporters. Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/05/business/energy-environment/large-companies-prepared-to-pay-price-on-carbon.html?_r=0&pagewanted=print


AIR POLLUTION

Air pollution tied to slight reduction in birth weight. Women who
were exposed to air pollution during pregnancy tended to give
birth to slightly lighter babies, in a new study from New York
City. A series of studies has suggested air pollution may be
harmful during pregnancy, but the issue remains unresolved. "We
had an opportunity to use a unique data resource in New York City
that was designed to estimate exposure throughout the city, which
allowed us to improve on past studies…Posted.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/12/05/us-air-pollution-idUSBRE9B40Z020131205


Hong Kong Central Roadside Pollution Surges to Toxic Levels. 
Nitrogen dioxide readings jumped in Hong Kong at two roadside
pollution monitoring stations, reaching concentrations at which
it becomes a toxic gas. The reading in the downtown district of
Central was 231.8 micrograms per cubic meter at 3 p.m. local
time, data from the Environmental Protection Department show. The
gas can cause significant inflammation of the airways once
concentration levels exceed 200 micrograms, according to the
Geneva-based World Health Organization. Posted.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-12-04/hong-kong-roadside-pollution-spikes-to-toxic-levels-in-central.html


Group divided over how to cut Washington emissions. Gov. Jay
Inslee stood with the governors of California and Oregon and a
Canadian province official several weeks ago and agreed to put a
price on greenhouse gas pollution and mandate the use of
cleaner-burning fuels. Environmental groups cheered the news, and
the climate deal got wide media attention. But the governor faces
a tougher sell in Olympia as he tries in coming months to
persuade lawmakers to back some of his more ambitious
carbon-reducing ideas. Posted.
http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/Group-divided-over-how-to-cut-Washington-emissions-5034843.php


Coastal areas once seen as CO2 sources are now carbon sinks –
study. Scientists have identified the ocean as a crucial part of
balancing the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, but it
may provide more potential than previously thought as a place to
store the greenhouse gas. A study published yesterday in the
journal Nature shows that coastal portions of the ocean are now
absorbing CO2, instead of emitting the gas as previously
calculated. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/stories/1059991365/print BY
SUBSCRIPTION ONLY

CLIMATE CHANGE

Temperature limit too high to avoid climate change: study. An
internationally agreed target to limit rises in global average
temperatures to within 2 degrees Celsius is around double the
threshold that would avoid catastrophic climate change, a study
by 18 eminent scientists said. Governments decided in 2009 that
such temperature increases needed to be no more than 2 degrees C
(3.6 Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels to avoid effects
such as more extreme weather, higher sea levels and ocean
acidification. Posted.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/12/04/us-climate-temperature-idUSBRE9B218020131204


Diseases on the move because of climate change. Software engineer
Andres Chavez is used to doing things quickly, efficiently and
correctly. So he knew something was seriously wrong when, on a
business trip in 2009, he was so confused he could barely sign a
stack of paperwork. "I felt like I was living a quarter-second in
the past," he says of the onset of Valley Fever, a disease caused
by a soil fungus. Posted.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/12/04/climate-change-disease/2623863/


Weak RFS will lead to massive emissions spike -- trade group. 
U.S. EPA's controversial proposed revisions to the federal
renewable fuel standard (RFS) could pump up to 35 million
additional tons of carbon dioxide into the air from the
transportation sector, according to a biotechnology trade group
that will testify at a public hearing today.  Using estimates for
next year's fuel consumption and greenhouse gas models from EPA
and Argonne National Laboratory…Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1059991327/print BY
SUBSCRIPTION ONLY

Public lands emit far more carbon than they absorb – analysis.
Public lands emit nearly five times more greenhouse gases than
they absorb, according to a new analysis from a left-leaning
think tank. That's because there's far more carbon dioxide
released from burning coal, oil and natural gas taken from public
lands than is absorbed by national forests, grasslands and
coastal ecosystems, the Center for American Progress said.
Posted. http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/stories/1059991348/print
BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY

DIESEL EMISSIONS

Dozens of Solano farmers, business owners object to air rules.
Air quality regulations handed down from the California Air
Resources Board (ARB) are quite the contentious topic in Solano
County. More than 30 people, mostly small-business owners and
farmers, attended a town hall meeting Wednesday evening hosted by
Assemblyman Jim Frazier, D-Solano, to express their concerns
about costly regulations to the state and to Mary Nichols, who
chairs the air board. Posted.
http://www.thereporter.com/news/ci_24659191/dozens-solano-farmers-business-owners-object-air-rules


Emissions from heavy-duty diesel engines plummet – study.
Emissions of nitrogen dioxide, fine particulate matter and other
air pollutants from heavy-duty diesel engines are down
significantly, even surpassing the targets required by U.S. EPA
and the state of California, according to a new study. Emissions
testing of heavy-duty diesel engines from three major
manufacturers found that overall emissions of nitrogen dioxide --
which contributes to the formation of smog -- were down 99
percent compared with 2004 engines and were 61 percent below a
2010 EPA standard. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/stories/1059991362/print BY
SUBSCRIPTION ONLY

FUELS

Oil refineries, environmentalists clash over plans. To oil
company Valero, adding rail lines to its Benicia refinery
represents a way to tap cheap, domestic crude by train, cutting
costs and tanker traffic on the bay. To environmentalists
mobilizing to stop the project, it's a potential entry point for
low-grade oil from Canada's tar sands, and a possible health
threat. Posted.
http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/Oil-refineries-environmentalists-clash-over-plans-5035759.php


Environmentalists to NY: Scrap liquefied gas plans. Environmental
groups Wednesday delivered thousands of comments critical of New
York's proposed liquefied natural gas regulations and demanded
the state withdraw the proposals and start over.
The regulations would allow LNG fueling and storage facilities in
New York for the first time since 1973, when the state imposed a
moratorium following an LNG facility explosion on Staten Island
that killed 40 workers. Posted.
http://www.sacbee.com/2013/12/04/5970580/environmentalists-to-ny-scrap.html#storylink=cpy


HIGH-SPEED RAIL

California bullet train project handed another setback. Federal
regulators refuse to exempt a segment of proposed track from
review, likely delaying the project and driving up costs. In
another key setback to the California bullet train project,
federal regulators have rejected the state's request to exempt a
large Central Valley segment of proposed track from a lengthy
planning review. The action affects part of a 29-mile rail
section to be built near Fresno, where state officials have
already awarded a construction contract. Posted.
http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-bullet-feds-20131205,4290748,7717219,print.story


GREEN ENERGY

Obama to feds: Boost renewable power 20 percent. Saying the
government should lead by example, President Barack Obama is
ordering the federal government to nearly triple its use of
renewable sources for electricity by 2020. Obama says the plan to
use renewables for 20 percent of electricity needs will help
reduce pollution that causes global warming, promote American
energy independence and boost domestic energy sources such as
solar and wind power that provide thousands of jobs. Posted.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_OBAMA_RENEWABLE_ENERGY?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


OTHER RELATED STORIES
http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/Obama-to-feds-Boost-renewable-power-20-percent-5036791.php


Top 10 Green Stories. See the rest of TIME’s Top 10 of Everything
2013 lists here. Posted.
http://science.time.com/2013/12/04/science-and-space/slide/top-10-green-stories/#ixzz2mdE0JSB3


MISCELLANEOUS

Recycling success threatens funding for San Jose school. One of
14 conservation corps programs in the state, the San Jose
Conservation Corps Charter School is a product of the 1986
"bottle bill" that launched statewide recycling efforts. But
funds from the deposit shoppers pay on cans and on soda and water
bottles are at risk of drying up in June, the school's Executive
Director Bob Hennessy said. While conservation corps schools
receive attendance-based funding handed out to all public
schools, they also has get CalRecycle revenue. Posted.
http://www.mercurynews.com/education/ci_24654134/recycling-success-threatens-funding-san-jose-school


OPINIONS

Another View: Court rulings create insurmountable barrier to
high-speed rail project. The Sacramento Bee editorial board’s
contention that the court rulings on California’s high-speed rail
project don’t effectively kill it (“Rail ruling is a setback, but
it’s not a golden spike,” Nov. 27) reminds me of the scene in
“Monty Python and the Holy Grail” where the knight who has just
had all four of his limbs severed says, “Just a flesh wound.”
Posted.
http://www.sacbee.com/2013/12/05/5971157/another-view-court-rulings-create.html#storylink=cpy


Viewpoints: Beyond the stench of ‘rooster sauce’ Last week, a Los
Angeles Superior Court judge ordered the Irwindale plant that
produces the highly popular “rooster sauce” Sriracha to cease
operations that could be emitting odors that are “extremely
annoying, irritating and offensive to the senses, warranting
consideration as a public nuisance.” Too bad the judge didn’t
apply the same logic to the city government of Irwindale and shut
it down, too. Posted.
http://www.sacbee.com/2013/12/05/5971161/viewpoints-beyond-the-stench-of.html#storylink=cpy


BLOGS

China Chases Renewable Energy as Coast Chokes on Air.  New
figures in China show the country adding clean, renewable
electricity generation faster than it is expanding capacity of
more polluting sources. But change can’t happen fast enough for
residents in eastern China, who are now choking on soupy air
associated with coal-burning plants more often associated with
the country’s north. Led by hydropower, renewable energy sources
made up 57% of newly installed electricity-generating capacity
during the first 10 months of 2013…Posted.
http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2013/12/06/china-chases-renewable-energy-as-coast-chokes-on-air/


What surprises could climate change have in store for us? There
are a few different ways that global warming could unfold in the
decades ahead. The world might heat up steadily and predictably,
giving humans and other species time to adjust. Or we could see
large, abrupt changes that are extremely difficult to adapt to.
It's that latter prospect in particular that worries many climate
experts. Posted.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/12/04/what-surprises-could-climate-change-have-in-store-for-us/


Study: Pollution and certain genes increases chance of autism in
children. The risk for autism is heightened when children who
have a certain gene mutation connected with the disorder are
exposed to high pollution, according to a new study by scientists
at USC’s Keck School of Medicine. Previous studies by USC
researchers Heather Volk and Daniel Campbell found links between
autism and air pollution exposure for pregnant women and infants.
Posted.
http://www.scpr.org/blogs/education/2013/12/05/15312/study-pollution-and-certain-genes-increases-chance/


Climate Change Consequences Are Just Around the Corner. Climate
change is evolving rapidly from a risk to be avoided to a reality
to be mitigated. Despite a coordinated global campaign to reduce
carbon emissions in the U.S. and other countries, too little
progress has been made. The measures that have been passed – like
higher auto fuel efficiency standards and tighter emissions rules
for new power plants – will slow the rise of carbon…Posted.
http://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/economic-intelligence/2013/12/05/a-new-report-details-the-near-term-consequences-of-global-warming

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