What's New List Serve Post Display

ARB Newsclips for February 4, 2014. 

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.


AIR POLLUTION

Tunnels critic says project violates air pollution laws.  Digging
two massive 35-mile-long water tunnels to siphon Sacramento River
water into the state and federal irrigation systems will violate
air pollution standards, says tunnels critic Burt Wilson of
Sacramento.  And, says Mr. Wilson, the real reason for the water
tunnels has nothing to do with saving farmers from the drought. 
Posted. 
http://www.centralvalleybusinesstimes.com/stories/001/?ID=25126 

Oil sands pollution two to three times higher than thought. The
amount of harmful pollutants released in the process of
recovering oil from tar sands in western Canada is likely far
higher than corporate interests say, university researchers said
Monday.
Actual levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) emissions
into the air may be two to three times higher than
estimated…Posted.
http://news.yahoo.com/oil-sands-pollution-two-three-times-higher-thought-210153802.html


CLIMATE CHANGE

A Hard Climate for Penguins and Butterflies.  Adaptation can be
tricky. Extreme weather is challenging the survival of certain
penguins and butterflies, yet DNA from Neanderthals lives on in
modern humans 30,000 years after they went extinct. It’s enough
to turn a cave man’s eyes blue. Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/04/science/a-hard-climate-for-penguins-and-butterflies.html?_r=0


How the U.S. Exports Global Warming. The greening of American
energy is both real and profound. Since President Obama took
office, the nation's solar capacity has increased more than
tenfold. Wind power has more than doubled, to 60,000 megawatts –
enough to power nearly 20 million homes. Thanks to aggressive new
fuel-efficiency standards, the nation's drivers are burning
nearly 5 billion fewer gallons of gasoline a year than in 2008.
Posted.
http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/How-the-U-S-Exports-Global-Warming-5199969.php


No point in stopping climate change because 'we are not God'
Nestlé Chairman Peter Brabeck-Letmathe said climate change is
mainly due to the Earth's natural cycles and so society should
concentrate on adaptation instead of mitigation. While sitting in
the Swiss mountain ski resort of Davos, after having listened to
the Tanzanian president talk about global warming's devastating
impact on his people…Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1059993952/print BY
SUBSCRIPTION ONLY

DROUGHT

California governor pans Republican water plan in face of
drought. California Governor Jerry Brown, whose state is facing
its worst drought in decades, harshly criticized on Monday an
effort by Congressional Republicans to roll back environmental
rules limiting how much water agencies can pump out of the
fragile San Joaquin-Sacramento River delta in dry years. The
emergency legislation would allow state and federal water
managers to send water to farms and communities... Posted.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/04/us-usa-california-drought-idUSBREA1302920140204


Jerry Brown wants Republicans to back off drought proposal. When
it comes to California's drought, Gov. Jerry Brown has a message
for Republicans in Washington, D.C. -- thanks but no thanks. The
governor, in a letter sent Monday, said a proposal from House
Republicans to alleviate the situation is “an unwelcome and
divisive intrusion into California’s efforts to manage this
severe crisis.” Posted.
http://www.latimes.com/local/political/la-me-pc-california-drought-jerry-brown-20140203,0,1453259.story#ixzz2sNL7Za7H


Drought cuts into state’s hydro power supplies. Never mind the
restrictions on watering your lawn. The drought is drying up
California’s supply of hydroelectricity, prompting SMUD and other
utilities around the state to scramble. With summer’s peak
electricity demand season looming, officials who oversee
California’s power supply say they don’t expect blackouts but are
getting nervous about the meager snowpack. Posted.
http://www.sacbee.com/2014/02/04/6125877/drought-cuts-into-states-hydro.html#storylink=cpy


San Joaquin River restoration flow stopped early to save water.
Federal authorities are shutting down water releases for the San
Joaquin River restoration, making the water available for 30,000
people in small communities who face the possibility of summer
with dry taps. The restoration releases, which began in 2009,
won't resume until at least March 2015, according to the federal
Bureau of Reclamation, owner and operator of Friant Dam at
Millerton Lake. Posted.
http://www.fresnobee.com/2014/02/03/3749022/san-joaquin-river-restoration.html#storylink=cpy


FUELS

UPDATE 1-Obama says Kerry to 'give me a recommendation' on
Keystone project. President Barack Obama made clear he would make
the ultimate call on whether to approve the Keystone XL crude oil
pipeline from Canada, and played down the number of jobs the
project could create in a Fox News interview to air on Monday. In
recent days, officials from the White House and State Department
have emphasized Secretary of State John Kerry's role in
determining whether the $5.4 billion project…Posted.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/03/usa-obama-keystone-idUSL2N0L81L420140203
 

Natural gas plant poised for approval.  Time may have run out for
San Diego to find a clean alternative to constructing a new
natural gas power plant at Otay Mesa. The California Public
Utilities Commission is scheduled to vote Wednesday on whether to
authorize the 300 megawatt Pio Pico plant southeast of San Diego
in unincorporated Otay Mesa. Posted.
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2014/feb/04/pio-pico-poised/ 

Study finds more coal plants threatened by gas and renewables.
Persistent low natural gas prices, the tightening of government
controls on power plant pollutants and sharply dropping costs for
renewable energy have rendered more than 300 coal-fired
generators uneconomical and ripe for retirement, according to a
recent analysis by the Union of Concerned Scientists. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1059993943/print BY
SUBSCRIPTION ONLY

VEHICLES

Green Automotive's e-Patriot Electric Shuttle Bus Benefits from
Attractive Government Incentives.  Green Automotive Company
(OTCQB: GACR) announced last week the launch of its all American
built 100% electric shuttle bus, the e-Patriot, at the upcoming
February 16-18th International LCT Show at the MGM Grand Hotel &
Casino in Las Vegas (www.lctshow.com), one of the largest shuttle
and charter events.  Posted. 
http://online.wsj.com/article/PR-CO-20140204-908514.html   

DOE to award up to $12M for technologies to produce renewable
carbon fiber from biomass.  The US Department of Energy (DOE)
will award (DE-FOA-0000996) up to $12 million in funding to
advance the development of a cost-competitive pathway to produce
high-performance carbon fiber for vehicle lightweighting from
renewable non-food biomass. Reducing a vehicle’s weight by just
10% can improve fuel economy by 6% to 8%.  Posted. 
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2014/02/20140204-doecarbon.html 

HIGH SPEED RAIL

City again seeks payback for high-speed rail work.  The city of
Bakersfield wants the state high speed rail authority to do for
it what it did for Kern County and the city of Fresno -- repay it
for work done on the controversial "bullet train" project.  The
question is when that will happen.  Posted. 
http://www.bakersfieldcalifornian.com/local/x54081502/City-again-seeks-payback-for-high-speed-rail-work


GREEN ENERGY

Branson hosts renewable energy summit in Caribbean. In an effort
to spur small island nations to slash their dependence on fossil
fuels, Caribbean politicians and renewable power experts are
discussing clean energy on British billionaire Richard Branson's
private isle. The CEO of the Virgin Group of companies is hosting
a three-day meeting of political and business leaders at Necker
Island, Branson's home in the British Virgin Islands. Posted.
http://www.modbee.com/2014/02/04/3169602/branson-hosts-renewable-energy.html
  BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY

Why Renewable Energy Won't Save Us from Climate Change. The
growth rates of solar and wind energy may have taken to the sky,
but renewables alone won't stop climate change. Source: NASA.
Renewable energy installations have soared in recent years. Wind
energy has grown at an average rate of 30% since 2007 and now
supplies 3.4% of the nation's electricity. Posted.
http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/Why-Renewable-Energy-Won-t-Save-Us-from-Climate-5198295.php


MISCELLANEOUS

Los Gatos joins 23 other cities in Santa Clara, San Mateo
counties to ban single-use plastic bags.  A ban on single-use
plastic bags at retail stores in Los Gatos went into effect
Monday and patrons will have to either bring a reusable bag or
pay 10 cents for a recyclable paper bag, a city official said.
The Los Gatos Town Council adopted the ordinance on Sept. 3 to
encourage a shift to reusable bags to reduce litter and the
impact that plastic bags have on waterways and marine
life…Posted.
http://www.mercurynews.com/bay-area-news/ci_25058600/los-gatos-joins-23-other-cities-santa-clara


OPINIONS

Drought: Let's make tequila Re "Drought is not an emergency"
(Letters, Feb. 2): Letter writer Bill Kopper stated that the
drought caused by global warming should demand a change in crop
growth here to conserve water. I would suggest that the new crop
would be Agave Cacti for making Tequila so we won't have to
import it from Mexico. The new normal dry climate would be ideal
for this cash crop. Posted.
http://www.sacbee.com/2014/02/02/6122267/feb-22014-letter-from-davis-reader.html#storylink=cpy


Dan Walters: Drought complicates already dicey water politics. A
crisis, it’s been said, is a terrible thing to waste. Economist
Paul Romer originated the aphorism a decade ago, but it’s since
entered the political lexicon. California is facing a water
crisis, the third – and by far the worst – year of drought, with
the all-important Sierra snowpack just 12 percent of normal and
man-made reservoirs drawn down to historically low levels.
Posted.
http://www.sacbee.com/2014/02/04/6125710/dan-walters-drought-complicates.html#mi_rss=Dan%20Walters#storylink=cpy


Is Obama's "All of the Above" Energy Policy Flawed? If we are
looking at the "all of the above" energy stance the U.S. has more
publicly taken in recent years, a debate can be made that the
move has created thousands of jobs despite displacing many in the
coal sector. Another view could also fuel a strong argument that
the move has contributed to climate change, which has magnified
domestic droughts, cold spells…Posted.
http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/Is-Obama-s-All-of-the-Above-Energy-Policy-5198376.php


Keystone XL, a sorry symbol of a continued reliance on fossil
fuels.  The State Department is probably right to conclude, as it
did Friday, that the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline project
would have a negligible effect on climate change. Even though the
extraction of the oil would certainly cause significant
pollution, Keystone XL would be only one of many dirty oil
operations around the world. Posted.
http://www.modbee.com/2014/02/04/3169308/keystone-xl-a-sorry-symbol-of.html
BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY

BLOGS

NASA: 2013 was 7th-hottest year in modern times. NASA scientists
say 2013 tied with 2009 and 2006 for the seventh-warmest year
since 1880, continuing a long-term trend of rising global
temperatures. With the exception of 1998, the 10 warmest years in
the 134-year record all have occurred since 2000, with 2010 and
2005 ranking as the warmest years on record. Posted.
http://blog.ctnews.com/connecticutpostings/2014/02/04/nasa-2013-was-7th-hottest-year-ever/


U.S. Push to Export Dirty Fossil Fuels Parallels Past Action on
Tobacco.  I encourage you to read “How the U.S. Exports Global
Warming,” a fine feature by Tim Dickinson in Rolling Stone
showing how the United States, flush with coal, oil and the dirty
tar sands byproduct petroleum coke, is working hard, from the
White House down, to become a big exporter of carbon. Posted.
http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/02/04/u-s-push-to-export-dirty-fossil-fuels-parallels-past-action-on-tobacco/
 

Hollywood stars drink hydrogen B-Class F-Cell emission water in
Death Valley.  A plug-in electric vehicle can be used to power a
house during a winter storm, but if you're more worried about the
heat of, say, Death Valley, then maybe you'll want a
Mercedes-Benz B-Class F-Cell along. That's the message of a new
video from Daimler and starring Diane Kruger (Inglourious
Basterds) and Joshua Jackson (Fringe) that promotes the company's
hydrogen-powered car. Posted.
http://green.autoblog.com/2014/02/04/hollywood-stars-drink-hydrogen-b-class-f-cell-emission-water/


Future near perfect: How humans can still save the day by 2050. 
Though scientists and environmentalists often feel obligated to
hawk the apocalyptic view of the world-to-come, there is a
neglected version of the future well worth considering: the one
where we win.  British environmentalist Jonathon Porritt is in
the optimism business.  Posted. 
http://grist.org/climate-energy/future-near-perfect-how-humans-can-still-save-the-day-by-2050/
 

Grid Capacity For Electric Vehicles Is Actually Not A Problem,
Studies Find.  Somehow, Americans have trouble grasping the idea
that our current utilities can support a high number of electric
cars without building hundreds of new power plants. However, a
new study from the global clean technology consultants at
Navigant Research emphatically puts the notion of utility and
grid insufficiency to rest.  Posted. 
http://cleantechnica.com/2014/02/03/grid-capacity-electric-vehicles-actually-problem-studies-find/




California is in a drought emergency.
Visit www.SaveOurH2O.org for water conservation tips.