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newsclips -- ARB Newsclips for May 22, 2014.

Posted: 22 May 2014 15:46:03
ARB Newsclips for May 22, 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.

CAP AND TRADE

California Carbon Allowances Sell Out at Auction for $11.50 Each.
California, the second-most polluting state in the U.S., sold all
16.95 million carbon allowances at auction for $11.50 each, in
line with analysts’ expectations. Units of Chevron Corp. (CVX),
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) and Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA) were
among the companies that qualified to purchase the permits put up
for sale May 16, a report posted today on the state Air Resources
Board’s website shows. Posted.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-05-21/california-carbon-allowances-sell-out-at-auction-for-11-50-each.html


Study says state fuel/pollution policies are saving billions of
dollars. The state’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard and cap-and-trade
program will save Californians more than $10 billion in health,
energy and other costs by 2020, according to a new report from
the Environmental Defense Fund and American Lung Association. The
report, “Driving California Forward,” analyzes health and
economic issues affected by California fuel/pollution policies
within the scope of AB 32…Posted.
http://www.mercedsunstar.com/2014/05/21/3659251/study-says-state-fuelpollution.html#storylink=cpy


AIR POLLUTION

Tricked-out car measures air pollution on Sacramento freeways and
roads. If you want to measure how much air pollution exists on
streets and freeways, there’s no substitute for sticking a pipe
out a car window and sucking air in. In simple terms, this is the
work of a gray RAV4 that has been traveling Sacramento area
roadways recently measuring pollution from vehicles. Posted.
http://www.sacbee.com/2014/05/21/6423373/tricked-out-car-measures-air-pollution.html#storylink=cpy


EPA stays mum, denounces speculation on power plant rule. Less
than two weeks before President Obama announces a highly
anticipated U.S. EPA rule to limit greenhouse gases from existing
power plants, rumors abound about how ambitious the rule will be
and how easy it will be for utilities to comply while keeping
electricity reasonably priced and reliable. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1060000050/print BY
SUBSCRIPTION ONLY

CLIMATE CHANGE

Climate group to sink $100M in 7 races in 2014. Setting his
sights on Republicans who reject climate change, an
environmentalist billionaire is unveiling plans to spend $100
million this year in seven competitive Senate and gubernatorial
races, as his super PAC works to counteract a flood of
conservative spending by the Koch brothers. NextGen Climate
Action said it plans to spend at least $50 million contributed
by…Posted.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_POLITICAL_MONEY_ENVIRONMENT?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


Another month, another heat record tied for globe. Once again,
the world hit record heat levels. The average global temperature
last month tied the hottest April on record four years ago. The
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Tuesday say
last month's average temperature was 58.1 degrees Fahrenheit
(14.5 degrees Celsius). That was 1.39 degrees F (0.77 C) warmer
than the average last century. Posted.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_SCI_HOT_APRIL?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-05-20-13-51-22


Obama Divides Power Players With Rule Utilities Accept. The Obama
administration’s upcoming greenhouse gas rules are gaining
acceptance from an unlikely quarter -- power companies -- and
splitting the energy industry’s normally unified opposition to
new limits. The proposed regulations set for release on June 2
would mandate deep cuts in greenhouse-gas pollution while
allowing smokestack emissions…Posted.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2014-05-22/obama-divides-power-players-with-rule-utilities-accept.html


Climate change a wedge issue in 2014? Billionaire Tom Steyer
hopes so. One of President Obama’s wealthiest supporters is
pledging to spend at least $50 million in a bid to make climate
change the central issue in hotly contested elections in New
Hampshire, Florida, Michigan and a handful of other battleground
states. A group run by California billionaire Tom Steyer unveiled
plans to aggressively target Republicans in seven states who have
been skeptics of global warming. Posted.
http://www.latimes.com/local/political/la-pn-steyer-20140521-story.html


Climate change to result in less nutritional food, report says.
Climate change threatens to undermine not only how much food can
be grown but also the quality of that food as altered weather
patterns lead to a less desirable harvest, according to a new
study. Posted.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-climate-food-20140522-story.html


As Central Valley fog disappears, fruit, nut crops decline. The
soupy thick tule fog that regularly blanketed the Central Valley
and terrorized unsuspecting motorists during the winter has been
slowly disappearing over the past three decades, a UC Berkeley
study has found. The blinding mists may not be missed by those
who remember white-knuckle drives in zero visibility and regular
multiple-car pileups, but the fog dearth is bad news for farmers,
according to a study published this month.
http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/As-Central-Valley-fog-disappears-fruit-nut-5496710.php


Cutting carbon is cheaper than its costs, groups say. A new
report released by the Environmental Defense Fund and the
American Lung Association concludes that it’s cheaper overall for
California to cut greenhouse gases and switch to cleaner-burning
fuels than to do nothing. The study’s release comes as regulatory
disputes and court challenges continue over the state's efforts
to reduce the "carbon intensity" of California's vehicle
fleet…Posted.
http://www.scpr.org/news/2014/05/21/44294/cutting-carbon-is-cheaper-than-its-costs-groups-sa/


Glacial melt pouring iron into the ocean – study. Call it natural
geoengineering. Scientists report in a new study this week that
glacial melt may be funneling significant amounts of reactive
iron into the ocean, where it may counter some of the negative
effects of climate change by boosting algal blooms that capture
carbon. The paper, published in Nature Communications, adds to a
body of research suggesting that melting ice at both poles may
have widespread consequences beyond rising sea levels. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1060000044/print BY
SUBSCRIPTION ONLY

DROUGHT

Severe drought leads to dying lawns at state Capitol. The state
Capitol grounds are a bit less green this year, thanks to
California's severe drought. In an effort to save water, state
landscapers are letting several lawns bordering the Capitol
building die.  Posted. 
http://www.latimes.com/local/political/la-me-pc-drought-capitol-lawn-20140520-story.html


California drought: S.F. gets smart water meters. Across
California, residents are being asked to decrease their water use
to cope with the drought - 10 percent, 20 percent, sometimes
more. But unlike a dieter who regularly steps on a bathroom
scale, water consumers can't track the gallons as they flow down
the drain. Their effort to cut back, if they make one, is often
educated guesswork. Posted.
http://www.sfgate.com/science/article/California-drought-S-F-gets-smart-water-meters-5496714.php


DIESEL EMISSIONS

UPDATE 1-EU policymakers inch towards regulating truck emissions.
EU policymakers took the first steps towards regulating emissions
from lorries through greater fuel efficiency on Wednesday, but
stopped short of the targets that have forced car manufacturers
to make their vehicles pollute less. As part of wider efforts to
cut the need for imported energy, especially from Russia, the
European Commission is seeking to improve energy efficiency
across all sectors. Posted.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/21/eu-europe-trucks-idUSL6N0O72X620140521


FUELS

Estimate of recoverable Monterey Shale oil slashed. The amount of
oil that can be recovered from California's sprawling Monterey
Shale formation using existing technology is far less than
thought, according to a new federal estimate that potentially
deals a blow to oil companies looking to extract the resource.
About 600 million barrels of oil can be tapped from the
formation…Posted.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_SHALE_OIL_CALIFORNIA?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


Diesel Slumps in Europe as Russia, U.S. Imports Surge. European
diesel will probably stay depressed this summer after plunging to
the lowest for this time of year since 2003 amid surging imports
from Russia and the U.S. Barges of diesel traded at $9 a metric
ton more than the June gasoil contract on the ICE Futures Europe
exchange on May 19. That’s the lowest premium in more than three
months and a drop of 66 percent from April 15, according to data
compiled by Bloomberg. Posted.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-05-22/diesel-slumps-in-europe-as-russia-u-s-imports-surge.html


Russia Offers Gas To China While European Energy Prices Fall.
Russia is a bit of an enigma to many of us Americans, but looking
at European energy prices helps our understanding. Oil in Europe
(Brent) has been falling in price since 2011. This surprises us
in the United States, where oil (in West Texas) has been roughly
flat. Brent and West Texas prices used to move in lockstep, but
they’ve diverged somewhat in the past few years. They cannot get
too far apart, but they do show different paths recently. Posted.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/billconerly/2014/05/21/russia-offers-gas-to-china-while-european-energy-prices-fall/


FRACKING

Reduced estimates of oil trapped in Monterey Shale. The amount of
oil that can be squeezed from California's vast Monterey Shale
formation through fracking, acidizing and other drilling
techniques may be far less than originally believed, according to
a new estimate from the federal government. Posted.
http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/Reduced-estimates-of-oil-trapped-in-Monterey-Shale-5496353.php

http://www.mercurynews.com/california/ci_25810989/fracking-new-monterey-shale-oil-estimate-rocks-californias

http://www.eenews.net/energywire/stories/1060000052/ BY
SUBSCRIPTION ONLY

VEHICLES

Toyota recalls 466,000 vehicles globally for spare tire, braking
issues. Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) said on Thursday it is
recalling 466,000 minivans and cars globally, mostly in the
United States, for possible faulty brakes and loss of a spare
tire. The Japanese automaker said it is recalling about 16,000
Lexus GS sedans from model year 2013 because a switch in the
braking system could cause the system to activate while driving,
which could cause unexpected deceleration of the vehicle. Posted.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/22/us-toyota-recall-usa-idUSBREA4L0S020140522

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304479704579577981058416384?mg=reno64-wsj


Electric, hybrid car sales up, California auto emissions down.
California continues to lead the country in transportation
efficiency, says the Green Innovation Index, a new study on
energy use and emissions by the nonprofit group Next 10. The
Green Innovation Index shows statewide registrations of
alternative fuel vehicles rising 16% from 2011 to 2012, at a time
when all California vehicle registrations increased by only 1.5%.
Posted.
http://www.latimes.com/business/autos/la-fi-hy-electric-vehicle-sales-up-auto-emissions-down-20140521-story.html?track=rss

DOE to award up to $2M to develop supply chain, manufacturing
competitiveness analysis for hydrogen and fuel cell technologies.
 The Energy Department announced up to $2 million to develop the
domestic supply chain for hydrogen and fuel cell technologies and
to study the competitiveness of US hydrogen and fuel cell system
and component manufacturing. (DE-FOA-0000854) (Earlier post) 
This funding will support projects that focus on scaling-up the
production of today’s hydrogen and fuel cell components and
systems to commercial scale.  Posted. 
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2014/05/20140522-doe.html 

GREEN ENERGY

China’s Global Search for Energy. Whether by diplomacy,
investment or in extreme cases, force, China is going to great
lengths to satisfy its growing hunger for energy to fuel its
expanding car fleet and electrify its swelling cities. The
Chinese government showed that desire on Wednesday when it
reached a 30-year natural gas deal with Russia, even as China was
locked in a tense standoff with Vietnam over a Chinese oil rig
drilling in the contested South China Sea. Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/22/business/international/chinas-global-search-for-energy.html?_r=0


California’s Economy Gets Good Marks In Green Innovation Report.
San Diego gets good marks in the latest assessment of the state's
green economy. The nonpartisan group Next 10 is out with its
annual Green Innovation Index. The report finds California's
clean technology sector is growing at a faster rate than the rest
of the economy. The state's green friendly policies get a lot of
credit for creating an environment that encourages innovation.
Posted.
http://www.kpbs.org/news/2014/may/21/californias-economy-gets-good-marks-green-innovati/


Utilities 'freaked out' by solar growth, but leaders say energy
revolution is near. Large-scale solar will be competitive with
traditional sources of energy in "just a few years," executives
and researchers said here Tuesday. Rooftop and larger-scale solar
is booming in 15 states where about half of the nation's
population lives, leaders of SolarCity and Sunrun said at the
Fortune Brainstorm Green conference, a gathering of business,
environmental and government leaders. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1060000043/print BY
SUBSCRIPTION ONLY

MISCELLANEOUS

Mopeds Cause Significantly More Air Pollution Than Cars In Some
Places. While some may just offhand assume that, owing to the
relatively small size of mopeds, there’s no way that they produce
more air pollution than a car (during an equivalent trip), that’s
not always true, according to new research from the Paul Scherrer
Institute. Despite making up just a fraction of total
traffic-volume in most regions…Posted.
http://cleantechnica.com/2014/05/22/mopeds-cause-significantly-air-pollution-cars-research-shows/#hkXKb4sWyaP0WSys.99


Report: Environmental laws could save $10B by 2020. California’s
controversial environmental protection laws will result in
economic savings of over $10 billion by 2020 from avoided health
care and oil consumption costs, according to a report jointly
produced by environmental and health advocates. Posted.
http://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/news/2014/05/21/report-environmental-laws-could-save-10b-by-2020.html


OPINIONS

If We Judged The Monterey Shale By Green Energy Standards Then
The 96% Cut In Recoverable Oil Is Great News.  An interesting
report telling us that the amount of oil thought to be
recoverable from the Monterey Shale has just been cut by 96%.
This is taken as being something of a blow to employment
prospects, to the economy of California and so on. Posted.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2014/05/22/if-we-judged-the-monterey-shale-by-green-energy-standards-then-the-96-cut-in-rcoverable-oil-is-great-news/


Timm Herdt: Ask a California farmer about climate change.  If
there's any group that doesn't have to be sold on the idea that
government must address the effects of climate change, it's
farmers.  "Anybody who's paying attention knows the climate has
already changed," says Daniel Sumner, director of the UC
Agricultural Issues Center at UC Davis.  Posted. 
http://www.contracostatimes.com/Opinion/ci_25808223/Timm-Herdt:-Ask-a-California-farmer

http://www.insidebayarea.com/Opinion/ci_25808223/Timm-Herdt:-Ask-a-California-farmer


New controls needed on carbon pollution. As a parent, I would do
everything in my power to protect my child, which is why I
support the EPA’s new carbon pollution limits for existing power
plants. Carbon pollution — much of which comes from power plants
burning fossil fuels — directly contributes to air pollution and
is linked to asthma attacks, lung disease and neurological
disorders. Posted.
http://www.app.com/story/opinion/readers/2014/05/21/new-controls-needed-carbon-pollution/2289464/


BLOGS

The Surprising News About Vehicle Emissions. DANIEL SPERLING: The
United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
met last month in Berlin to finalize its scientific assessment of
solutions to curb greenhouse gas emissions. One of the key
takeaways in the report is the opportunity for large emission
reductions in the transportation sector. Transportation is often
thought to be the most intractable sector for reducing energy use
and greenhouse gas emissions.  Posted.
http://blogs.wsj.com/experts/2014/05/22/the-surprising-news-about-vehicle-emissions/


The Energy-Efficient Mortgage: Win, Win, Win. With housing stats
trending upward again in the U.S., we may be missing a golden
opportunity to stimulate local economies and to put an extra
paycheck into the pockets of homeowners, all while making the air
cleaner and the nation more energy-efficient. The opportunity is
energy-efficient mortgages, or EEMs. Posted.
http://blogs.wsj.com/experts/2014/05/22/the-energy-efficient-mortgage-win-win-win/


The great uniter: Conservative reform. At an event at the
American Enterprise Institute recognizing the 50th anniversary of
President Lyndon B. Johnson’s declaration of the War on Poverty,
Sens. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and House Majority
Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) joined AEI president Arthur Brooks for
a discussion about conservative reform. Posted.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/wp/2014/05/22/the-great-uniter-conservative-reform/?wpisrc=nl%5Fpopns


'Stop the denial' on climate change. Sen. Barbara Boxer,
D-Calif., and more than 40 of her colleagues Wednesday urged a
crowd of environmental activists to push lawmakers to address the
threat of climate change. Posted.
http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2014/05/boxer-stop-the-denial-on-climate-change.html


The Himalaya shows off how fast it can melt, too.  Last week, we
got the news that the West Antarctic ice sheet is ditching us.
Then, on Sunday, another fresh study told us that Greenland is
also melting away rather fast. And now glaciology brings us a new
report, on what’s going on at the so-called “third pole” (so
called because it has more snow and ice than anywhere outside of
the polar regions): the Himalaya mountain range. Posted. 
http://grist.org/news/the-himalaya-shows-off-how-fast-it-can-melt-too/


5 Reasons California Latinos Should Care About Clean Fuels. For
the first time since becoming a state in 1850, Latinos are the
"new majority" in California, representing the largest ethnic
demographic in the country's most populous state. While Latinos
account for 39 percent of California's population, they are
disproportionately exposed to dangerous air quality, health
impacts, and adverse economic risk from dirty fuels. Posted.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jorge-madrid/five-reasons-california-l_b_5366666.html




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

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