What's New List Serve Post Display

ARB Newsclips for June 20, 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

Air District Questions Asthma-Air Pollution Link.  In 2011, a
study by the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District
established a link between asthma-related ER visits and levels of
PM2.5, or fine particulate matter in valley air.  But after a
follow-up to that study, the Air District now reports that for a
number of years, asthma-related ER visits increased even as PM2.5
levels dropped.  Posted. 
http://kvpr.org/post/air-district-questions-asthma-air-pollution-link-0


Study may explain how pollution causes heart disease.  Scientists
and clean air advocates are well aware that fine particles in the
air, known as PM2.5, are correlated with deaths from
cardiovascular disease.  “You can see days where we have higher
pollution, and they’ve already tracked that to more hospital
admissions for heart disease, heart attacks," said Angela Johnson
Meszaros, general counsel for Physicians for Social
Responsibility - Los Angeles. "That kind of thing, we already
knew.”  Posted. 
http://www.scpr.org/news/2014/06/20/44852/study-may-explain-how-pollution-causes-heart-disea/


CLIMATE CHANGE

E.P.A. Administrators Plead With Fellow Republicans to
Acknowledge Global Warming.  Four former Environmental Protection
Agency administrators, all Republicans, pleaded with GOP senators
Wednesday to acknowledge and address the reality of climate
change, the Huffington Post reports.  "We believe there is
legitimate scientific debate over the pace and effects of climate
change, but no legitimate debate over the facts of the Earth's
warming or over man's contribution," William Ruckelshaus, former
EPA chief under both Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan, told
senators at the hearing before the Senate Environment and Public
Works Subcommittee on Clean Air and Nuclear Safety.  Posted. 
http://www.newsweek.com/ep-administrators-plead-fellow-republicans-acknowledge-global-warming-255573?piano_t=1
 

Republican Former EPA Chiefs Try To Convince Senate GOP That
Climate Change Is Real.  Four Republican former administrators of
the Environmental Protection Agency had a message for the Senate
on Wednesday on climate change: It's real, it's bad and the
United States should do something about it.  But their fellow
Republicans at the hearing largely ignored that position, instead
repeating a variety of arguments about why the U.S. should not
address the greenhouse gas emissions causing the planet to warm
up.  Posted. 
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/18/epa-republicans-climate_n_5509048.html?ir=Politics
 

Berkeley considering climate change labels at gas pumps. 
Berkeley could become the first city in the country to mandate
climate change warning labels on gas pump hoses. The signs would
inform drivers that the state has determined CO2 emissions
contribute to global warming.  Posted. 
http://www.contracostatimes.com/News/ci_25996416/Berkeley-considering-climate-change-labels-at

http://www.insidebayarea.com/News/ci_25996416/Berkeley-considering-climate-change-labels-at

http://www.mercurynews.com/News/ci_25996413/Berkeley-considering-climate-change-labels-at


DROUGHT

California's drought getting even worse, experts say. 
California's drought conditions have worsened over the past week
with the percentage of the state suffering from the highest
category increasing, the National Weather Service said Thursday. 
"Exceptional" drought conditions have spread in Central
California since a week ago, weather officials said. Areas in
Northern California have also moved into this category since last
week, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.  Posted. 
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-drought-worsens-across-california-20140619-story.html


HIGH-SPEED RAIL

APCD approves agreement with California High Speed Rail to
mitigate emissions. The Governing Board of the San Joaquin Valley
Air Pollution Control District (APCD) today approved agreements
that would mitigate all construction emissions from California's
High-Speed Rail (HSR) project that occur in the Valley.  Posted. 
http://www.examiner.com/article/apcd-approves-agreement-with-california-high-speed-rail-to-mitigate-emissions


Valley air district gets funds to offset pollution from
high-speed rail construction.  The San Joaquin Valley will get up
to $35 million over the next 14 years to offset the pollution
created by construction of the state's high-speed rail.  The San
Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District board agreed
Thursday to accept the commitment from the California High Speed
Rail Authority. 
http://www.fresnobee.com/2014/06/19/3986529/valley-air-district-gets-funds.html?sp=/99/406/263/


Early stage of high-speed rail kicking off in Madera County.  A
very early stage of the California High-Speed Rail design and
testing process is now kicking off in the North Valley. Crews are
currently setting up in Madera County near the intersection of
Highway 146 and Storey Road.  Over the next several weeks the
land will become one of the first places in our state used to
test the high-speed rail project.  Posted. 
http://abc30.com/news/early-stage-of-high-speed-rail-kicking-off-in-madera-county/125539/


VEHICLES

Benicia unveils electric vehicle fast-charging station.  It looks
exactly like a fuel pump at the gas station. However, instead of
dispensing gasoline, the new addition to the City Hall parking
lot is the city's latest electric vehicle station.  The
dual-compatible charger station was unveiled Wednesday during a
short ribbon-cutting ceremony in the parking lot.  Posted. 
http://www.insidebayarea.com/News/ci_26000302/Benicia-unveils-electric-vehicle-fastcharging-station


GREEN ENERGY

Buying Into Solar Power, No Roof Access Needed.  Like many
consumers, David Polstein had already done much to reduce energy
use in his large Victorian home in Newton, Mass. He replaced his
appliances with energy-efficient models, installed better heating
and put in new insulation. But he was unable to get a solar
system to reduce his utility bill, he said, because his roof is
too small and shady to make it worthwhile.  Posted. 
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/20/business/energy-environment/buying-into-solar-power-no-roof-access-needed.html?_r=0


MISCELLANEOUS

California smog research pioneer Pitts dies at 93.  James Pitts,
a pioneering smog researcher whose work spurred California's
ground-breaking clean-air regulations, died Thursday at age 93,
his wife said.  Pitts died in his sleep at his home in Irvine,
according to his wife and fellow professor at the University of
California, Irvine, Barbara Finlayson-Pitts.  Posted. 
http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/California-smog-research-pioneer-Pitts-dies-at-93-5565635.php

http://www.sacbee.com/2014/06/19/6497512/california-smog-research-pioneer.html


Open windows to reduce energy consumption.  Warm days full of
sunshine give homeowners good reason to open windows and let
fresh air into their homes while they are at home. Not only can
open windows boost mood and create an inviting living space, but
open windows also can be good for one’s environment.  Posted. 
http://www.thevillagenews.com/story/78949/ 

BLOGS

Chevy Volt owners log half a billion electric miles, 2015
production starts.  As General Motors gets ready to start 2015
Volt production Monday, Chevrolet is looking back at some of the
numbers that got the car to where it is today. The headline
number is that Volt owners have collectively put more than a
half-billion electric miles on their cars. The unsurprising
upshot is that, if you went out and bought a Volt, you're pretty
keen on getting as many electric miles out of it as possible. 
Posted. 
http://green.autoblog.com/2014/06/19/chevy-volt-half-billion-miles-2015-production/


Not waiting to act until it’s too late: the foreign policy and
climate change imperative.  In a column Wednesday, David Ignatius
referred to Henry Kissinger’s model of statecraft from his 1957
book, A World Restored. The model had nothing to do with climate
change, but viewed from within that framework, it hits the mark
on how to move ahead.  To quote Kissinger from 1957: “Nations
learn only by experience they ‘know’ only when it’s too late to
act”. Then and now this dynamic is self-evident.  Posted. 
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/wp/2014/06/19/not-waiting-to-act-until-its-too-late-the-foreign-policy-and-climate-change-imperative/
 





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