What's New List Serve Post Display
Below is the List Serve Post you selected to display.
newsclips -- ARB Newsclips for August 25, 2014.
Posted: 25 Aug 2014 16:57:58
ARB Newsclips for August 25, 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 push to avert higher gas prices stalls. Lawmakers from both parties are pushing to halt an increase in the price of gasoline and other fuels expected to hit consumers in January, but their efforts appear to be dead with just a week to go in the legislative session. A pair of bills — one sponsored by Democrats, the other by Republicans — seek to delay or exempt gasoline, diesel fuel, natural gas and other consumer fuels from California's 2006 greenhouse gas emissions law. Posted. http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2014/aug/24/california-push-to-avert-higher-gas-prices-stalls/?#article-copy http://www.dailydemocrat.com/breakingnews/ci_26401514/california-push-avert-higher-gas-prices-stalls http://www.fresnobee.com/2014/08/24/4085295/california-push-to-avert-higher.html http://www.wral.com/california-push-to-avert-higher-gas-prices-stalls/13920248/ http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/08/24/4306649/california-push-to-avert-higher.html http://www.hanfordsentinel.com/news/local/clock-ticking-on-gas-tax-backtrack-efforts/article_fa95074b-a657-5735-bd6f-8cdd58fc7ccd.html Cap-and-trade carbon plans slash health costs: MIT study. Reducing pollution could save millions of lives. Massive savings to health-care spending can be had with if governments implement a cap-and-trade carbon reduction program, say researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). In their study, the MIT researchers examined three types of carbon reduction policies in the U.S. and their effect on health-care spending…Posted. http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/cap-and-trade-carbon-plans-slash-health-costs-mit-study-1.2746035 http://www.greencarcongress.com/2014/08/20140825-mit.html http://www.universityherald.com/articles/11056/20140825/cutting-emissions-may-make-up-for-some-of-the-cost-of-carbon-reduction-policies.htm California Republicans Call on Governor and Dem Leaders to Stop Higher Gas Prices. Senate Republicans sent a letter today to Governor Jerry Brown, Senate President pro Tempore Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) and Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) urging their support for any of three options to prevent or delay a significant cost increase on gasoline in California by as much as 76 cents a gallon in the coming months. Posted. http://goldrushcam.com/sierrasuntimes/index.php/news/local-news/451-california-republicans-call-on-governor-and-dem-leaders-to-stop-higher-gas-prices AIR POLLUTION Valley rules could get much tougher on fireplace use. In the heat of August, Valley air authorities are planning for Thanksgiving and Christmas -- and your holiday fires are in jeopardy unless you own the cleanest wood-burning heater available. Burning in fireplaces and older heaters could be stopped on most winter days if the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District approves a rule change next month. Posted. http://www.modbee.com/2014/08/23/3500612/valley-rules-could-get-much-tougher.html#storylink=cpy CLIMATE CHANGE Farmers' Almanac predicts another nasty winter. The folks at the Farmers' Almanac can be forgiven for feeling smug: The 198-year-old publication correctly predicted the past nasty winter while federal forecasters blew it. Memories of the polar vortex and relentless snowstorms won't soon be forgotten. And the editors of the publication are predicting more of the same for the coming season. "Shivery and shovelry are back. Posted. http://www.sacbee.com/2014/08/24/6650453/farmers-almanac-predicts-another.html#storylink=cpy DOE launches major 10-year project to use high performance computing for climate change research; ACME. Eight national laboratories—Lawrence Livermore, Argonne, Brookhaven, Lawrence Berkeley, Los Alamos, Oak Ridge, Pacific Northwest and Sandia—are combining forces with the National Center for Atmospheric Research, four academic institutions and one private-sector company in a 10-year project to use high performance computing (HPC) to develop and to apply the most complete climate and Earth system model. Posted. http://www.greencarcongress.com/2014/08/20140824-acme.html DROUGHT Brazil's drought-hit coffee belt turns to machines to lower costs. Years of low coffee prices followed by the worst drought in decades in Brazil have pushed even the smallest family farmers to buy modern machinery rather than rely on increasingly scarce and expensive labor. Brazil's crop supply agency Conab noted an "intense trade in machinery, mainly harvesters," in the main coffee-growing states of São Paulo and Minas Gerais this season…Posted. http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/08/25/us-brazil-coffee-machinery-idUSKBN0GP1CS20140825 Californians tear out lawns to cope with drought. Rick Blankenship was tired of an insatiable lawn he couldn't keep green, no matter how he watered it, so he decided to tear it out. Three years later, he brims with pride at his new front yard in Long Beach, California, carpeted with natural sage- and emerald green-colored ground covers and shaded by flowering magnolia and peppermint willow trees. Posted. http://www.sacbee.com/2014/08/24/6650513/californians-tear-out-lawns-to.html#storylink=cpy http://www.sacbee.com/2014/08/24/6650535/turf-removal-in-parched-california.html#storylink=cpy Lawn painters bring the green in California drought. Brown lawns, begone. Thanks to California’s chronic drought and watering restrictions, there’s no shortage of dry, dusty-brown lawns. And that’s led to a growth in business for a remedy that doesn’t involve wasting water or risking fines: lawn painting. Using nontoxic, emerald-hued paints, lawn painters can transform even completely dead lawns to look about as lush as a golf green. Posted. http://www.sacbee.com/2014/08/22/6648397/lawn-painters-bring-the-green.html#storylink=cpy California drought: Water witches in demand as wells run dry. The calls started in October, when the rain was supposed to come. Rob Thompson's phone kept ringing - a farmer in Fresno, a winemaker in Napa Valley, a rancher in Yreka. All were looking for water. And they had heard Thompson could find it using an ancient method most call unorthodox, if not ridiculous. Thompson is a dowser, a person who believes they have the ability to locate water or precious metals deep underground using rods, sticks or a pendulum to guide them. Posted. http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/California-drought-Water-witches-in-demand-as-5708344.php Volunteers deliver bottled water to drought-stricken community. Nearly 1,000 people whose wells have gone dry due to drought received an emergency allotment of bottled water Friday. The door-to-door giveaway of 12 gallons of water per person was the latest development in a summer of water woes in the central San Joaquin Valley. Tulare County officials said they have received an avalanche of calls from homeowners whose wells have run dry. Posted. http://www.fresnobee.com/2014/08/22/4083201_volunteers-deliver-bottled-water.html?rh=1#storylink=cpy Drought fears in Wine Country. To get a sense of how the state’s three-year drought has created a new normal in the wine industry, consider the truck that Rued Vineyards purchased this year. Almost daily, Tom Rued would drive the stainless-steel tanker, with a capacity of 6,400 gallons, about 15 miles to a city of Healdsburg filling station to load up on recycled wastewater. Posted. http://www.pressdemocrat.com/business/2562360-181/drought-fears-in-wine-country Lifestyles of the Rich and Parched. How the Golden State’s 1 percenters are avoiding the drought. Many mornings, just before 7 a.m., a large tanker truck pulls up to the grand gates of Oprah Winfrey’s 40-acre estate in Montecito, California. Inside is neither merchandise nor produce – just water. A year ago, Oprah’s annual bill from the Montecito Water District was just shy of $125,000. Posted. http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/08/california-drought-lifestyles-of-the-rich-and-parched-110305.html#ixzz3BQeosDJM FUELS Sacramento-area gas prices fall for a seventh consecutive week. Sacramento-area gas prices, which stubbornly refused to dip below $4 a gallon in the weeks leading up to Independence Day, continue to fall toward the $3.75 mark with the approach of Labor Day. National price tracker GasBuddy.com, which surveys more than 700 regional gas outlets daily, said the average retail price of gas in the Sacramento region fell another 2.8 cents over the past week to about $3.79 a gallon. Posted. http://www.sacbee.com/2014/08/25/6652729/sacramento-area-gas-prices-fall.html#storylink=cpy VEHICLES Audi moving ahead with 48V system in vehicles; mild hybrids. Audi will upgrade part of its vehicle electrical system from 12 to 48 volts. The move represents another technical building block for facilitating the integration of new automotive technologies while increasing the power and efficiency of its cars. Audi recently showcased the scope of the 48-volt electrical system with the two technology demonstrators Audi A6 TDI concept and RS 5 TDI concept. Posted. http://www.greencarcongress.com/2014/08/audi-moving-ahead-with-48v-system-in-vehicles-mild-hybrids.html Volkswagen E-Golf Release Date: VW Announces US Price For Its Electric Car Due Out In November. Volkswagen AG’s (FRA:VOW) American subsidiary announced Monday the price of the next electric car to hit the U.S. market. With a basic cost of $36,265, the 2015 e-Golf due in some U.S. dealer showrooms in November will bring to the country’s electric vehicle, or EV, market a new price point between the less-than-$30,000 Nissan Leaf and the more-than-$40,000 BMW i3. Posted. http://www.ibtimes.com/volkswagen-e-golf-release-date-vw-announces-us-price-its-electric-car-due-out-november-1668654 HIGH-SPEED RAIL L.A. County supervisor's alternate bullet-train route gaining traction. To get high-speed rail from Palmdale to Burbank, planners have focused for years on two potential routes that parallel the 14 Freeway and course through the rural and growing communities of Acton, Agua Dulce and Santa Clarita — hostile territory for the bullet train project. Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich thinks there's a better way to go. Posted. http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-bullet-train-route-20140824-story.html California High-Speed Rail—More Questions and Concerns. "Bad, bad, bad," and other critiques. If David Letterman can put out a Top Ten list night after night for decades, we can certainly make it all the way to 10 in our chronicles of the California High-Speed Rail debates. As a reminder, this is No. 8 in a series on the most ambitious and consequential infrastructure project now under consideration in our infrastructure-degraded land. Posted. http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/08/high-speed-rail-more-questions/379046/ GREEN ENERGY Huge solar farm proposed south of Silicon Valley wins power contract, but loses major investor. A proposal to build one of the world's largest solar farms in a rural area south of Silicon Valley has cleared one of its final hurdles after five years of planning and environmental debate. But whether the 247-megawatt facility proposed for Panoche Valley, a vast expanse of rangeland 50 miles south of Hollister…Posted. http://www.mercurynews.com/science/ci_26398651/huge-solar-farm-proposed-near-silicon-valley-wins Nicaragua's latest revolution: Becoming a green energy powerhouse. How quickly can a nation wean itself from fossil fuels and move toward reliance on renewable energy? In the case of Nicaragua, very, very fast. So fast, in fact, that Nicaragua is drawing a parade of distinguished admirers coming to examine how the nation is radically changing its energy footprint with an aggressive goal of becoming a green-energy powerhouse. Posted. http://www.vcstar.com/news/world/nicaraguas-latest-revolution-becoming-a-green-energy-powerhouse_09372081 Peru wants Municipal Power Agency's 4th solar farm. A northern Indiana county wants to become the site of Indiana Municipal Power Agency's fourth solar farm. The utility plans to construct a 1-megawatt solar farm in a community where it provides electricity, said Jim Tidd, executive director of the Miami County Economic Development Authority. Peru is among the 59 communities that Indiana Municipal serves, the Kokomo Tribune reported Sunday. Posted. http://www.vcstar.com/news/peru-wants-municipal-power-agencys-4th-solar-farm_25616246 California moves to quicken solar permits. A bill designed to speed up the permit process for home rooftop solar installations in California is headed to the governor's desk for signing. The State Assembly approved Assembly Bill 2188 in a 66-1 vote Thursday. The measure would require every city and county to adopt an ordinance that creates an expedited permitting process for small, residential rooftop solar energy. Posted. http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2014/aug/25/bill-speeds-solar-permits/ Big solar, big problems. Just before Interstate 15 exits California for Nevada, drivers catch an astonishing sight: A five-mile swath of desert covered by mirrors and spiked with towers reflecting dazzling beams of light. This place’s official name is as dry as a typical Mojave day: The Ivanpah Solar Project. Motorists’ descriptions are more vivid. “Like something out of science fiction,” said Julie Billington, 54, a microbiologist from Berkeley. “Like something out of a James Bond movie,” said Steve Kosnik Jr., 48, a salesman from Phoenix. Posted. http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2014/aug/24/tp-big-solar-big-problems/ Green on the upswing as eco-friendly home building goes mainstream. At first, Baldwin Homes didn't build green. Then it dipped its corporate toe in - one home here, another there. Now the Gambrills company is constructing an entire green neighborhood. It's the story of U.S. home building writ small. Green accounted for 2 percent of the new-home market in 2005, according to a report by industry data provider McGraw Hill Construction. By last year it had ballooned to 23 percent - nearly a quarter. Posted. http://www.modbee.com/2014/08/25/3503083/green-on-the-upswing-as-eco-friendly.html#storylink=cpy Geothermal Power Steaming Over Wind And Solar Energies. All the talk about the government subsidies given to the various energy forms has one fuel source steaming: geothermal power, which ranks fourth among all renewable energies in terms of total capacity — after wind, solar and hydro. Geothermal stands in the shadows of the higher profile green energies, both literally and figuratively. In actuality, energy is captured and then extracted from deep underground with the steam used to generate electricity. Posted. http://www.forbes.com/sites/kensilverstein/2014/08/25/geothermal-power-steaming-over-wind-and-solar-energies/ OPINIONS The country’s sinking climate debate. THE NATIONAL debate on climate change has devolved. By the late 1990s, big U.S. businesses were beginning to accept that greenhouse gases must be wrung out of the economy. In the 2000s, prominent Republicans such as Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) and Gov. Mitt Romney (Mass.) proposed aggressive anti-emissions policies. By 2008, the presidential candidates of both major parties favored strong national climate strategies. Posted. http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-countrys-sinking-climate-debate/2014/08/24/d4d4aeca-29ff-11e4-86ca-6f03cbd15c1a_story.html The Climate Swerve. Americans appear to be undergoing a significant psychological shift in our relation to global warming. I call this shift a climate “swerve,” borrowing the term used recently by the Harvard humanities professor Stephen Greenblatt to describe a major historical change in consciousness that is neither predictable nor orderly. The first thing to say about this swerve is that we are far from clear about just what it is and how it might work. Posted. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/24/opinion/sunday/the-climate-swerve.html?_r=0 Another View: Consumers can’t afford a delay in cap-and-trade. There’s no harm in “honest discussion” about fuels, as The Sacramento Bee says in its editorial, “Pump prices will rise, and Senate should air details” (Aug. 17). But honesty involves getting the premise right – and honesty isn’t what the oil industry is offering. The question isn’t one of how much gas prices are going to go up. In fact, Assembly Bill 32 is written so that oil companies need not increase prices at all. If they do, that is something they are choosing to do. Posted. http://www.sacbee.com/2014/08/24/6643336/another-view-consumers-cant-afford.html#storylink=cpy http://www.sacbee.com/2014/08/24/6640292/we-cant-afford-dirty-air.html#storylink=cpy Viewpoints: California should strengthen economic ties with Mexico. As Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto visits California this week, it’s time for Californians, indeed for all Americans, to take a fresh look at Mexico. Almost 21 months into an administration characterized by dramatic economic and political reform, U.S. perceptions of Mexico continue to reflect an echo of Mexico’s past rather than the reality of Mexico’s present. Posted. http://www.sacbee.com/2014/08/24/6645615/viewpoints-california-should-strengthen.html#storylink=cpy Dan Walters: Drought leads California to rethink water management. On average, rain and snow storms drop about 200 million acre-feet of water on California each year – 65 trillion gallons of the life-giving liquid. Nearly two-thirds of it either evaporates, sinks into the ground or is absorbed by trees and other plants while the remainder, 70-plus million acre-feet, finds its way into rivers flowing either to the Pacific Ocean or several inland “sinks.” Posted. http://www.sacbee.com/2014/08/23/6648571/dan-walters-drought-leads-california.html#storylink=cpy California water bond funding for conservancies. Descriptions of the state land conservancies that will split $297.5 million if voters approve the Proposition 1 water measure on the November ballot: — Baldwin Hills Conservancy, $10 million: Manages urban parkland west of downtown Los Angeles and the Ballona Creek watershed, including a scenic overlook, a sports complex and hiking trails. Posted. http://www.sacbee.com/2014/08/23/6648963/california-water-bond-funding.html#storylink=cpy Duraflame responds to doubling of no burn days in Valley. The San Joaquin Valley is no stranger to air pollution issues, and has long struggled to find solutions for high particle emission levels in the air. On July 31, the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District held a public workshop to discuss the proposed regulation changes related to wood-burning fireplaces and wood-burning heaters (District Rule 4901). Posted. http://www.recordnet.com/article/20140822/OPINION/140829612/101127/A_OPINION More study needed before cap-and-trade hits gas prices: Isadore Hall. Starting in January, California’s drivers will be asked to pay billions of dollars in added fuel costs as part of the state’s “cap and trade” program to limit greenhouse gases. As this starting date approaches, I have joined other lawmakers in Sacramento to voice concerns over this coming program. Posted. http://www.dailynews.com/opinion/20140825/more-study-needed-before-cap-and-trade-hits-gas-prices-isadore-hall Editorial: Regressive cap-and-trade tax to hit motorists. Human beings have an undeniable need to control. In these modern times, when it is possible to build and interpret massive data sets, micromanage your personal calendar with phone apps and run entire businesses across oceans, we are especially prone to thinking ourselves more powerful than we really are. Posted. http://www.pe.com/articles/bill-748705-fuel-state.html BLOGS The Best Reporting on California’s Drought. This year may be the driest in California in half a millennium. These reports explore how the drought is affecting agriculture, business and living conditions in the nation’s most populous state. After a decade of relatively little rain, California is facing its third year of debilitating drought, and 2014 may be the driest in 500 years. The drought has placed a $44.7-billion-a-year agriculture industry, drinking water for millions of people, and some 204 cities located in high-risk fire zones in jeopardy. Posted. http://www.propublica.org/article/the-best-reporting-on-californias-drought Should we "green up" dirty energy technologies? The world of environmentalism is complex, to say the least, for both companies and their stakeholders. Despite the propensity of pundits, activists, investors and others to identify “good” and “bad” products and companies, it’s never that easy. “Bad” companies can be “good” in many ways, and “good” companies can do “bad” things. That flies in the face of those who want to boil things down to a few well-honed sound bites and certifications. Posted. http://www.greenbiz.com/blog/2014/08/25/should-we-green-dirty-energy-technologies Climate Change-Related Risks and Costs Exist Today. The Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) states on its homepage that it “provides the only global system for companies and cities to measure, disclose, manage and share vital environmental information – holding the largest collection globally of primary climate change, water and forest risk commodities information.” Posted. http://theenergycollective.com/jared-anderson/471991/infographic-climate-change-related-risks-and-costs-exist-today California Drought Leaves Homes Without Water. Hundreds of rural San Joaquin Valley residents no longer can get drinking water from their home faucets because California's extreme drought has dried up their individual wells, government officials and community groups said. The situation has become so dire that the Tulare County Office of Emergency Services had 12-gallon-per person rations of bottled water delivered on Friday in East Porterville…Posted. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/23/california-drought-water_n_5703273.html Researchers Develop Transparent Solar Concentrator That Could Cover Windows, Electronics. Scientists at Michigan State University announced this week the creation of a “transparent luminescent solar concentrator” that could turn windows and even cellphone screens into solar-power generators. This technology could mean that one day entire skyscrapers might be able to generate solar power without blocking out light or ruining tenants' views. Posted. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/24/transparent-solar-concentrator_n_5700544.html EU getting serious about on-road emissions tests. Testing vehicle emissions in the laboratory is a way to guarantee identical procedures, but it doesn't exactly mimic the results from an on-the-road drive. Ford, for example, famously had a problem with dynamometer testing in the Total Road Load Horsepower (TRLHP) calculations for the C-Max Hybrid. Posted. http://green.autoblog.com/2014/08/24/eu-getting-serious-about-on-road-emissions-tests/ Visualize: Comparing California’s Three Cap-and-Trade Spending Proposals. In the midst of California’s state budget negotiations, the legislature must separately decide how to spend the state’s cap-and-trade revenue, be it on public transit, high-speed rail, affordable housing near transit, or other emissions-reducing programs. Posted. http://www.longbeachize.com/visualize-comparing-californias-three-cap-and-trade-spending-proposals-2 The climate movement is way too focused on market-based solutions. There was a time when we met overarching challenges with bold public purpose and concerted action as “we the people.” When the Depression hit, we created large public works projects, building roads, airports, and power dams. Posted. http://grist.org/climate-energy/the-climate-movement-is-way-too-focused-on-market-based-solutions/ Why ignoring global warming is like driving across a rickety bridge. Like the excellent medical analogy (which compares ignoring global warming to ignoring the risk of smoking; or not listening to your doctor when you’re told to eat healthier and exercise), this image makes perfectly clear just how irresponsible it is to ignore the overwhelming consensus of experts. Posted. http://grist.org/climate-energy/why-ignoring-global-warming-is-like-driving-across-a-rickety-bridge/ Harmful Air Pollution In The US Is Declining, Though The Number Of Cars Isn't. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a report recently that shows progress in lowering toxic urban air across America. Since the Clean Air Act Amendments were passed in 1990, the EPA reported that “substantial progress” has been made throughout the country to reduce air toxics, such as a 66 percent reduction in benzene, which is a natural byproduct of crude oil, gasoline, and cigarette smoke — it's also found in volcanoes and forest fires. Posted. http://www.medicaldaily.com/harmful-air-pollution-us-declining-though-number-cars-isnt-299478 Cutting emissions pays for itself, research shows. Lower rates of asthma and other health problems are frequently cited as benefits of policies aimed at cutting carbon emissions from sources like power plants and vehicles, because these policies also lead to reductions in other harmful types of air pollution. But just how large are the health benefits of cleaner air in comparison to the costs of reducing carbon emissions? Posted. http://phys.org/news/2014-08-emissions.html In Search Of Alien Life? Seek Out The Smog. One of the worst byproducts of our industrial society is air pollution. It's a global problem that humans have yet to get under control. One scientist thinks we might not be alone, though. Alien civilizations may be polluting their worlds, and that pollution might be one way to detect them. Posted. http://www.npr.org/2014/08/22/342494196/in-search-of-alien-life-seek-out-the-smog California is in a drought emergency. Visit www.SaveOurH2O.org for water conservation tips.