What's New List Serve Post Display

ARB Newsclips for September 18, 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

China seeks to fight smog by brainstorm: All ideas welcome.  The
city of Wuhan is considering building skyscrapers coated with a
high-tech substance that can "eat" air pollutants. An artist is
offering to suck particulates out of Beijing's dirty sky using a
giant vacuum-cleaner-type device and sell jewelry made with the
collected contaminants. Posted.
http://www.vcstar.com/news/world/china-seeks-to-fight-smog-by-brainstorm-all-ideas-welcome_82701050
 

Valley air board considers wood-burning restrictions at Thursday
meeting.  The San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District
board is scheduled Thursday to vote on tighter wood-burning
restrictions. If the board votes to change the wood-burning rule,
it probably will double the number of no-burn days in the Valley
for folks who use fireplaces or older wood-burning devices, such
as stoves. Posted. 
http://www.modbee.com/2014/09/18/3545126/valley-air-board-considers-wood.html#storylink=cpy


CLIMATE CHANGE

Busy Days Precede a March Focusing on Climate Change.  In a
three-story warehouse in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn,
hundreds of people are working to turn the People’s Climate March
planned for Sunday into a visual spectacle. There were victims of
Hurricane Sandy from the Rockaways toiling with artists on a
30-foot inflatable life preserver, and immigrant artists
constructing a papier-mâché tree embedded with axes. Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/18/nyregion/busy-days-precede-climate-change-march-in-manhattan-on-sunday.html
  

With Eye on 2016, Christie Resists Climate-Change Plan for New
Jersey.  As Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey explores a 2016
presidential campaign, he is under growing pressure from his
State Legislature to rejoin a regional cap-and-trade program that
would limit New Jersey’s carbon emissions — and likely hurt his
chances for the Republican nomination. Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/19/us/politics/with-eye-on-2016-christie-resists-climate-change-plan-for-new-jersey.html


Climate change takes center stage in New York next week. Climate
change will take center stage in New York City next week with a
triple-header of events intended to shine a spotlight on global
warming. The first event, the People's Climate March, is Sunday.
Organizers expect 100,000 people for what they say will be the
biggest demonstration ever for climate action. Posted.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/09/18/climate-week-march-united-nations-summit/15710775/


Climate change: Summer was hottest on record worldwide. You
wouldn't know it in San Francisco, where summer temperatures have
been characteristically moderate, but last month was the hottest
August on record worldwide, according to federal climate data
released Thursday. Last month's heat adds to a historic year,
with two of the prior three months also posting their warmest
average temperatures since record-keeping began in 1880. Posted.
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Climate-change-Summer-was-hottest-on-record-5764855.php


White House officials acknowledge their climate plan's limits,
but decry inaction. Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the
good. That was the message from top White House officials
yesterday as they grappled with Republican critics of the Obama
administration's Clean Power Plan. The officials argued that
action, even limited, is preferable to and less expensive than
inaction on climate change. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1060006046/print BY
SUBSCRIPTION ONLY

MISO study suggests bigger is better when it comes to EPA carbon
compliance. States within the Midcontinent Independent System
Operator's footprint could save billions of dollars complying
with U.S. EPA's proposed carbon rules for existing power plants
by banding together and applying strategies beyond the four
"building blocks" put forward by the federal agency, according to
an analysis by the grid operator. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/energywire/stories/1060006050/print BY
SUBSCRIPTION ONLY

DROUGHT

'Hi, do you have water?' In a Central Calif. town, answer is
often no. The grandmother sat outside in her Sunday best next to
a house with peeling paint, her canned iced tea resting on top of
a washing machine that didn't work. She'd been without running
water for four months. Up an easy-to-miss dirt road, a
70-year-old woman moved 5-gallon jugs of water into her
single-wide trailer. Posted.
http://www.latimes.com/local/great-reads/la-me-c1-east-porterville-20140918-story.html#page=1


California drought: Alamo Square Park sprinkler problems. The
state is locked in what Gov. Jerry Brown has called its worst
drought on record, prompting San Francisco to impose a 10 percent
cut last month on outdoor watering. But anybody walking by Alamo
Square Park at night might get the impression that the city is
flush with the stuff. When the sprinklers come on after hours at
one of San Francisco's iconic attractions, water flows…Posted.
http://www.sfgate.com/science/article/California-drought-Alamo-Square-Park-sprinkler-5762969.php


Why fewer acres have burned this year despite California drought.
It may feel like all of bone-dry Northern California is on fire,
with blazes chewing up land from the Oregon border to Yosemite to
here in El Dorado County, where thousands of people were on edge
Wednesday after being chased from their threatened homes. But
California has seen fewer acres burn than last year, state and
federal officials said, and only slightly more land has been
blackened than the five-year average. Posted.
http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Firefighters-continue-attack-on-drought-driven-5761346.php


Los Angeles reached 103 degrees this week. How drought is to
blame (+video). Temperatures in Los Angeles reached 103 degrees
this week, accompanied by rolling power outages. California's
historic drought is contributing to severe high temperatures,
experts say. Posted.
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/USA-Update/2014/0917/Los-Angeles-reached-103-degrees-this-week.-How-drought-is-to-blame-video


FUELS

Chevron meets shale drilling rules. Chevron has become the first
energy company to meet a new set of voluntary shale gas drilling
standards that aim to go beyond existing state laws in
Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia, the Pittsburgh-based Center
for Sustainable Shale announced Thursday. Posted.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_GAS_DRILLING_CHEVRON?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

OTHER RELATED STORIES
http://www.sacbee.com/2014/09/18/6716658/apnewsbreak-chevron-meets-shale.html#storylink=cpy

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2014/sep/18/apnewsbreak-chevron-meets-shale-drilling-rules/


Major forest certifier seeks role in reducing wood-to-fuel
controversy.  At this week's annual meeting of the world's
largest forest certification organization, representatives from
the biomass industry were reassured of their place in future
efforts to promote sustainable forest management. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1060006047/print BY
SUBSCRIPTION ONLY

VEHICLES

Try out a plug-in car, for free.  What is it like to live with a
plug-in car? A promotional event for electric vehicles in San
Diego on Saturday will offer a close-up look and discussions of
the latest in green car technology, including a test drive of new
models. California plug-in car sales surpassed 100,000 in August,
as state and federal authorities encourage drivers to reduce
their dependence on gasoline and diesel fuel. Posted.
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2014/sep/17/electric-vehicle-day/


Toyota quietly rolls 2015 fuel cell car into town. One
automaker's vision of the transportation future sat parked under
a broiling sun not far from AT&T Park baseball stadium Tuesday.
But the blackout tint on the sedan's windows wasn't to keep the
interior cool, but hidden. Toyota quietly rolled into town with
the newest addition to its eco-conscious fleet, the 2015 FCV.
That stands for Fuel Cell Vehicle and translates to hydrogen
power. Posted.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2014/09/17/toyota-2015-fcv-hydrogen-powered-car/15744945/


GREEN ENERGY

UPDATE 1-Green aid test for U.N. climate summit as poor seek $15
bln. A U.N. summit on climate change next week will test rich
nations' willingness to fill a near-empty fund to help the poor,
but pledges are likely to be far short of developing nations'
hopes for $15 billion in 2014. Emerging nations say that cash for
the Green Climate Fund (GCF), meant to help the poor with
projects to curb rising greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to
heatwaves, floods and rising seas, is vital to combat global
warming. Posted.
http://in.reuters.com/article/2014/09/18/un-climatechange-fund-idINL6N0RJ3VR20140918


US to train veterans to install solar panels. The U.S. is
planning to train veterans to become solar panel installers in
the next six years, the White House said Thursday. The jobs
training program is among a host of initiatives the White House
says will cut carbon dioxide emissions by more than 300 million
tons through 2030, plus save billions of dollars on energy bills
for homeowners and businesses. Posted.
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2014/sep/18/us-to-train-veterans-to-install-solar-panels/


Future shock: Concept car comes to Santa Cruz. Dutch car blends
solar and electric technologies. Stella is nothing like your
grandfather's wood-paneled station wagon. Low-slung and almost
insect-like in its profile, "Stella" is a Dutch concept car that
represents an evolutionary leap in the clamor for
climate-friendly cars that are also practical. Billed as the
world's first solar-powered family car…Posted.
http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/santacruz/ci_26555880/future-shock-concept-car-comes-santa-cruz
 

BLOGS

Can the U.S. and China Find Harmony in Pursuing Climate Progress?
 Jeff Goodell, who’s written fine books on “big coal” and the
batch of climate-manipulating ideas known as geo-engineering, has
written an invaluable feature on China’s energy and climate plans
for Rolling Stone: “China, the Climate and the Fate of the
Planet.” Posted.
http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/09/17/can-the-u-s-and-china-find-harmony-in-pursuing-climate-progress/
 

New York Today: Climate March Countdown.  People are getting out
their climate marching shoes. And possibly their kazoos. The
People’s Climate March is happening on Sunday in Manhattan. We
checked in with Lisa Foderaro, The Times’s reporter who covered
the preparations for the march. The climax will be a moment of
cacophony at 1 p.m., when about 20 marching bands and church
bells across the city will “sound the alarm” on climate change.
Posted.
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/09/18/new-york-today-climate-march-countdown/
 

Hog Island Oyster Farm Fights Climate Change as Demand Soars. 
Oysters are big business. That might not be immediately apparent
on a visit to Hog Island Oyster Company in Northern California’s
bucolic Tomales Bay, where the place still has a seafood shack
sensibility. The farm was started more than 30 years ago by two
marine biologists who borrowed $500 from parents and a boat from
neighbors and began cultivating briny bivalves in five-acres of
intertidal waters. Posted.
http://blogs.kqed.org/bayareabites/2014/09/17/hog-island-oyster-farm-fights-climate-change-as-demand-soars/


Five Reasons Now is the Time for Federal Standards to Reduce Oil
and Gas Methane Emissions. Today sixteen leaders of the nation’s
largest environmental and conservation groups, including EDF’s
president Fred Krupp, came together to call for urgent federal
action to curb methane emissions from oil and gas development.
This past march, President Obama laid out his Strategy to Reduce
Methane Emissions, where he announced that the Environmental
Protection Agency…Posted.
http://blogs.edf.org/energyexchange/2014/09/18/five-reasons-now-is-the-time-for-federal-standards-to-reduce-oil-and-gas-methane-emissions/#sthash.FFbTvvAI.dpuf

http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/ddoniger/a_one-two_punch_to_curb_powerf.html


UN Climate Summit Will Be a Time of Reckoning. Next week
President Obama will attend the United Nations Climate Summit in
New York. Over 125 heads of government will gather for the event,
more than the 2009 climate talks in Copenhagen. This summit is
not designed to generate a legal agreement, but it will offer an
important moment of reckoning. Posted.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/frances-beinecke/un-climate-summit-will-be_b_5835902.html


Blink, CarCharging Group catching flack for EV charging price
hike.  Joe Dugandzic of Phoenix, AZ doesn't like to see the cost
for driving his EV increase. So much so that he started a
petition against a recent price hike by CarCharging Group, Inc.
(which owns Blink) asking the company to reverse the increase.
The hike is somewhat hidden in the change to how Blink charges
users for battery juice in some locations. Posted.
http://green.autoblog.com/2014/09/17/blink-carcharging-group-catching-flack-ev-charging-price-hike/




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