What's New List Serve Post Display

ARB Newsclips for March 27, 2015. 

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

EU Nations Reach Deal to Start Carbon-Market Reserve in 2021.
European Union member states agreed on a compromise to seek the
start of automatic supply cuts in the world’s biggest carbon
market in 2021, giving up plans to push for an accelerated
introduction of the fix. The deal, approved today in Brussels,
allows EU governments to begin on March 30 negotiations with the
European Parliament  about the final version of the draft law…
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-03-25/eu-nations-reach-deal-to-start-carbon-market-reserve-in-2021
  
 
This Week In V-Carbon: A Little Myth Busting. A new Ecosystem
Marketplace report set out to determine how carbon offsetting
fits into corporate carbon strategies and found that 14% of
businesses disclosing climate change information purchased
offsets. Among many significant findings, the report dispels the
myth that companies buying carbon offsets do so to avoid making
climate commitments.
http://www.ecosystemmarketplace.com/pages/dynamic/article.page.php?page_id=10884§ion=home&eod=1


AIR POLLUTION

ChemChina plants fined over emissions violations: Xinhua. Two
small refineries under state-run China National Chemical
Corporation (ChemChina) have been fined by the environmental
watchdog for emissions violations and ordered to halt production,
state media reported on Friday.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/27/us-chemchina-pollution-idUSKBN0MN13320150327?virtualBrandChannel=11563


CLIMATE CHANGE

Carbon Pollution Standards that Begin by 2020: Vital for Climate
Security, Human Health. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) is hard at work right now on the Clean Power Plan – the
first ever national carbon pollution standards for power plants.
Among the many important aspects of this historic plan, we
believe this: It is critical that EPA finalize carbon pollution
standards for the power sector that include protective,
well-designed standards beginning in 2020.
http://theenergycollective.com/edfenergyex/2209226/carbon-pollution-standards-begin-2020-vital-climate-security-human-health



Judge throws out environmentalists' global warming lawsuit
against Massachusetts. Suffolk Superior Court judge Robert Gordon
threw out a lawsuit yesterday by environmental activists, which
would have forced Massachusetts to create more regulations to
reduce carbon dioxide emissions. As previously reported here, two
environmental groups…
http://www.examiner.com/article/judge-throws-out-environmentalists-global-warming-lawsuit-against-massachusetts


Colorado City Vows to Be Carbon Neutral, Defying Partisan
Politics. Fort Collins, Colo., led mostly by Republicans,
approves targets to reduce emissions and become carbon neutral by
2050, but hurdles remain. Copenhagen and Melbourne have committed
to the most aggressive carbon reduction goals on the planet.
http://insideclimatenews.org/news/27032015/colorado-city-vows-be-carbon-neutral-defying-partisan-politics


Climate change could make your food taste worse. Climate change
could have an impact so real you can literally taste it. A report
from Australia suggests increased temperatures due to greenhouse
gas emissions could change the way foods taste and make some
vegetables, fruits and seafood varieties harder to find. It is
the latest dose of bad news for Australia after several years of
heat waves, wildfires and drought…
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/climate-change-less-tasty-food-fewer-choices/


Sea-level Rise for the Coasts of California, Oregon, and
Washington: Past, Present, Future. (Video) The National Research
Council has just completed a new report on sea level rise along
the coasts of California, Oregon, Washington which is intended to
provide elected officials, coastal managers and decision makers
with an objective and independent analysis upon which they can
base future coastal planning.
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2kqhcy_sea-level-rise-for-the-coasts-of-california-oregon-and-washington-past-present-future_creation


2 C temperature rise limit would fall short of safeguarding most
countries – study. The 2-degree-Celsius temperature rise limit
globally accepted as a means to avoid dangerous climate change is
a "mathematical aggregate" and a mere average of data collected
from hundreds of climate stations around the world and thrown
into climate models to forecast the effects of climate change.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1060015876/print 

Poll finds Republican belief in climate change drops with higher
education. Republican college graduates are more likely to have
doubts about climate change than their conservative peers with
less education, according to a new poll. A Gallup survey released
yesterday found that 74 percent of Republicans with a college
degree say news about global warming is "generally exaggerated."
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1060015894/print 

DROUGHT

Drought, warm weather bring 'smog day' memories in California.
The brown haze over California's San Joaquin Valley breadbasket
on some winter days has been an unwelcome reminder of the bad old
days, when pollution hung so thickly that people were warned to
stay inside. Years of tight environmental rules improved
California air quality so much that the state has not issued a
smog alert in a dozen years. But prolonged drought and warmer
temperatures have triggered a spike…
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/27/us-usa-california-pollution-idUSKBN0MN16U20150327?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews


Documentaries focus on Salton Sea, California drought. Two new
documentaries about California’s struggles with dwindling water
supplies will be shown back-to-back at the American Documentary
Film Festival this weekend, one focusing on the state’s epic
drought and the other examining the looming environmental
problems of the shrinking Salton Sea.
http://www.desertsun.com/story/news/environment/2015/03/26/documentaries-focus-salton-sea-california-drought/70505718/


DIESEL ACTIVITIES

New Bill Proposes $5,000 Fine For Diesels ‘Rolling Coal’. A
proposed law against diesel drivers who are caught “rolling coal”
would fine them up to $5,000 for this increasingly popular
practice of tampering with emission controls. While some in the
world are trying to go zero or partial zero emissions, others are
finding it a new pass time to modify their trucks to spew heavy
black soot…
http://www.hybridcars.com/new-bill-proposes-5000-fine-for-diesels-rolling-coal/


FUELS

State lawmakers slam oil regulators after embarrassing lapses.
The agency that regulates the oil industry in California is — by
its own admission — in disarray. After a series of embarrassing
disclosures about regulatory lapses that allowed drilling in
protected aquifers, officials at the Division of Oil, Gas and
Geothermal Resources are trying to untangle years of chaotic
operation.
http://touch.latimes.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-83149695/ 

In New York state, fracking ban fuels secession talk. From this
village of dairy farms and friendly diners, Carolyn Price can see
across the border into Pennsylvania, and it is a bittersweet
view. The rolling hills a few miles away are as green as the ones
here, and the Susquehanna River is icy and beautiful on both
sides of the state line as it meanders toward the Atlantic. Price
sees something else, though: towns brimming with money extracted
from the gas-rich Marcellus Shale…
http://touch.latimes.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-83148929/ 

Carbon Tracker Initiative Paints A Bleak Picture For US Coal. The
London-based Carbon Tracker Initiative paints a bleak picture for
the US coal industry and its investors in a recent report, which
finds the market for thermal coal is in a “structural decline” in
the United States, “squeezed out by an abundance of cheap shale
gas and ever tightening pollution laws.”
http://cleantechnica.com/2015/03/27/carbon-tracker-initiative-paints-bleak-picture-us-coal/


LNG's world leader will have to adapt as new producers take
central stage. Qatar's days as a "discriminating monopolist" in
world markets for liquefied natural gas may be numbered, as the
wealthy country gets competition from the United States and other
countries that have the power to shake up how the LNG business is
conducted.
http://www.eenews.net/energywire/stories/1060015870/print 

Canadian oil industry has hit its peak – report. Canada's oil
industry has reached peak investment, with more layoffs and
losses in the near future, according to a recent Conference Board
of Canada report. Revenue will drop 37 percent, with 8,000 direct
jobs disappearing in the next year, the report added. Investment
in the oil sands industry will decline to $25 billion from $30
billion.
http://www.eenews.net/energywire/stories/1060015849/print 

VEHICLES

Fiat Chrysler bought Tesla emissions credits in ’13. Fiat
Chrysler Automobiles purchased 1.05 million greenhouse gas
emission credits for the 2013 model year from electric carmaker
Tesla Motors Inc. to help meet emissions requirements. The
Environmental Protection Agency report found that nine of the 13
major manufacturers with sales greater than 100,000 vehicles
exceeded the requirements, with margins of compliance ranging
from 27 grams/mile (Hyundai)…
http://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/autos/2015/03/26/fuel-efficiency/70482776/

Chevy leads the way in buying carbon offsets, report finds.
General Motors’ Chevrolet brand was the leading corporate
purchaser of carbon offsets in 2012 and 2013, buying credits
representing the reduction of 4.6 million metric tons of
greenhouse gas emissions in projects outside their own
businesses, according to a report from an environmental research
group.
http://www.unionleader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20150327/NEWS24/150329311/-1/news#sthash.KaXJkTYJ.dpuf

Volvo Beats Carbon Reduction Goal by 10M Tons. Volvo last year
reduced the total lifetime CO2 emissions of its products by 40
million tons against a 2008 baseline, beating its goal by 10
million tons, according to the automaker’s 2014 sustainability
report. The company also exceeded its target to reduce CO2
emissions from its production plants by 0.2 million tons (12
percent), compared to 2008…
http://www.environmentalleader.com/2015/03/27/volvo-beats-carbon-reduction-goal-by-10m-tons/#ixzz3VbMAIcrR


Act Now: Georgia Electric Car Buyers Could Get The Shaft, Lose
$5,000 Incentive & “Gain” A $200/Year Fee. Georgia’s House and
Senate have passed a bill that would eliminate the state’s $5,000
zero-emission-vehicle (ZEV) tax credit and also put a $200/year
road usage fee on electric vehicles.
http://cleantechnica.com/2015/03/27/act-now-georgia-electric-car-buyers-could-get-the-shaft-lose-5000-incentive-gain-a-200year-fee/

Automakers rush to double electric car milage (+video). Feeling
the pressure from Tesla, major automakers are looking to play
catch up with electric cars, which includes setting new
standards. Global automakers are readying a new generation of
mass-market electric cars with more than double the driving range
of today's Nissan Leaf, betting that technical breakthroughs by
big battery suppliers such…
http://www.csmonitor.com/Technology/2015/0326/Automakers-rush-to-double-electric-car-milage-video


IL Suspends Clean-Car Rebates; GA Tax Credit In Trouble Too;
Texas Next? State tax credits and purchase rebates have proven
effective in kickstarting the early market for plug-in electric
cars and other green vehicles. But they don't last forever, as
buyers in Illinois and Georgia are learning; the Illinois program
has been suspended, and Georgia seems likely to kill off its
program as well.
http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1097483_il-suspends-clean-car-rebates-ga-tax-credit-in-trouble-too-texas-next
 

GREEN ENERGY

Alcoa Loan Reboots Maligned U.S. Clean-Energy Loan Program. A $25
billion U.S. Energy Department loan program that funded flops
like Fisker Automotive Inc. and successes such as Tesla Motors
Inc. resumed lending after a four-year hiatus to retool the
lending project’s focus. Alcoa Inc. has been tentatively approved
for a $259 million loan from the Advanced Technology Vehicles
Manufacturing program…
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-03-26/alcoa-loan-marks-restart-of-maligned-u-s-clean-energy-program


Cuadrilla, geothermal firm eye renewable heat from oil, gas
wells. Britain's Geothermal Engineering Ltd (GEL) has signed an
agreement with shale gas firm Cuadrilla Resources to explore the
feasibility of producing geothermal renewable heat from used oil
and gas wells, the firm said on Friday. The two companies have
signed a memorandum of understanding to develop technology to
show that geothermal heat can…
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/27/us-britain-shale-geothermal-idUSKBN0MN1KX20150327?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews


California's shift toward renewables makes energy harder to
manage. California's electrical grid has a problem -- a nice
problem, but a problem nonetheless: The state often has too much
power. Nearly 23 percent of California's energy now comes from
renewable sources such as wind and solar, and the state is on
track to reach its goal of generating one-third of its energy
from renewables by 2020.
http://www.insidebayarea.com/breaking-news/ci_27796540/californias-shift-toward-renewables-makes-energy-harder-manage


EIA: Sun Rises on Solar, Coal Takes its Lumps. The country
consumed about 1 percent more energy in 2014 than it did the year
before, the government says. Renewables are up, coal is down and
oil and gas consumption remained the same.  The U.S. Energy
Information Administration released the 2014 totals for American
energy production and consumption Thursday.
http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/data-mine/2015/03/27/us-solar-wind-and-oil-production-rise-coal-falls


Biomass Electricity + Carbon Capture = Carbon-Negative Energy. A
new study shows that using biomass to produce electricity and
pairing it with carbon capture technologies could lead to giant
reductions in carbon emissions in the Western US energy supply.
Generating electricity from biomass, such as urban waste and
sustainably sourced forest and crop residues…
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2015/03/biomass-electricity-carbon-capture-carbon-negative-energy


A Bright Future for Renewable Energy. During the preceding
decade, adoption of renewable technologies experienced rapid
growth. This advancement is in response to new technologies,
available energy storage, policy changes, and greater investment
in renewable sources. Renewables, solar and wind power
especially, have far surpassed coal and natural gas in industry
growth.
http://fuelfix.com/blog/2015/03/26/a-bright-future-for-renewable-energy/


Yingli Green Energy Reports Loss On 4th Quarter Earnings. Solar
panel manufacturer Yingli Green Energy, also known as Yingli
Solar, reported its 2014 fourth quarter and full-year earnings on
Wednesday, and it wasn’t good news, with a greater-than-expected
operating loss and relatively flat shipments and revenue for the
year.
http://cleantechnica.com/2015/03/27/yingli-green-energy-report-loss-fourth-quarter-earnings/


America's Cities Are Getting Greener Thanks To Energy-Efficient
Buildings: EPA Rankings. In many U.S. cities, buildings emit more
greenhouse gas emissions than even cars or factories. That's
because powering and heating office towers and apartment
buildings releases large amounts of climate-change pollutants,
environmental officials say. But that may be starting to change.
Cities across the country are taking significant steps to reduce
energy and water waste…
http://www.ibtimes.com/americas-cities-are-getting-greener-thanks-energy-efficient-buildings-epa-rankings-1861832


Largest U.S. solar manufacturer calls 2014 'a year of milestones'
as shipping surges. SolarWorld AG, the United States' largest
solar manufacturer, said this week it nearly doubled shipments of
modules from its primary U.S. manufacturing facility in 2014,
while globally the company boosted shipments by 55 percent, from
548 units in 2013 to 849 units last year.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1060015877/print 

A big, clean energy industry matures at sea. The first of a
two-part series. Flying 56 miles west from this port, you are
greeted by a 10-story, yellow, boxlike platform rising out of the
North Sea. It is called SylWin1, the connection to Europe's
electric grid from one of the largest power plants ever built
offshore. Beyond it, arrayed over 27 acres of ocean, are the 80
Siemens 3.6-megawatt turbines of the Dan Tysk wind farm.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1060015866/print 

MISCELLANEOUS

Gallup poll finds Americans’ worries about environmental threats
easing.  Americans’ concern about several major environmental
threats has eased after increasing last year, according to
Gallup’s annual Environment survey, conducted March 5-8. As in
the past, Americans expressed the greatest worry about pollution
of drinking water, and the least about global warming.
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2015/03/20150327-gallup.html 

OPINIONS

Keep Michigan energy clean and local. There have been campaigns
calling on Americans to eat locally and shop locally. Now,
Michiganders can get on board with a plan to power their lives
locally. That's one of the most interesting elements of Gov. Rick
Snyder's vision for a "no-regrets energy future," which focuses
on cutting energy waste and prioritizing renewable generation.
http://www.freep.com/story/opinion/contributors/2015/03/26/snyder-energy-plan/70456288/


EPA: Industry Exceeded National GHG Emissions Standards In 2013.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the auto
industry outperformed national greenhouse gas emissions standards
for a second consecutive year. For MY 2013 vehicles, the average
GHG emission came to 12 grams per mile — 1.4 miles per gallon —
better than what was required by the 2013 standard.
http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2015/03/epa-industry-exceeded-national-ghg-emissions-standards-2013/


Don’t skip the credits: the oft-overlooked importance of air
emission credits in mergers and acquisitions. There is no
shortage of environmental matters to navigate when buying a
company or facility.  Environmental counsel must first lead a
diligence effort that delineates the target’s environmental
footprint and then suss out the environmental risks and
liabilities attendant to the deal. 
http://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=824f7d49-0eb1-46cf-bfd5-291e1f9d59ca


BLOGS

The Five Most Ignorant Media Myths About Electric Cars. We spend
more time than we probably should in grumbling at media coverage
of plug-in electric cars. Journalists try to get it right, in
general, but often the specific and complex issues around
electric cars, who buys them, and how they're really used get
lost or ignored in general reporting.
http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1097482_the-five-most-ignorant-media-myths-about-electric-cars

Tesla Store Helpful, Enthusiastic; One Chevy Volt Dealer, Not So
Much. It's long been known that getting some car dealerships to
sell plug-in electric cars can be a challenge. Now, one reporter
tested the thesis for himself, by visiting both his local Tesla
store--to inquire about the Model S electric luxury sedan--and
his local Chevrolet dealer, to ask about the Volt range-extended
electric car.
http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1097484_tesla-store-helpful-enthusiastic-one-chevy-volt-dealer-not-so-much


Updated Green-Bond Guidelines Show ‘Incremental Progress’. Green
bonds, which finance environmentally friendly projects, got a
modest makeover on Friday. The International Capital Market
Association, a trade group, released an updated version of the
“green-bond principles”–voluntary guidelines for issuers and
bankers to help determine whether a bond should be labelled
“green.”
http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2015/03/27/updated-green-bond-guidelines-show-incremental-progress/


A Potentially Powerful New Weapon in China’s War on Pollution.
Days before the opening of this year’s annual meeting of the
National People’s Congress, a dramatic documentary about the
profusion of life-threatening environmental pollution in China
went viral online. By the time the documentary, “Under the Dome,”
was pulled from video sites a week later, it had been viewed over
100 million times.
http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2015/03/27/a-potentially-powerful-new-weapon-in-chinas-war-on-pollution/


We don’t have a Ted Cruz problem on climate change. We have a GOP
problem on climate change. Ted Cruz has earned infamy for the
self-regarding analogy he drew between his attacks on climate
science and the work of Galileo — both, apparently, opposed the
authoritarian non-science of their respective days. But what does
the Texas senator really believe on climate change?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2015/03/27/we-dont-have-a-ted-cruz-problem-on-climate-change-we-have-a-gop-problem-on-climate-change/


Spike In California Air Pollution Brings Reminder Of Bad Old
Days. The brown haze over California's San Joaquin Valley
breadbasket on some winter days has been an unwelcome reminder of
the bad old days, when pollution hung so thickly that people were
warned to stay inside. Years of tight environmental rules
improved California air quality so much that the state has not
issued a smog alert in a dozen years.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/27/california-air-pollution_n_6953860.html


China's War on Pollution Is Gaining Traction. Beijing just
announced that it will close the last of its four major
coal-fired power plants in 2016, avoiding an estimated 30 million
tons of carbon. This welcome step, carried out as part of China's
national Air Pollution Action Plan, is the latest evidence that
China is putting teeth into its pledges to tackle air pollution
and cap its carbon emissions.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/barbara-a-finamore/chinas-war-on-pollution-i_b_6955000.html


Tesla Bows To China Challenge With Market Reboot. Bottom line:
Tesla’s China reboot appears to be complete, paving the way for
it to gain some traction in the market by year end if it can
effectively target the nation’s wealthy, image-conscious trend
setters. Nearly a year after driving into China on a wave of
fanfare and big hopes, electric vehicle (EV) superstar Tesla…
http://www.forbes.com/sites/dougyoung/2015/03/27/tesla-bows-to-china-challenge-with-market-reboot/


Presidential Politics And Climate Change: How Will Voters Assess
Candidates? If Senator Ted Cruz doesn’t take climate change
seriously, should the American electorate give his 2016
presidential bid any credence? Whereas the history among those
who doubt the science had, generally, been flat-out denial, the
trend now is to say that they lack the science background to make
such determinations.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/kensilverstein/2015/03/26/presidential-politics-and-climate-change-how-will-voters-assess-candidates/


IKEA Fuels Up With Bloom Energy. Home furnishing retailer IKEA
has invested in numerous on-site renewable energy projects—almost
90% of its U.S. stores use solar technology, for example, plus it
is experimenting with geothermal and wind. But a new contract
with Bloom Energy for a site in Emeryville, California, actually
represents its first foray into fuel cells that use biogas to
generate electricity.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/heatherclancy/2015/03/26/ikea-fuels-up-with-bloom-energy/


Steve Wozniak Calls Electric Cars ‘Perfect Territory’ for Apple.
Australia Financial Review: Apple Co-Founder Steve Wozniak on the
Apple Watch, Electric Cars. Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak has
said he wants Apple to take on Tesla in the car business, that he
plans to buy the cheapest Apple Watch available when it goes on
sale…
http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/steve-wozniak-calls-electric-cars-perfect-territory-for-apple

 
We Could Stop Global Warming With This Fix—But It's Probably a
Terrible Idea. Back in the late 1990s, Ken Caldeira set out to
disprove the "ludicrous" idea that we could reverse global
warming by filling the sky with chemicals that would partially
block the sun. A few years earlier, Mount Pinatubo had erupted in
the Philippines, sending tiny sulfate particles—known as
aerosols—into the stratosphere…
http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2015/03/geoengineering-caldeira-climate-change


Home on the California Range In Year 2100? 'Climate-Smart' Must
Be Key To Land Use. “Maintaining rangelands can help mitigate the
effects of climate change and drought,” scientist says. Grassland
habitats on rangelands in California’s Central Valley and
surrounding foothills could decline by as much as 37 percent by
2100 due to changes in land use and climate, according to new
scientific projections by the U.S. Geological Survey.
http://patch.com/california/napavalley/home-california-range-year-2100-climate-smart-must-be-key-land-use


Massive Algal Blooms Could be Cleaned Up and Used as Biofuels and
Fertilizers. With warmer temperatures, algal blooms from
fertilizer runoff can become a major problem, destroying aquatic
life and clogging rivers and lakes. Now, though, scientists may
have found a way to clean up these environmental hazards and turn
them into useful products. Algae could one day act as a biofuel
and even fertilize farms.
http://www.scienceworldreport.com/articles/23782/20150327/massive-algal-blooms-cleaned-up-used-biofuels-fertilizers.htm


Nissan will run pilot car-sharing program with two-seat concept
EVs. One-Year Program Will Test Urban Revitalization Impact of
Car-Sharing EVs. Nissan is using a little car to test out
possible solutions to a rather big problem. The Japanese
automaker will start a car-sharing program this month using its
New Mobility Concept two-seat electric vehicles, which is based
on the Renault Twizy platform.
http://www.autoblog.com/2015/03/27/nissan-will-run-pilot-car-sharing-program-with-two-seat-concept/#image-2


Toyota wants half its vehicles in Japan to be hybrids. The Toyota
Mirai hydrogen fuel cell vehicle could signal the future of
motoring with a somewhat accessible price and cutting-edge green
technology, but there's no guarantee for the model actually
spearheading a revolution in the marketplace. In the meantime,
the Japanese brand is continuing to focus on its hybrid
powertrains and actually plans to build even more of them.
http://www.autoblog.com/2015/03/27/toyota-wants-half-vehicles-japan-hybrids/

 



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