What's New List Serve Post Display

ARB Newsclips for May 28, 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.

CAR CRUSH EVENT

Old truck gets crushed in California's battle against climate
change. In a heavy metal display of its effort to get dirty cars
off the road, state officials crushed a 31-year-old pickup truck
outside the Capitol on Wednesday morning. The Stockton family
that turned in the truck left the event with a 2-year-old Toyota
Prius, courtesy of a state program that provides rebates to help
low-income families buy cleaner cars.
http://www.latimes.com/local/political/la-me-pc-california-crush-car-capitol-climate-change-20150527-story.html


Clean car trade-in program launches with Capitol truck
demolition. Before driving off in a new plug-in hybrid, Jose
Mendoza watched with mixed feelings as his old pickup truck was
crushed Wednesday morning on the west lawn of the Capitol. “You
never want to get rid of those old cars that helped you through
the hard times,” he said. “I didn’t realize it was going to get
emotional.” Mendoza, a father of six from Stockton…
http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article22454883.html#storylink=cpy


State Offering Incentives To Get Dirty Cars Off Road.  When Jose
Mendoza took his 1984 pickup truck to a smog check event in
Stockton last February, he heard about a new pilot program. If he
scrapped his truck, he could get state money to help him buy a
new hybrid. "She told me you can get this car, we’ll take that
car. I said, here’s the keys!” Mendoza became the first client
for the $5 million pilot program. He and his family took part in
the press conference announcing it.
http://www.capradio.org/articles/2015/05/27/state-offering-incentives-to-get-dirty-cars-off-road/
 

Going clean.  Here’s one advantage to being “disadvantaged”:
Millions of dollars have been set aside to help San Joaquin
Valley communities dispose of older, polluting vehicles in favor
of newer, cleaner ones. The pilot program, launched by state
officials on Wednesday, awards the largest incentives to the
poorest residents in the most polluted neighborhoods…
http://www.recordnet.com/article/20150527/NEWS/150529712 

Calif. gives money to swap clunkers for electric vehicles and
other clean cars. California is giving money to residents who get
rid of polluting cars and buy ones that use less gasoline or no
gasoline at all. The Golden State yesterday launched a pilot
program advancing the effort. It's funded by $4.8 million in
proceeds from California's cap-and-trade program for carbon
emissions.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2015/05/28/stories/1060019218 

AIR POLLUTION

3-hour debate on Oceano Dunes dust rule fails to produce
agreement.  A deeply divided San Luis Obispo County Air Pollution
Control District board spent three hours Wednesday trying and
failing to reach consensus on how to proceed with the air
district’s controversial rule to curtail dust blowing off the
Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area. 
http://www.sanluisobispo.com/2015/05/27/3653212/air-pollution-district-board-dust.html
 

Waste-to-Energy Facility Cuts Emissions 53% with Covanta
Technology. Emissions at the Metro Vancouver waste-to-energy
facility have been reduced by 53 percent since the beginning of
the year due to an updated emission control system. Covanta
developed the technology as a retrofit for existing facilities
like Metro Vancouver’s, and says it results in an improved
combustion process…
http://www.environmentalleader.com/2015/05/28/waste-to-energy-facility-cuts-emissions-53-with-covanta-technology/#ixzz3bS30w1Sf


CLIMATE CHANGE

Climate Change Will Inform Alberta Energy Policy, Premier Says.
Global discussions about climate change will play a role in a
revamped policy in Alberta, home to the Canadian oil sands
industry, said Premier Rachel Notley. “There’s uncertainty
created by the climate change issues” for the oil and gas
industry, she said in a briefing in Calgary on Wednesday. “It’s
not responsible” to not consider changes to regulation given the
“worldwide conversation around climate change,” she said.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-05-27/climate-change-will-inform-alberta-energy-policy-premier-says


Scientists Warn to Expect More Weather Extremes. Torrential rains
and widespread flooding in Texas have brought relief from a
yearslong drought to many parts of the state. Such unpredictable
and heavy rains are a big part of what climate scientists say
that many Texans can expect in years to come. The relief has come
at a great cost.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/28/us/scientists-warn-to-expect-more-weather-extremes.html


Across U.S., Heaviest Downpours On The Rise. Record-breaking rain
across Texas and Oklahoma this week caused widespread flooding,
the likes of which the region has rarely, if ever, seen. For
seven locations there, May 2015 has seen the most rain of any
month ever recorded, with five days to go and the rain still
coming.
http://www.climatecentral.org/news/across-u.s.-heaviest-downpours-on-the-rise-18989

Canada must deal with tar sands emissions, says Clinton campaign
chief. Canada faces a widening rift with America over climate
change unless it deals with “excessive emissions” from the
Alberta tar sands, according to a trusted adviser to both Barack
Obama and Hillary Clinton. John Podesta told the Guardian that
Canada must do more to compensate for its exploitation of the
carbon intensive tar sands…
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/may/28/canada-must-deal-with-tar-sands-emissions-says-clinton-campaign-chief


Fixing climate change 'will create a new set of problems,' author
says. For thousands of years, humans have relied on innovation to
overcome obstacles, especially ones that affect our access to
food. It started with the domestication of plants 10,000 years
ago in Mesopotamia, followed shortly by the domestication of
animals.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2015/05/28/stories/1060019216 


DROUGHT

How California's Drought Is Reshaping Small Businesses.  As the
drought in California enters its fourth year, businesses up and
down the state are increasingly feeling the impact. As the
drought in California enters its fourth year, businesses up and
down the state are increasingly feeling the impact; from
family-owned almond farms in the Central Valley to private
hydroelectric power operators in the high Sierras…
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2015-05-27/how-california-s-drought-is-reshaping-small-businesses


Hopes rise for a strong El Nińo to ease California drought.  In
Texas, Oklahoma and Mexico, destructive storms flooded
communities and unleashed a tornado, leaving more than two dozen
dead. Across Southern California, this month has been decidedly
cooler and wetter. San Diego had its wettest May in 94 years, and
Los Angeles saw nearly four times its average rainfall. This
month, the San Diego Padres were forced to call a rain delay…
http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-el-nino-returns-20150528-story.html


Drought puts out Cupertino fireworks display. The Cupertino sky
will be free of July 4 fireworks this year. The San Jose Mercury
News reports (http://bayareane.ws/1LLGRbz) fireworks will not be
launching from the Fremont Union High School District football
field as drought conditions make it too expensive to spray the
100,000 gallons of water needed to protect the turf.
http://www.fresnobee.com/news/state/california/article22515021.html#storylink=cpy


California drought effect on peaches and nectarines. The boys of
summer may be on the baseball fields, but the joys of summer --
and late spring -- are in California's peach and nectarine
orchards. I have been amazed at the flavor of this season's early
fruit coming from the Coachella Valley, Tulare County and Fresno.
But the California drought will have an increasingly larger
impact on the supply, quality and price of fruit throughout the
state.
http://www.mercurynews.com/drought/ci_28162613/california-drought-effect-peaches-and-nectarines


Wildfires threaten Yolo County as California drought continues. 
Although there have been reports that drought conditions continue
to significantly elevate California’s fire danger, Lt. Gary
Fredericksen, who is in charge of all fires in Yolo County, says
there is nothing to worry about. “This year was no different from
last as the drought continues,” he said.
http://www.dailydemocrat.com/environment-and-nature/20150527/wildfires-threaten-yolo-county-as-california-drought-continues


San Jose Water Company to allow extra drought allocations for
larger families. Silicon Valley's largest water company is
changing how it will roll out some of the state's strictest water
conservation rules to address complaints that the new
per-household allocations unfairly penalize large families. The
San Jose Water Company will still assign monthly water budgets to
the 1 million people it serves in San Jose…
http://www.contracostatimes.com/drought/ci_28199043/california-drought-san-jose-water-company-allow-extra


Southern California immigrants face the drought with conservation
habits learned long ago. It doesn't take much water to wash
dishes — not in Jess Cullen's kitchen, at least. The 28-year-old
Australian arrived in Southern California last year, just ahead
of the drought and the state's new mandatory water restrictions.
But she was ready: Cullen grew up on a cattle farm in Queensland
during Australia's historic drought…
http://www.scpr.org/news/2015/05/28/52018/southern-california-immigrants-bring-their-own-wat/


West Coast drought: Why California water is so cheap. In
California, water may be increasingly difficult to come by, but
it hasn't gotten harder to pay for. Californians are being forced
to slash their water use as some predict that yet another year of
drought could empty the state's reservoirs. The massive
Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD), serving
nearly 19 million customers… http://www.cnbc.com/id/102714268 

What can a big Australian city teach Calif. about surviving a
drought?  From 1997 to 2009, Australia faced the worst drought in
the country's recorded history. In Melbourne, a city of 4.3
million people located in southeastern Australia, water levels
dropped to an all-time low capacity of 25.6 percent before the
drought eased. Despite the dire situation, the city reduced water
demand per capita by almost 50 percent by implementing a slew of
policies and programs.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2015/05/28/stories/1060019222 

FUELS

Norway oil fund to slash coal investments. Norway has made a big
move toward dropping investments in coal companies by its massive
$900 billion sovereign wealth fund because of their impact on
climate change. Under new rules to be presented by Parliament's
finance committee on Thursday, the fund - also known as the oil
fund - would exclude companies that get at least 30 percent of
their revenue from mining coal or burning it.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_NORWAY_COAL?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


OTHER RELATED STORIES
http://www.wsj.com/articles/norway-oil-fund-to-exit-coal-exposed-utilities-1432759583

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2015/05/28/business/ap-eu-norway-coal.html


Obama to get hurricane briefing, warn about climate change.
President Barack Obama is using his annual hurricane briefing to
warn that climate change will make these storms more intense and
damaging. Obama is getting the briefing on the hurricane season
during a visit Thursday to the National Hurricane Center in
Miami.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_OBAMA?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


Low oil prices are driving up gasoline consumption in the US.
Gasoline consumption is up this year, likely thanks to low oil
prices. Reuters' John Kemp reports that it's above the 10-year
seasonal average and continues to climb. Notably, this chart also
shows that consumption was substantially below the seasonal
average last year when oil prices were high, until about
November, when prices began to plummet. 
http://www.businessinsider.com/low-oil-prices-are-driving-up-gasoline-consumption-in-the-us-2015-5#ixzz3bSQ6t38h


SANTA BARBARA OIL SPILL

Feds order pipeline company to clean up Santa Barbara coastline. 
Federal authorities Wednesday issued a cleanup order to the
company whose underground pipeline spilled thousands of gallons
of crude oil into the Pacific last week, marring several miles of
Santa Barbara County coastline. 
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-feds-order-cleanup-20150527-story.html


VEHICLES

UPDATE 2-Ford to offer access to electrified-vehicle patents for
a fee. Ford Motor Co said it would give other automakers access
to its electrified vehicle technologies for a fee to accelerate
research and development of such vehicles. Ford's offer comes
nearly a year after a move by Tesla Motors Inc, the California
electric car maker, to share its patents with other companies,
though at no charge.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/05/28/ford-motor-patents-idUSL3N0YJ3WT20150528?virtualBrandChannel=11563


Ford joins Tesla in opening up electric car patents. Ford Motor's
executive chairman is announcing that he's opening up Ford's
electric vehicle patents to competitors to try to foster the
technology. Musk, CEO of Tesla Motors, made a similar move nearly
a year ago. But while Tesla makes only electric cars, Ford's
electric car portfolio is relatively tiny compared to all the
gasoline- and diesel-powered vehicles it makes.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2015/05/28/ford-tesla-patents-electric-cars/28056369/

http://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/autos/ford/2015/05/28/ford-opens-electric-car-patents/28065389/


Village gets amped at electric car show.  It does 0 to 60 in 7.2
seconds, it’s quiet and it takes curves like a dream. It’s the
2014 Chevy Spark, one of several all-electric and hybrid vehicles
on display in the Clubhouse Three parking lot last week. About 70
residents turned out for the May 21 event, sponsored by the
Energy Club to raise awareness about electric cars.
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/electric-663224-vehicles-battery.html


Used Electric Cars: About To Get Big, What You Need To Know.
Think electric-car ownership is priced out of your league? It’s
simply not. Even if leasing isn’t for you, or you don’t have the
stellar credit required to get some of those deals, prices are
plummeting on used electric vehicles—and that makes it a buyers’
market, especially for some of the more popular EVs like the
Nissan Leaf.
http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1098496_used-electric-cars-about-to-get-big-what-you-need-to-know


Google’s Self-Driving Electric Car Fleet Is Expanding. Goggle is
now planning to expand its fleet of autonomous electric cars
currently in use in the area around the company’s Mountain View,
California, base of operations. As it stands, these autonomous
cars have been getting around 10,000 miles a week in driving — so
you can see why the company thinks expanding its fleet is a good
idea.
http://cleantechnica.com/2015/05/28/googles-self-driving-electric-car-fleet-is-expanding/


Used Electric Cars Also Get Colorado’s EV Rebate. While President
George W. Bush passed a $7,500 federal tax rebate for plug-in
cars during the waning days of his presidency, only a handful of
US states have followed suit. Colorado has a mixed history with
EV incentives, currently offering as much as $6,000 off the price
of an applicable plug-in vehicle…
http://cleantechnica.com/2015/05/28/used-electric-cars-also-get-colorados-ev-rebate/


Here's everything we know about the electric car everyone thinks
Apple is building. Yesterday, we got our clearest sign yet that
Apple is secretly developing an electric car, possibly at a
facility in Ireland. Speaking at the Re/code tech conference,
Apple executive Jeff Williams said that "the car is the ultimate
mobile device"…
http://www.businessinsider.com/project-titan-the-apple-electric-car-project-2015-5#ixzz3bS7UtmBf


One Man's Fiat 500e Electric Car Might Get Him To Sell His BMW.
It's been said before, but the only way to understand why
electric cars are a better way to drive is to drive one. The
shorthand for that rule is "getting butts in seats." That's the
process of putting inexperienced drivers behind the wheel of
modern plug-in vehicles to let them experience the smooth, quiet
power and the torquey acceleration from rest.
http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1098486_one-mans-fiat-500e-electric-car-might-get-him-to-sell-his-bmw


Top 5 Best Selling Electric Cars. There are an even dozen
electric vehicles (EVs) offered in the U.S. and their sales range
from quite respectable to so little as to give fodder to critics.
As a type of vehicle, EVs are a slim minority of the U.S. sales
total at 0.40 percent but they have an outsized reputation and
more EVs are pending, including the next generation of
higher-range-for-the-buck models in a couple years.
http://www.hybridcars.com/top-5-best-selling-electric-cars/ 

GREEN ENERGY

Mexico Could More Than Quadruple Renewable Energy By 2030. A new
report shows that Mexico could increase the use of renewable
energy in its energy mix to 21% by 2030, and save billions in the
process. A new report from the International Renewable Energy
Agency (IRENA), prepared in collaboration with the Mexican Energy
Secretariat (SENER), finds that not only can Mexico increase its
share of renewable energy…
http://cleantechnica.com/2015/05/28/mexico-quadruple-renewable-energy-2030/


U.S. wood pellets can provide 'viable GHG reduction strategy' for
E.U., Duke study finds. A new analysis concludes that the use of
wood pellets manufactured in the U.S. Southeast to fuel energy
production in the European Union "could represent a viable
[greenhouse gas] reduction strategy" for the bloc if recommended
sustainability guidelines are followed.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2015/05/28/stories/1060019217 

OPINIONS

It’s not just a ‘California drought’ In a somber opening to
wildfire season this month, federal and state officials meeting
in Nevada warned that kindling-dry forests and a rainless
forecast could lead multiple states in the Great Basin to erupt
in flames at once, stretching firefighters and equipment thin
across the region. For the last four years, vast swaths of four
Great Basin states — Nevada, California, Oregon and Utah…
http://azdailysun.com/news/opinion/columnists/it-s-not-just-a-california-drought/article_c7a7f56a-1aff-53b7-b35c-0297df812155.html


Editorial: Windfall: Are carbon fees actually a tax? When is a
government fee actually a tax? California taxpayers, already
beleaguered under a variety of local and state levies, may soon
find out. The answer should come when the 3rd District Court of
Appeals rules in a lawsuit filed by the California Chamber of
Commerce. The suit maintains that California’s “cap-and-trade”
fees that are supposed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are
actually taxes in environmentalist clothing.
http://www.montereyherald.com/opinion/20150527/editorial-windfall-are-carbon-fees-actually-a-tax


Plastic bag ban is prudent public policy. Out-of-state plastic
corporations spent $3.2 million on a referendum to delay and
attempt to repeal a statewide ban on plastic checkout grocery
bags. Their motivation is simple: They want to make millions in
profits from the 15 billion plastic bags that will be dumped into
California’s oceans, landscapes and landfills until the November
2016 election.
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2015/may/27/plastic-bag-ban-is-prudent-public-policy/


Crude Oil Prices, Climate Change, and Global Welfare. A few weeks
ago, I participated in a panel session titled, “The Remarkable
Transformation of the Energy Sector: Does it Also Transform Our
World.” The motivating question was: “Is the dramatic decline in
oil prices a complete gift to the West because of the enormous
funds being saved…
http://theenergycollective.com/robertstavins/2232981/crude-oil-prices-climate-change-and-global-welfare


BLOGS

How drones and motorcycle helmets can tell important stories
about air pollution.  Sure, Ben Kreimer holds a bachelor’s degree
from Nebraska’s journalist school. But he doesn’t see himself as
a journalist. “I call myself a journalism technologist,” Kreimer
told me. “I’m interested in experimenting with technology to see
how it can be used to tell stories.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/innovations/wp/2015/05/28/how-drones-and-motorcycle-helmets-can-tell-important-stories-about-air-pollution/


Catalyzing Major Climate Actions by All Key Players around the
World this Year. Progress on climate change can seem depressingly
slow--especially to young people full of energy and expectation.
But look closer, resist the tug of hopelessness, and you can see
progress everywhere. Clean energy is both technically and
economically viable, and it's challenging dirty energy around the
world.
http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/jschmidt/catalyzing_major_climate_action_2015.html


Obama Saying So Long to Green Biofuels? In the seventh year of
his presidency, Barack Obama is being forced to defend himself
against the unusual charge that he's not progressive -- or at
least not progressive enough. Forget that in the past critics
have called him a socialist. His advocacy of the Trans-Pacific
Partnership (TPP), a secret 12-nation trade deal…
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-alexander/obama-saying-so-long-to-g_b_7451408.html


Carbon pricing winning favour with tiger economies. As China
readies nationwide carbon trading market, the likes of South
Africa and Kazakhstan are developing carbon pricing. More leading
emerging nations are mulling making the polluter pay than ever
before. China plans to launch the world’s largest emissions
trading scheme (ETS) – eclipsing the EU’s seminal practice – next
year.
http://www.rtcc.org/2015/05/27/carbon-pricing-winning-favour-with-tiger-economies/#sthash.vUIFTkdl.dpuf


Ending the Education Drought in California.  'Tis the season when
tassels are turned, mortarboards fly and newly minted graduates
receive their hard-earned diplomas. About 3.7 million students
will graduate with college degrees in this country. More people
are engaged in higher education than ever before. The educational
pipeline is brimming with students who seek to learn more and
pursue their dreams.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-e-kobara/ending-the-education-drou_b_7451976.html
 



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