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CAP AND TRADE

California has unspent billions from carbon auctions.
One of the chores the Legislature left undone when it adjourned
was spending billions of dollars from auctioning carbon dioxide
emission credits. There’s no shortage of suggestions on how to
spend the “cap-and-trade” money, but state law says it’s supposed
to be spent on reducing carbon emissions and thus combating
climate change. Gov. Jerry Brown already has a big chunk of the
money – $250 million a year and growing – to spend on his pet
bullet train project on the assertion that it will make a big
dent in tailpipe carbon emissions.
http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/dan-walters/article38765793.html


CLIMATE CHANGE 

Even as climate change gets worse, U.N. climate reports are
getting harder to read.
Let’s face it: Climate science isn’t always the easiest subject
to explain to non-scientists. However, the political charge
surrounding global conversations about climate change makes it
all the more important to communicate the science to the general
public as clearly and accurately as possible. Unfortunately, new
research suggests that the world’s foremost body dedicated to
reviewing and communicating climate science may be falling short
in this area.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2015/10/12/even-as-climate-change-gets-worse-u-n-climate-reports-are-getting-harder-to-read/


EU climate boss says emissions cuts not enough.
Europe's climate chief has acknowledged for the first time that
climate pledges made by national governments ahead of a major
U.N. conference fall short of meeting the international goal of
keeping global warming below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees
Fahrenheit). In an interview Monday with The Associated Press,
Climate Commissioner Miguel Arias Canete said the EU's
projections show the current pledges to curb greenhouse gas
emissions would put world on a path toward 3 degrees Celsius (5.4
degrees Fahrenheit) of warming.
http://www.fresnobee.com/news/business/article38802903.html 

Paying to Pollute Gains Ground as Nations Seek Climate Solution.
The world is coming to terms with the idea that putting a price
on carbon emissions is necessary to fight global warming. Now
there’s a growing consensus on how to make it happen. Cap and
trade. After years of political defeats and operational snafus,
systems that let companies buy and sell the right to pollute are
gaining traction as a way to reduce emissions without dragging
down the economy. With less than two months before nations are
expected to finish a binding global deal to rein in greenhouse
gases, Japan, South Korea, dozens of U.S. states and the Canadian
provinces of Ontario and Quebec are among governments coming out
in favor of these carbon markets.
http://washpost.bloomberg.com/Story?docId=1376-NVIBAN6KLVR901-0DTC2GU9FI2QJQUAVMP3RQ50NK


DIESEL ACTIVITIES

EPA, Calif. hit carrier with $400k in fines for not using diesel
particulate filters.
A Virginia trucking company will pay $100,000 to the
Environmental Protection Agency and an additional $290,000 to
California in the first federal enforcement of the state’s Truck
and Bus Regulation. The EPA has fined Estes Express Lines
$100,000 for lacking diesel particulate filters on 73 trucks
operating in California. That represents 15 percent of the fleet
Estes operates there, but the national carrier now only uses new
trucks in the state.
http://www.overdriveonline.com/epa-calif-hit-carrier-with-400k-in-fines-for-not-using-diesel-particulate-filters/


FUELS

MIT study finds carbon prices more cost-effective than fuel
economy regs at reducing CO2 emissions; fuel economy regs more
efficient at reducing fuel use.
Researchers at the MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of
Global Change have compared the worldwide economic,
environmental, and energy impacts of currently planned fuel
economy standards (extended to the year 2050) with those of
region-specific carbon prices designed to yield identical CO2
emissions reductions. Their study, which appears in the Journal
of Transport Economics and Policy, finds that such stringent fuel
economy standards would cost the economy 10% of global gross
domestic product (GDP) in 2050, compared with a 6% cost under
carbon pricing.
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2015/10/20151012-mit.html 

VEHICLES

Québec lays out C$420M action plan for electrification of
transport through 2020.
The Government of Québec has unveiled a new Action Plan for the
electrification of transport in 2015-2020. With a budget of more
than C$420 million (US$324 million), the plan has the following
objectives: Increase the number of electric vehicles in the car
park of Québec; Reduce greenhouse gas emissions; Reduce energy
dependence on oil and improve the trade balance of Quebec; and
Contribute to Québec’s economic development by focusing on a
future industry and using the electrical energy available in
Quebec.
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2015/10/20151012-quebec.html 

Argonne study finds lightweight material substitution increases
vehicle-cycle GHGs, but results in total life-cycle benefit.
A team at Argonne National Laboratory has taken a closer look at
vehicle-cycle (all processes related to vehicle manufacturing)
and vehicle total life-cycle (vehicle-cycle plus fuel cycle—i.e.,
the use phase) impacts of substituting lightweight materials into
vehicles. In a study published in the ACS journal Environmental
Science & Technology, they reported that while material
substitution can reduce vehicle weight, it often increases
vehicle-cycle greenhouse gas emissions GHGs—for example,
replacing steel with wrought aluminum, carbon fiber reinforced
plastic (CRFP), or magnesium increases the vehicle-cycle GHGs.
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2015/10/20151012-kelly.html 

GREEN ENERGY

Solar panels getting cool reception from homeowners
associations.
Ilam Mougy wanted to green up his condominium with solar power.
The 49-year-old software engineer won approval to install panels
on his home from PG&E and the city of San Jose. He expected
little trouble from the Tuscany Hills homeowners association
since another neighbor had an array on his roof. He was wrong.
http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/technology/20151011/solar-panels-getting-cool-reception-from-homeowners-associations


MISCELLANEOUS

California pushes to make landfills food-free.
Heather Maloney thinks of herself as an environmentalist but, as
a working mother, doesn’t have the time to create a backyard
compost heap. The little bucket for food waste that Napa’s
recycling authority sent her offers a more convenient way to keep
her leftovers from lining a landfill. “You’re already scraping
plates and rinsing them off to put in the dishwasher, so it’s a
pretty easy system,” Maloney said, standing in her kitchen. “It’s
definitely cut down on our trash.”
http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article38764776.html


OPINION

Greener, cheaper electricity with community choice.
Even though our federal government seems gridlocked when it comes
to bold plans for renewable energy, this year Silicon Valley is
leading the way with innovative solutions for Community Choice
Energy. Municipalities across Silicon Valley are taking on
special interests to offer cleaner and cheaper energy directly to
their residents. Given the flurry of recent activity, it very
much seems that CCE is an idea whose time has come.
http://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/openforum/article/Greener-cheaper-electricity-with-community-choice-6565076.php


BLOGS

The CEO and the Activist: Meet Renewable Energy’s Odd Couple.
Meet the renewable-energy odd couple, the environmental activist
and his onetime target, the chief of Italy’s largest utility. A
year ago, Kumi Naidoo, the head of Greenpeace International, and
Francesco Starace were sworn enemies, after the group said Enel
SpA’s coal plants were killing people. Now, they’re drinking
orange juice together at the Four Seasons in New York, discussing
the urgent need to fight global warming.
http://washpost.bloomberg.com/Story?docId=1376-NVGRSW6KLVR701-0VBLS8CPSRR8IUN3R2NFCUEE8J


UN climate science head calls for carbon pricing.
The new head of the United Nations’s climate science agency said
countries around the world need to implement systems to put a
price on carbon dioxide emissions. Hoesung Lee, chairman of the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), said at a news
conference in his native South Korea that he wants the agency to
put more focus on solving problems around climate change.
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/256646-un-climate-science-head-calls-for-carbon-pricing




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