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newsclips -- REVISED ARB Newsclips for October 12, 2015
Posted: 12 Oct 2015 15:33:25
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 Why air pollution is sometimes good news for the climate BURNING fossil fuels for heating, generating electricity or for transport does not simply produce carbon-dioxide emissions, but also other greenhouse gases (GHG), such as particulate matter (PM), sulphur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOC). http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2015/10/climate-change Indian Express journalists awarded for series on Delhi’s air pollution Express journalists Pritha Chatterjee and Aniruddha Ghosal were awarded the Young Environment Journalism Award in the print category for their Death by Breath series on Delhi’s air pollution. http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/indian-express-journalists-awarded-for-series-on-delhis-air-pollution/#sthash.kN1Le9hN.dpuf Benzene in traffic emissions tied to childhood leukemia Traffic pollution near the home – and specifically, benzene in the air - increases the risk of one type of childhood leukemia, according to a nationwide study in France. http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/06/us-health-airpollution-kids-leukemia-idUSKCN0S02Q520151006 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 What Exxon knew about the Earth's melting Arctic Back in 1990, as the debate over climate change was heating up, a dissident shareholder petitioned the board of Exxon, one of the world’s largest oil companies, imploring it to develop a plan to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from its production plants and facilities. http://graphics.latimes.com/exxon-arctic/ SANDAG board adopts regional plan The SANDAG Board of Directors voted unanimously Friday to adopt the final version of San Diego Forward: The Regional Plan, a sweeping blueprint for the future that will invest $204 billion into transportation infrastructure projects over the next 35 years. http://www.kusi.com/story/30228083/sandag-board-adopts-regional-plan VOLKSWAGEN EMISSIONS US: California authorities give VW deadline for diesel fix The most populous US state, a well known fair haven for environmentalists, has now prompted German automaker Volkswagen AG to deliver a repair strategy by November 20 for diesel-powered cars. http://www.inautonews.com/us-california-authorities-give-vw-deadline-for-diesel-fix California gives VW Nov. 20 deadline for technical fix in diesel scandal California has given carmaker Volkswagen until November 20 to come up with a plan to fix the diesel cars affected by its rigging of emissions tests, a spokesman for the California Air Resources Board (CARB) said on Friday. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/reuters/article-3266842/California-gives-VW-Nov-20-deadline-technical-fix-diesel-scandal.html#ixzz3oOUXwHHZ http://www.autonews.com/article/20151009/OEM11/151009800/vw-faces-nov.-20-deadline-in-california-to-fix-diesel-violations As Clouds Grow Darker Over Volkswagen, What’s Next For The Automotive Giant? This has been a particularly dramatic week for floundering automotive giant Volkswagen—one that played out with an air of intrigue and subterfuge that’s becoming almost Nixonian in scale. http://www.popsci.com/as-evidence-gathers-volkswagen-announces-plan-to-fix-its-cars VW may have a second device to skirt emissions Federal regulators are investigating if Volkswagen used a second device to avoid federal regulations on one of the automaker's new "clean diesel engines." http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/vw-may-have-a-second-device-to-skirt-emissions/article/2573819 http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-10-09/epa-s-new-volkswagen-probe-may-reveal-failure-to-disclose Q&A How much pollution did VW's emissions cheating create? Here's a look at how VW's emission standards cheating might affect Californians. Volkswagen has admitted equipping half a million diesel cars in the U.S. with software to cheat on emissions tests — and then, in normal driving, to spew between 10 and 40 times the allowable levels of nitrogen oxides. http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-vw-pollution-footprint-20151007-htmlstory.html 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/ Cutting ozone will require radical transformation of California's trucking industry At a laboratory in downtown Los Angeles, a big rig spins its wheels on massive rollers as a metal tube funnels its exhaust into an array of air quality sensors. Engineers track the roaring truck's emissions from a bank of computer screens. http://www.latimes.com/science/la-me-adv-ozone-transportation-20151011-story.html 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 Op-ed: Air pollution threatens Utah’s national parks and economy Live. Climb. Repeat. It's a phrase often recited here at Black Diamond, where we work every day to create innovative products that help get people and families, young and old, outside to enjoy wild places like Utah's "Mighty Five" national parks. http://www.sltrib.com/opinion/3044373-155/op-ed-air-pollution-threatens-utahs-national State’s vehicle testing programs have an Achilles’ heel Cheating on “clean diesels”? I am shocked! Shocked! But I was really shocked when told in 2009 that the Volkswagen diesel had passed the California Air Resources Board’s stringent dynamometer emission tests. http://www.sacbee.com/opinion/op-ed/soapbox/article38047368.html#storylink=cpy Teaching the Truth About Climate Change Misinformation about climate change is distressingly common in the United States — a 2014 Yale study found that 35 percent of Americans believe that global warming is caused mostly by natural phenomena rather than human activity, and 34 percent think there is a lot of disagreement among scientists about whether global warming is even happening. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/11/opinion/sunday/teaching-the-truth-about-climate-change.html?_r=0 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.