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ARB Newsclips for December 4, 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.

AIR POLLUTION

NY fund to shift stocks into $2B index of lesser polluters. New
York's comptroller plans to shift domestic stock holdings in the
state retirement fund to companies with lower carbon emissions in
a new $2 billion index. The investment strategy, announced Friday
at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris,
includes another $1.5 billion going separately into so-called
"sustainable investments,”…
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/APFN_US_INVESTMENT_SHIFT_CLIMATE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


New York Pension Fund, Goldman Create $2 Billion Low-Carbon Fund.
New York State’s retirement fund, the third-largest U.S. public
pension, will shift $2 billion of its holdings away from big
emitters of greenhouse gases as part of a new fund created with
the help of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. State Comptroller Thomas
DiNapoli announced the fund Friday while participating in an
investor panel…
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-12-04/new-york-pension-fund-goldman-create-2-billion-low-carbon-fund

World's Most Polluted City Plans Odd/Even Cars on Alternate Days.
New Delhi, the world’s most polluted city, plans to restrict the
number of cars on its roads by implementing license-plate based
driving bans. India’s capital will allow passenger vehicles with
license plates ending with odd and even numbers to ply on
alternate days starting Jan. 1…
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-12-04/world-s-most-polluted-city-plans-odd-even-cars-on-alternate-days


Companies and Cities Vow to Cut More Pollution Than India Emits.
Companies and cities around the world have pledged to cut
greenhouse gases by a combined total that exceeds India’s annual
emissions, according to research to be released by the United
Nations. The analysis by Yale University shows cities and regions
ranging from Sora in Spain, with a population of 175, to the
state of California…
http://washpost.bloomberg.com/Story?docId=1376-NYTT9M6VDKHT01-7OP5N8FM8CGMD43IOPU24P107D


Smokestack pollution targeted. Regional air pollution regulators
are poised to adopt new rules slashing smog-forming emissions
from Southern California's oil refineries, power plants,
factories and other non-moving pollution sources by more than
half. The South Coast Air Quality Management District's governing
board is expected to decide today on plans to cut 14 tons of
nitrogen oxide emissions per day…
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/air-353059-ocprint-pollution-district.html


UC Davis to monitor nation's fine particles. The University of
California, Davis, Crocker Nuclear Laboratory is now the prime
contractor for both major federal fine particle air quality
monitoring networks -- the National Park Service's IMPROVE
network and the Environmental Protection Agency's Chemical
Speciation Network, or CSN, which monitors urban air quality.
http://www.centralvalleybusinesstimes.com/stories/001/?ID=29551 

Embattled mercury rule likely to withstand court assault. U.S.
EPA's landmark air standards for mercury appear likely to survive
an effort by industry and states to kill the rules in court. A
panel of federal judges this morning seemed reluctant to vacate
EPA's rules to slash mercury and other hazardous air pollutants
from power plants after the Supreme Court sent the…
http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2015/12/04/stories/1060029011 

Airborne coal particles carry much higher heart risk – study. Not
all fine airborne particles are created alike when it comes to
the risk of a fatal heart attack, according to a new study that
found those stemming from the burning of fossil fuels are far
more dangerous than average.
http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2015/12/04/stories/1060029003 

UN CLIMATE TALKS

Matter of degree: Temperature goal in climate talks an issue.
Here's a math problem that is confounding international climate
negotiators: Which is better, 1.5 or 2 degrees Celsius? The
difference is just half a degree, but small nations say that for
them it could mean the difference between life and death. For
larger nations, the question is what's realistic and what's not
when it comes to limiting global warming.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_CLIMATE_COUNTDOWN?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


AP Interview: UN climate chief to negotiators: sleep, focus. The
head of the U.N. climate change agency says high-intensity
negotiations in Paris are on track so far and says her biggest
concern now is that negotiators get enough rest to stay focused.
Christiana Figueres, chief of the U.N. Framework Convention on
Climate Change, insisted that an international accord fighting
global warming…
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/CLIMATE_COUNTDOWN_UN_CHIEF?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


The 11 countries that haven't made pledges for climate deal. Some
are at war, others recovering from natural disasters and some are
simply ideologically opposed to the climate deal taking shape in
U.N. talks outside Paris. Only 11 countries haven't submitted
pledges for the envisioned agreement, including conflict-ridden
Syria, reclusive North Korea…
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/CLIMATE_COUNTDOWN_HOLDOUTS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


Rusal's Deripaska Says Climate Talks May Fail, Urges Carbon Tax.
Oleg Deripaska, the billionaire president of aluminum producer
United Co. Rusal, said climate talks in Paris will probably fail
to produce a meaningful agreement and urged a carbon tax to
reduce emissions of planet-warming gases.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-12-04/rusal-s-deripaska-says-climate-talks-may-fail-urges-carbon-tax


Climate targets may not be enough to avert catastrophes.
Negotiators at climate change talks here are working to produce a
realistic plan to limit global warming to no more than 2 degrees
Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) from pre-industrial levels, but
many scientists say that may still be too warm to avert climate
catastrophes.
http://www.desertsun.com/story/news/world/2015/12/03/paris-united-nations-climate-conference-2-degrees-celsius/76709712/?from=global&sessionKey=&autologin=


Michael Bloomberg to head global taskforce on climate change. 
Former New York City mayor charged with helping companies gauge
exposure to global warming costs. Michael Bloomberg, the former
New York City mayor, is to head a new global taskforce aimed at
highlighting the financial exposure of companies to the risk of
climate change.
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/dec/04/mark-carney-unveils-global-taskforce-to-educate-business-on-climate-change


Oil, coal come to climate table with significantly fewer
bargaining chips. Oil and coal companies have been an easy target
for activists descending on global climate negotiations this
week. To nobody's surprise, wiping out billions of dollars in
future fossil fuel profits is a central theme here. But oil and
coal interests come to this airfield outside of Paris facing
particularly tough times.
http://www.eenews.net/energywire/2015/12/04/stories/1060028978 

CLIMATE CHANGE

Carney Backs Effort for Standard Company Climate Disclosure. Bank
of England Governor Mark Carney backed a global effort to bring
greater transparency to the way companies disclose the risks they
face from climate change, wading into a debate that has ensnared
some of the biggest fossil-fuel producers.
http://washpost.bloomberg.com/Story?docId=1376-NYS8556S972C01-7MRPM46SBQ9PM594V3GM15JO0N


New Carbon Market Years Away Says Envoy Seeking Paris Allies. The
latest attempt to create an international carbon market will take
about four more years and may prompt some countries to press
ahead with their own emissions trading rules, according to New
Zealand’s climate minister, who’s seeking to hasten talks on the
subject at climate negotiations in Paris.
http://washpost.bloomberg.com/Story?docId=1376-NYMIKGSYF01S01-0880DVS27KKSAQ1EM76N9THVES


Obama: Climate change is a major threat. President Obama is
sticking with his view that climate change is a global threat on
the order of terrorism, in part because terrorist groups like the
Islamic State will be defeated in traditional ways. "But If you
start seeing the oceans rise by five, six, seven feet" and if
weather patterns change to where "bread baskets to the world
suddenly can no longer grow food…
http://www.usatoday.com/story/theoval/2015/12/04/obama-climate-change-terrorism-cbs-news-islamic-state/76773860/


Stopping climate change can begin at breakfast. Dozens and dozens
of world leaders are meeting this month at the critical world
climate change conference in Paris, in the hope of reaching a
legally binding, universal agreement to curb carbon emissions and
keep global warming below 2 degrees Celsius. The goal is crucial
and long overdue. But it's also in jeopardy. Concerns have
already been raised that the summit will not meet its goal.
http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/environment/article47926250.html#storylink=cpy


They Need Millions — Make That Billions — To Cope With Climate
Change. For the developing countries at the U.N. Climate Change
Conference in Paris, it's more than a chance to talk. It's a
chance to be heard — and their representatives are taking
advantage of the world stage by airing their grievances and
proposing potential fixes. How these specific demands will be
addressed is still up in the air (along with way too much carbon
dioxide).
http://www.capradio.org/news/npr/story?storyid=458349068 

Why will melting permafrost and more forest fires cause trouble
at sea? A warming climate could send more black carbon, or
charred organic materials rich in carbon, into the Arctic Ocean,
according to research published this week. Black carbon -- a
massive, stable source of carbon in soils -- is carried by rivers
into the ocean, where it can dissolve and release carbon dioxide
into the atmosphere.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2015/12/04/stories/1060028971 

Investors may soon learn more about the climate risks of their
holdings. The Financial Stability Board, an international
advisory body whose members advise Group of 20 officials, will
form a task force in the coming weeks to study the practice and
implementation of corporate disclosures of risks related to
climate change.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2015/12/04/stories/1060028970 

DROUGHT

Don’t expect a brawny El Niño to bust California’s historic
drought. Scientists say a vast swath of warmer-than-normal water
known as El Niño circulating in the eastern Pacific Ocean is
poised to be one of the strongest of the past seven decades. It
has the potential to play a key role in the formation of storms
that could bring much-needed rain and snow to California and at
least ease the effects of the state’s severe four-year drought.
http://www.sacbee.com/news/nation-world/national/article47926140.html#storylink=cpy


California farmers now see drought as rule, not exception.
Farmers are no strangers to struggle or drought. But this
four-year drought is different than others, they say. It’s more
widespread, touching nearly everyone who turns on the tap or
starts an irrigation pump. This past summer, wells dried up and
farmland sat idle. The drought also came to mean that life on the
farm has likely changed forever.
http://www.modbee.com/news/nation-world/national/article47926390.html#storylink=cpy


Even if El Niño delivers rain and snow, drought may never release
its grip. Will the drought ever really end? California hopes for
a sodden winter of El Niño-spawned storms. If they come, our
near-empty reservoirs may fill to the brim. But will the rain and
snow be enough to replenish underground basins sinking from years
of desperate pumping?
http://www.fresnobee.com/news/state/california/water-and-drought/article48003320.html#storylink=cpy


DIESEL ACTIVITIES

$1 million grant to help cut diesel emissions in Detroit.  A $1
million grant will be used to help reduce emissions from diesel
trucks with the goal of improving air quality in Detroit. The
funding for Southwest Detroit Environmental Vision was announced
this week by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The money
will help Southwest Detroit Environmental Vision to replace 33
short-haul trucks…
http://www.fresnobee.com/news/business/article47922730.html#storylink=cpy


FUELS

Rich nations' fossil fuel subsidies exceed climate aid 40 to 1:
researchers. Wealthy nations spend 40 times as much money
subsidizing fossil fuel production as they contribute to the
Green Climate Fund to help poor countries adapt to global
warming, a research group said in a study released on Thursday.
Eight industrialized nations - Australia, Canada, France,
Germany, Italy…
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-climatechange-energy-environment-idUSKBN0TM2LM20151203#0TCVfMmMZuU0vxIr.99
 

VEHICLES

Chinese Cities Give Toyota Boost in Hunt for Hybrid Buyers.
China’s former leader Deng Xiaoping famously quipped that it
doesn’t matter if a cat is black or white, so long as it catches
mice. When it comes to environmentally-friendly cars that might
help clear up the nation’s polluted skies, China has ignored
Deng’s advice -- to the detriment of Toyota Motor Corp.’s lineup
of hybrid cars. That may soon change.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-12-03/chinese-cities-give-toyota-boost-in-hunt-for-hybrid-car-buyers


Electric Cars Can’t Take the Cold. Batteries generate power less
efficiently as temperatures drop. California’s mandatory sales
targets for electric and hydrogen-powered cars will go from less
than 1 percent today to more than 15 percent by 2025. The
targets, the result of legislation passed in 2003, are a means of
cutting greenhouse gas emissions to 80 percent below 1990 levels
by 2050.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-12-03/electric-cars-can-t-take-the-cold


New York City To Deploy Vast Electric-Vehicle Fleet By 2025. By
2025, New York City could deploy a vast fleet of electric cars,
under a new plan announced by Mayor Bill de Blasio. It calls for
replacing large numbers of municipal vehicles with electric cars,
potentially giving New York the largest electric municipal fleet
in the country. That would include around 2,000 city-owned cars
used by agencies like the Parks and Recreation Department.
http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1101253_new-york-city-to-deploy-vast-electric-vehicle-fleet-by-2025
 

VW RECALL

Volkswagen car sales drop 20 percent in UK after scandal.
Volkswagen car sales in Britain dropped by almost 20 percent in
November compared with a year earlier as the company's emissions
testing scandal took a toll. There were 12,958 Volkswagen
registrations last month in the U.K., compared to 16,196 in
November 2014, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders
said Friday.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_BRITAIN_VOLKSWAGEN?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


VW lawyer: Consolidate lawsuits against carmaker in Michigan. A
Volkswagen lawyer says the company would like hundreds of federal
civil lawsuits filed against the carmaker over its emissions
cheating scandal to be consolidated in Michigan. Volkswagen's
attorneys were among hundreds of lawyers Thursday at a hearing in
federal court in New Orleans to look at consolidating more than
460 lawsuits against the German carmaker.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_VOLKSWAGEN_LAWSUITS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


GREEN ENERGY

China starts building 2nd biggest offshore wind farm. China's top
wind power company has started building the country's
second-largest offshore wind farm, state media said, as Beijing
aims to boost the nation's clean power industry and cut
dependence on fossil fuels that are contributing to smog.
http://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFL3N13T2UA20151204


Goldman Sachs says fastest, most profitable way to clean energy
is close at hand.  Investors should focus on four established
energy technologies that hold the most potential to reduce
emissions in the next decade, rather than emerging ones that are
far from being commercialized, according to a report from Goldman
Sachs. The investment bank's guide to a low-carbon world comes as
the technology community…
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2015/12/04/stories/1060028975 

 
U.N. study makes the case for steering investments to renewable
energy.  A head-to-head analysis comparing the environmental
impacts of six power generation sources found that while no
electricity fuel is benign, renewable resources such as wind and
solar present a tiny fraction of the environmental downsides of
coal and natural gas.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2015/12/04/stories/1060028969 

U.S., E.U. experts plot how to share ideas to boost renewables.
Governments in both the United States and the European Union have
goals to boost the share of electricity from renewable sources,
yet collaborate little with each other on designing policies to
help spread the technology. The electricity sectors of the two
regions are very different, as are the policies…
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2015/12/04/stories/1060028977 

MISCELLANEOUS

California entrepreneurs push to reinvent the nuclear industry.
The state that spawned a generation of activists committed to
shutting down nuclear reactors and crippling the industry has
lately become a hotbed of advocacy and financial support for
fighting global warming with, of all things, nuclear power.
Encouraged by the Obama administration, notable California
innovators and financiers are looking to reinvent the industry in
the mold of wind and solar power…
http://www.latimes.com/nation/politics/la-na-climate-nuclear-energy-20151204-story.html


OPINIONS

Why I’m optimistic on climate change despite the impossible goals
of the Paris talks. Only a few days into the UN climate summit,
and it is already time to sing the Paris blues. The path to Paris
was, unfortunately, paved with pessimism and imperfect accords:
Rio, Kyoto, Copenhagen. In the meantime, carbon dioxide in the
air has increased, raising the world’s average temperature by one
degree Celsius relative to pre-industrial times.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/innovations/wp/2015/12/04/why-im-optimistic-on-climate-change-despite-the-impossible-goals-of-the-paris-talks/


Why I will provide a Christian moral witness at the Paris climate
conference (COMMENTARY). As world leaders and diplomats gather in
Paris for two weeks of climate talks, many Christians will join
them. I will be among them. I view my eight-day journey as a
spiritual pilgrimage. Climate change — and its threat to hundreds
of millions of people — stands as a great moral crisis of our
time.
http://coloradosprings.com/why-i-will-provide-a-christian-moral-witness-at-the-paris-climate-conference-commentary/article/1564809


BLOGS

Growing Older In a Changing Climate. Population aging is a
triumph of development. The proportion of people aged 60 and over
is projected to grow in all regions of the world. Moreover, older
people are disproportionately impacted by disaster and
climate-related stresses such as heat waves and drought.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rosita-kornfeldmatte/growing-older-in-a-changi_b_8712902.html


The Climate-Nuclear Nexus: Two Key Threats Endangering Future
Generations.  Over the next two weeks, Heads of States are
meeting in Paris to finally agree on a plan to curb climate
change. Considering that climate change can exacerbate a range of
interconnected transnational threats and crises that our
generation faces today, such as extreme poverty, hunger, violent
conflicts and…
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jakob-von-uexkull/the-climate-nuclear-nexus_b_8707016.html




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