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newsclips -- ARB Newsclips for December 25 - 28, 2015
Posted: 28 Dec 2015 13:50:44
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 Beijing's smog may be thick, but parents say the bureaucracy is impenetrable. It was a one-two punch: first came the air pollution, then the bureaucracy. Sara Zhang, like many Beijing residents, has taken precautions at home to protect herself and two children from the city’s notorious air pollution. Yet her 7-year-old son’s public primary school, Yunhe Elementary, has not installed any air purifiers — humming, boxy machines common in the city’s expensive private schools — leaving its students no choice but to breathe eye-watering toxic air. http://www.latimes.com/world/asia/la-fg-beijing-smog-bureaucracy-20151228-story.html Study: Asthma rates down for U.S. children. Asthma rates in U.S. children have quieted down after a decades-long increase, a government study found, and researchers are trying to pinpoint reasons that would explain the trend. A possible plateau in childhood obesity rates and declines in air pollution are among factors that may have helped lower cases in kids, the 2001-13 study suggests. Overall, average asthma rates among kids aged 17 and younger increased slightly, then leveled off and declined by the study's end, when 8.3 percent of kids were affected. Rates varied among some regions, races and ages. http://www.insidebayarea.com/ci_29316132/study-asthma-rates-down-u-s-children Massive Porter Ranch gas leak may impact new development. The two-month-old leak at Southern California Gas Co.’s storage facility above Porter Ranch that ispumping massive amounts of methane into the air may derail a big upscale housing development planned for the community. Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael Antonovich has asked the Local Agency Formation Commission to block the annexation of county property in the community by the City of Los Angeles. He made the request earlier this month in a letter to Paul Novak, the commission’s executive director. http://www.dailynews.com/environment-and-nature/20151227/massive-porter-ranch-gas-leak-may-impact-new-development CLIMATE CHANGE Paris Points the Way Forward on International Environmental Policy. Regardless of your views on climate change, it is unprecedented that nearly 200 nations came together in early December for the Conference of Parties and the 21st United Nations Framework Conference on Climate Change (UNFCCC), known as “COP21.” This meeting also served as the conference of Parties to the Kyoto Protocol. http://www.forbes.com/sites/uhenergy/2015/12/28/paris-points-the-way-forward-on-international-environmental-policy/ Climate deal caps a long quest for UN chief. When international negotiators reached a first-of-its kind climate change agreement in Paris this month, the United Nations’ normally low-key leader, Ban Ki-moon, celebrated onstage, arms raised in victory and more exuberant than many had ever seen him before. Nearly nine years had passed since, in his first days as secretary-general, Ban surprised world leaders by making global warming a top item on his agenda. http://www.fresnobee.com/news/nation-world/world/article51673055.html The 8 Biggest Climate Storylines of the Year. We’re coming to the end of arguably the most influential year ever when it comes to climate change. The agreements struck at the Paris climate talks gave the world hope that nations could finally get their acts together to cut carbon emissions and with them, the risks climate change poses. http://www.climatecentral.org/news/climate-storylines-of-the-year-19842?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+climatecentral%2FdjOO+Climate+Central+-+Full+Feed Great Basin rangeland facing challenges with climate change. Fighting the effects of climate change in Great Basin rangeland is drawing together federal, state and private interests to deal with what scientists say is greater weather variability causing big swings in forage available for cattle and wildlife. Biomass can triple some years or see declines just as great, experts say, and native vegetation in the region that has survived climate variations for tens of thousands of years now faces challenges from invasive species and wildfires. http://www.modbee.com/news/state/article51770110.html FUELS Study shows branched ketone biofuels derived from alcohols have potential for use in aviation fuel blends. Researchers at the University of Bath (UK) have demonstrated that branched ketone biofuels produced from the alkylation of isoamyl alcohol and isobutanol with acetone have the potential to be used as blending agents with Jet A-1 fuel. A paper on their work is published in the ACS journal Energy & Fuels. Although the technology to produce cellulosic ethanol is becoming established, ethanol’s low energy density and high affinity for water have led to the development of higher energy density alochol alternatives such as n-butanol, isoamyl alcohol, and isobutanol. http://www.greencarcongress.com/2015/12/20151225-bath.html VEHICLES China Emission Standards: So Tough Honda Will Have All Hybrids By 2025. China is the world's largest market for new cars, and it also has some of the world's worst air pollution. Cities have had to limit new-car sales and restrict car use to combat rampant pollution, while the government is aggressively promoting electric cars as a solution to the problem. http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1101597_china-emission-standards-so-tough-honda-will-have-all-hybrids-by-2025 OPEC Says Electric Cars Will Remain Irrelevant Through 2040. Increased electric-car adoption could dramatically decrease global demand for fossil fuels, but the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries--better known as OPEC--isn't too worried about that. OPEC recently issued its annual World Oil Outlook report and, not surprisingly, it's very optimistic about the future use of fossil fuels in transportation. The organization dismisses electric cars as irrelevant, and claims they will remain so for decades. http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1101592_opec-says-electric-cars-will-remain-irrelevant-through-2040 Fuel Economy Improvements: Too Slow In Developed Countries, Minimal In Rest Of World. Several countries have policies in place demanding greater fuel economy or reduced carbon emissions from new cars, in the hopes of combating climate change. While the average fuel economy of new vehicles in developed countries like the U.S. has notably improved over the past few years, but is it enough? A new report released during the recent Paris COP21 climate-change summit says no. http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1101590_fuel-economy-improvements-too-slow-in-developed-countries-minimal-in-rest-of-world 2017 Chevrolet Volt Details Emerge: More Features, Same Price. The redesigned 2016 Chevrolet Volt is now in showrooms, but only in certain regions. Chevy is limiting second-generation Volt sales to California and other states friendly to plug-in electric cars for the time being, but will roll the car out nationwide early next year. The 2016 Volt will have a shortened model year, making way for the 2017 Volt's arrival this coming spring. http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1101579_2017-chevrolet-volt-details-emerge-more-features-same-price GREEN ENERGY Europe's Energy and Electricity Policies are a Bad Model. It’s quite telling that COP21 took place in Paris. Western leaders, environmental groups, and international institutions are convinced that Europe is the model for the rest of the world to install more renewable energy and efficiency. Entered into force in 2005, Europe has been a mainstay of the failed Kyoto Protocol, the first agreement for country-by-country reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. And the European Union Energy Roadmap 2050 wants the EU to cut its emissions 80% below 1990 levels by 2050, setting milestones for reductions of the order of 40% by 2030 and 60% by 2040. http://www.forbes.com/sites/judeclemente/2015/12/27/europes-energy-and-electricity-policies-are-a-bad-model/ Cheap batteries will give utilities electric shock. Power suppliers have long enjoyed a natural monopoly. But the arrival of budget batteries coupled with cheaper solar power will allow a growing number of consumers to pull the plug on old-fashioned electricity networks in 2016 and beyond. Solar panel prices have already plummeted, and batteries look set to follow in the near future as manufacturers hone new technologies and ramp up production. http://blogs.reuters.com/breakingviews/2015/12/28/cheap-batteries-will-give-utilities-electric-shock/ MISCELLANEOUS San Joaquin Valley air district considers pollution-reducing technology for charbroiler barbecue restaurants. Billowing smoke and the scent of sizzling meats might be familiar to anyone who drives down East Shaw Avenue in Fresno past Dog House Grill. Officials with the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District notice it, too. They’re tasked with noticing all kinds of smoke, even the emissions coming from barbecue restaurants like Dog House Grill that are a small fraction of the Valley’s total particle pollution, known as PM-2.5. http://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/article50569040.html http://www.modbee.com/news/article51820785.html OPINION To help stop global warming, curb short-lived pollutants. Among climate scientists, the consensus is that we must become carbon-neutral by 2050 to avoid catastrophic environmental disruptions. Negotiators at the recent summit in Paris accordingly focused on curbing carbon dioxide emissions. There's a major problem, however, with a CO2-centric strategy. Because carbon dioxide remains in the atmosphere for a century or more, and because we won't abandon fossil fuels overnight, neutrality by 2050 simply isn't good enough to keep the Earth from warming 2 degrees Celsius — the generally agreed-upon limit — much less the ambitious goal of 1.5 degrees C that many nations support. http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-1225-ramanathan-press-slcps-climate-change-20151225-story.html Fighting climate change requires more than soothing fantasies. On climate change, curb your enthusiasm. It’s not that the recent international conference in Paris didn’t take significant steps to check global warming. It did. Nearly 200 countries committed to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. The goal of limiting warming to 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) from preindustrial times was reaffirmed. The trouble is that what’s being attempted is so fundamentally difficult that even these measures may be wildly unequal to the task. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/fighting-climate-change-requires-more-than-soothing-fantasies/2015/12/27/9738fe82-ab2b-11e5-bff5-905b92f5f94b_story.html California is in a drought emergency. Visit www.SaveOurH2O.org for water conservation tips.