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newsclips -- ARB Newsclips for February 3, 2016.
Posted: 03 Feb 2016 11:56:19
ARB Newsclips for February 3, 2016. 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 Port of LA criticized after TraPac terminal falls short on air quality mandates. The Port of Los Angeles is coming under renewed criticism following release of an audit that revealed air quality-improvement mandates were not met by the 173-acre TraPac terminal. The revelations come on the heels of the port’s acknowledgment late last year that it had not met 11 of the 52 pollution-cutting measures… http://www.dailybreeze.com/environment-and-nature/20160202/port-of-la-criticized-after-trapac-terminal-falls-short-on-air-quality-mandates EPA accused of watering down new oil refinery emission regulations. Two local groups have joined nearly a dozen public interest groups nationwide in a lawsuit challenging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency over exemptions they believe will weaken regulations designed to impose stricter limits on oil refinery emissions. It was just last September when the same environmental and public health groups… http://www.dailybreeze.com/environment-and-nature/20160202/epa-accused-of-watering-down-new-oil-refinery-emission-regulations ALISO CANYON Prosecutor smells crime, charges utility for huge gas leak. Top prosecutors in Los Angeles County and the state of California are the latest to make moves against a utility for a massive and still-flowing gas leak, joining a growing group that now includes several levels of government along with parts of the private sector. LA County's District Attorney Jackie Lacey filed misdemeanor criminal charges Tuesday against Southern California Gas Co… http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_CALIFORNIA_GAS_LEAK?SITE=CASON&SECTION=STATE&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2016-02-02-17-10-58 Plug for California gas well leak draws closer in fits and starts. A calamitous natural gas leak near Los Angeles is inching closer to finally being plugged after months of trial and error with different techniques aimed at sealing a foul-smelling hole that has forced thousands of residents from their homes. Southern California Gas Co, a unit of Sempra Energy, this week said it will start drilling a second relief well on Monday. http://www.reuters.com/article/us-california-methane-plug-idUSKCN0VC0F7?feedType=RSS&feedName=domesticNews L.A. County files criminal charges over Porter Ranch gas leak. Southern California Gas Co. on Tuesday was charged with failing to immediately notify state authorities about the natural gas leak in Aliso Canyon. L.A. County Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey filed four misdemeanor criminal charges against the gas company, accusing it of releasing air contaminants and neglecting to report the release of hazardous materials until three days... http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-attorney-general-lawsuit-aliso-canyon-leak-20160202-story.html http://www.bna.com/california-joins-lawsuit-n57982066885/ CLIMATE CHANGE Climate change and pets: More fleas, more heartworm. Climate change doesn't just affect habitats for wildlife. It's also affecting cats and dogs. Fleas and ticks are getting smaller, but there are more of them, they eat more often, and they're causing problems in what used to be the colder months. Heartworm is spread by mosquitoes, but those mosquitoes — which used to be found only in certain regions — are now carrying the disease all over the United States. http://www.latimes.com/nation/ct-climate-change-pets-20160203-story.html http://www.freep.com/story/life/2016/02/03/pets-climate-change/79749258/ Man-made climate change raised risk for English floods: study. The study also calculated that human-induced carbon emissions caused a 43-per-cent increase in the risk of the once-in-a-century rainfall event. Man-made climate change directly influenced the historic storms that battered southern England in the winter of 2013-2014, submerging parts of the country and causing more than $900 million in damages… http://www.therecord.com/news-story/6260963-man-made-climate-change-raised-risk-for-english-floods-study/ Exxon Stiff-Arms a Request to Take Moral Responsibility for Climate Change. Opposing a shareholder resolution, Exxon says the call to accept responsibility for global warming and support the 2 degrees Celsius goal is 'vague.' Oil giant ExxonMobil moved to reject a shareholder proposal calling for the company to assert moral leadership on climate change and pledge to work toward limiting global warming to 2 degrees Celsius or less. http://insideclimatenews.org/news/02022016/exxon-stiff-arms-request-take-moral-responsibility-climate-change Measuring ocean heating is key to tracking global warming. Taking the Earth’s temperature is a challenge, but a critically important one if we are to better understand the nature of climate change. Human emissions of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide are causing the Earth to warm. We know this, and we have known about the heat-trapping nature of these gases for over 100 years. http://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2016/feb/03/measuring-ocean-heating-is-fundamentally-important-to-track-global-warming . U.K. greenhouse gas emissions levels drop. Greenhouse gas output in the United Kingdom fell almost 8 percent in 2014, official figures show. Carbon dioxide emissions dipped 8.9 percent in 2014 from the previous year, while emissions of all the greenhouse gases were 7.7 percent below 2013 levels, according to Department of Energy and Climate Change figures. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2016/02/03/stories/1060031683 DROUGHT California extends mandatory water cuts despite growing snowpack. The snow keeps piling up, but the rules requiring water conservation aren’t going away. California’s drought regulators agreed Tuesday to extend water conservation mandates through the end of October. The decision came in spite of increasing evidence that El Niño is delivering better-than-average precipitation… http://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/water-and-drought/article57924198.html#storylink=cpy California cut water use 18.3% in December, still barely meeting Gov. Brown's mandate. As state water regulators consider extending drought restrictions though the fall, officials reported Tuesday that urban Californians had reduced their water use by 18.3% during December. The savings, which are compared with December 2013 water usage levels, were the smallest in seven months of reporting and put California’s cumulative savings at 25.5%, down from 26.3% in November. http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-water-conservation-20160202-story.html With all this rain, why is California extending its drought emergency? Even after experiencing strong El Niño storms this winter, California's water regulators voted to maintain emergency conservation controls through October after the state's water-saving efforts fell short last month. http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/2016/0203/With-all-this-rain-why-is-California-extending-its-drought-emergency Forest Service warns climate change brings serious consequences. Drought is projected to intensify in frequency and severity, bringing with it more wildfires, insect-induced tree mortality and a host of economic impacts as global temperatures rise, according to a comprehensive scientific assessment released by the U.S. Forest Service. Simply put, the report released Monday synthesizes a growing body of research… http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2016/02/03/stories/1060031686 DIESEL ACTIVITIES Long Beach to power more vehicles with renewable fuel, diesel. Long Beach officials announced this morning that roughly 18 percent of its vehicle fleet will switch to renewable fuels such as natural gas and renewable diesel. “The shift to these renewable fuels is an important part of the city’s commitment to sustainability and greenhouse gas reductions,” Mayor Robert Garcia said in a written statement. http://www.presstelegram.com/environment-and-nature/20160202/long-beach-to-power-more-vehicles-with-renewable-fuel-diesel FUELS Foxx sees long-term shift to cleaner fuels, new technology. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said yesterday that the agency has "bought into" reducing greenhouse gas emissions from transportation. The transportation sector represents almost 30 percent of overall carbon emissions in the United States, second only to the power sector, according to U.S. EPA. President Obama has made addressing global warming a cornerstone of his legacy and, as part of that… http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2016/02/03/stories/1060031715 VEHICLES EU parliament fails to close loopholes in controversial car emission tests. MEPs fail to veto proposal that will allow cars to emit twice the limit of NOx pollution following pressure from pro-car industry countries. MEPs have failed to veto loopholes in air pollution limits on new diesel cars, despite public anger in the wake of the Volkswagen emissions scandal. http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/feb/03/eu-parliament-gives-green-light-for-loopholes-in-car-emissions-tests Quirky rule ensures top spot for Calif. in clean-car race. Californians drive almost as many electric vehicles as the rest of the nation combined, but the same regulations that made the Golden State a plug-in hotbed are keeping other states from following suit. California's aggressive zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) regulation is the only regulation globally that mandates sales quotas for ZEVs… http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2016/02/03/stories/1060031717 VW RECALL Volkswagen Submits Diesel-Engine Fix to California Officials. Proposal would enable Porsches, Audis and VW car with six-cylinder, 3.0-liter engines to meet air quality standards. The Volkswagen Group of America submitted its proposal Tuesday to bring Porsches, Audis and Volkswagen cars with six-cylinder, 3.0-liter diesel engines up to California’s air quality standards after state regulators found the vehicles were programmed to… http://www.wsj.com/articles/volkswagen-submits-diesel-engine-fix-to-california-officials-1454467372 http://af.reuters.com/article/commoditiesNews/idAFL2N15I007 http://www.autonews.com/article/20160202/OEM11/160209945/vw-group-sends-proposal-to-fix-rigged-3.0-liter-diesels-to-u.s.-calif. http://bsccomment.com/2016/02/03/vw-submits-fix-for-3-0-liter-diesels-to-california-officials.html http://finance.yahoo.com/news/vw-submits-california-recall-fix-002531282.html http://www.autoevolution.com/news/volkswagen-group-submits-its-proposed-fix-for-v6-tdi-engines-to-us-regulators-104259.html VW Diesel Scandal Erodes Trust In Germany, Auto Industry Too. The revelation that Volkswagen used "defeat device" software to cheat on U.S. emissions tests shook the public's confidence in one of the world's largest carmakers. Volkswagen hasn't done much to rebuild its reputation since its cheating was first revealed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency at a press conference in September. http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1102181_vw-diesel-scandal-erodes-trust-in-germany-auto-industry-too GREEN ENERGY Biggest Offshore Wind Project Yet Gets Green Light From Dong. Dong Energy A/S is moving ahead with work on what will become the world’s biggest offshore wind farm once it’s complete, a facility generating 1.2 gigawatts of power off the Yorkshire coast in the U.K. The Hornsea Project One wind farm may cost $5.7 billion... http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-02-03/biggest-offshore-wind-project-yet-gets-green-light-from-dong After climate summit, this year's green bond issuance could exceed $50 billion -Moody's. The global agreement reached at the climate summit in Paris could prompt the amount of bonds this year issued to finance low-carbon projects to exceed $50 billion, Moody's Investor Service said on Tuesday. This would follow a record $42.4 billion issuance in 2015. http://www.reuters.com/article/climatechange-greenbonds-moodys-idUSL8N15H3H9 Could mechanical trees be the next big green technology? Scientists find that small vibrations already happening in the hustle-bustle of the modern world could trigger electricity generation in tree-like structures. Tiny leafless mechanical "trees" may be the next frontier for harvesting green energy. New research reveals that tree-like units can generate electricity by being shaken slightly. http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/2016/0202/Could-mechanical-trees-be-the-next-big-green-technology Global Wind Industry Hits Record 62 GW Installed In 2015. The global wind energy industry had a record year in 2015, with 62 GW installed, led by China which installed just under 29 GW. Three separate reports investigating wind development through 2015 have all arrived this week, thanks to Bloomberg New Energy Finance, the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA), and Navigant Research. http://cleantechnica.com/2016/02/03/global-wind-industry-hits-record-62-gw-installed-2015/ China Blows Past the U.S. in Wind Power. Reducing air pollution is a bigger incentive than lowering carbon emissions. China solidified its standing as the world’s wind energy behemoth in 2015, adding almost as much wind power capacity in one year as the total installed capacity of the three largest U.S. wind-producing states: Texas, Iowa and California. http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/china-blows-past-the-u-s-in-wind-power/ MISCELLANEOUS OPINIONS Did the climate spin out of control on its own? Scientists dig into the data to see if the world's climate could change dramatically without external drivers and how the system stays stable. If humans weren't pumping unsustainable amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, would we still face global warming? A team of scientists dug into satellite data and physical climate models… http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/2016/0202/Did-the-climate-spin-out-of-control-on-its-own Use Market Pricing to Reduce California CO2 Emissions. Nobody should be surprised that California’s cap-and-trade program is the most cost-effective strategy to reduce carbon emissions. What’s astonishing is that policy makers insist on pursuing other more expensive options. The existing mandate to GHG reduce emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 is apparently on an achievable path… http://www.foxandhoundsdaily.com/2016/02/use-market-pricing-to-reduce-california-co2-emissions/ BLOGS The Surprising Way Ships' Wakes Could Help Ease Global Warming. It's all about making the Earth's surface more reflective. The shipping industry gets blamed for its share of environmental ills, from air and water pollution to collisions that kill whales and other marine animals. But in a new paper published last week in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, scientists argue that the wakes… http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/ships-ease-global-warming_us_56b0e2cce4b0655877f73d91 Air pollution in Europe and the EU lack of action. Air pollution from vehicles is killing tens of thousands of people every year in the UK alone, write Jean Lambert, Molly Scott Cato & Keith Taylor, an outrage set into stark focus by VW's 'test cheating'. The EU's response? To relax tests and allow cars to be more polluting - with the full support of the UK government. Rather than clampi California is in a drought emergency. Visit www.SaveOurH2O.org for water conservation tips.