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ARB Newsclips for February 16, 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

Deal on Aviation Emissions Sets Can’t-Miss Goals. If the global
goals laid out at the recent Paris climate conference are to be
met, curbing aviation emissions is critical. But don’t expect
last week’s agreement to set the first standards for airplanes to
make a big dent. In fact, it will do little to reduce the rise in
emissions from airlines, the fastest-growing source of greenhouse
gases responsible for climate change.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/16/business/energy-environment/a-hollow-agreement-on-aviation-emissions.html?_r=0


Something in the air tonight. Tackling atmospheric pollution is
hard. More data will help. SINCE the 1940s, southern California
has had a reputation for smog. Things are not as bad as once they
were but, according to the American Lung Association, a health
group, Los Angeles is still the worst city in the United States
for levels of ozone, nitrogen oxides, hydrocarbons and carbon
monoxide.
http://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21692848-tackling-atmospheric-pollution-hard-more-data-will-help-something-air?cid1=cust/noenew/n/n/n/20160215n/owned/n/n/nwl/n/n/NA/email


Dirty air killed 5.5M people last year – study. Air pollution
killed an estimated 5.5 million people worldwide in 2013, with
the bulk of deaths concentrated in fast-growing China and India,
according to data presented over the weekend at the annual
meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of
Science. Overall, dirty air -- both from indoor and outdoor
sources --- was the fourth-highest risk factor for premature
death out of almost 80…
http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2016/02/15/stories/1060032402 

Portland air pollution is an emergency, lawmakers tell EPA.  As
state regulators have said little about Portland, Ore.'s
cancer-causing air pollution, Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley
and Rep. Earl Blumenauer, all Democrats, called on U.S. EPA to
take action, saying the situation is a public health emergency.
"We, along with the public, are alarmed by seeming revelations
that these toxic emissions…
http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2016/02/15/stories/1060032381 .

ALISO CANYON

With Porter Ranch-area leak halted, gas company prepares for the
legal battles. The L.A. County district attorney slapped it with
criminal charges. Los Angeles city and county officials filed
accusations of ill-prepared crews and public injury. The state
attorney general added claims of irreparable environmental
damage. And the local air pollution agency alleged negligence in…
http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-porter-ranch-legal-20160213-story.html

L.A. County Supervisor Antonovich calls for air-quality spot
checks in Porter Ranch area. As crews inch toward a permanent
seal of the Porter Ranch gas leak, Los Angeles County officials
called Monday for a series of air-quality tests that will tell
residents whether it's safe to return home. Los Angeles County
Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich joined the chorus of public
officials pushing for additional air pollutant tests in Porter
Ranch…
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-porter-canyon-gas-leak-20160215-story.html


Porter Ranch-area residents call for cameras, tests and other
safety measures. With a permanent seal for the Porter Ranch gas
leak close, officials and residents are pushing for more safety
precautions. On Monday, Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike
Antonovich called on county health officials to perform random
tests of air and surface pollution across the neighborhood, from
which thousands of residents had fled because of the leak.
http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-0215-porter-ranch-leak-20160215-story.html
 

Porter Ranch leaking well kill in final phase. Standard Sesnon
25, Southern California Gas Co.’s leaking well that spewed more
than 100,000 pounds of the greenhouse gas methane into the air
above the San Fernando Valley for 111 days, is in its death
throes. The underground technological snipers from well-control
experts Boots & Coots used a relief well to pierce SS-25…
http://www.dailynews.com/environment-and-nature/20160214/porter-ranch-leaking-well-kill-in-final-phase


Several chemicals detected in gas-impacted Porter Ranch air --
but no health threats. Results of expanded air monitoring in
Porter Ranch show that more than 50 different chemicals and
metals were detected after natural gas began to leak from an aged
well, but none reached levels of concern, according to public
health officials.
http://www.dailynews.com/health/20160216/several-chemicals-detected-in-gas-impacted-porter-ranch-air-but-no-health-threats


Moniz, other feds to tour methane leak site. Energy Secretary
Ernest Moniz will travel to California tomorrow to tour the Aliso
Canyon underground storage facility and receive an in-depth
briefing on the methane leak in the Porter Ranch neighborhood of
Los Angeles County. The visit, announced Friday by the Energy
Department, comes five days after Southern California Gas Co.
http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2016/02/15/stories/1060032401 

Aliso Canyon was already a major polluter.  California's Aliso
Canyon gas storage facility was one of the industry's worst
polluters even before it started leaking methane for months. The
Los Angeles facility ranked third among underground gas fields in
the amount of greenhouse gases discharged in 2014, according to
data from U.S. EPA. It emitted 206,268 tons of natural gas,
carbon dioxide and other pollutants that year…
http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2016/02/15/stories/1060032388 

CLIMATE CHANGE

U.S. will sign Paris Agreement and stick to it – Stern. The
United States will sign the Paris Agreement on climate change
this year regardless of the Supreme Court's decision to put a
chunk of President Barack Obama's environmental action on hold,
the U.S. climate envoy said on Tuesday.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-climatechange-summit-usa-idUSKCN0VP1VA


RPT-Scalia's death boosts legal chances for Obama's climate plan.
 A vote to block the Obama administration's ambitious climate
regulation was one of Antonin Scalia's last acts as a Supreme
Court justice. His sudden death may have opened a new path to the
rule's survival. Scalia died Saturday.
http://www.reuters.com/article/usa-court-carbon-idUSL2N15U110 

New era begins for environmental law, Obama's climate rule.
Justice Antonin Scalia's death will likely spur a tectonic shift
in environmental law. The loss of the conservative firebrand, who
was found dead yesterday at a Texas resort, sent shock waves
through the worlds of law and politics.
http://www.eenews.net/stories/1060032374

Thirsty continents are slowing down expected sea level rise,
scientists say. Despite the accelerated melting of glaciers and
ice sheets, sea levels aren’t rising quite as quickly as
scientists anticipated. The reason: Continents are absorbing more
of the water before it flows into the seas, according to a new
study.
http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-water-land-gravity-sea-level-20160215-story.html


California governor makes budget the latest battleground on
climate change. Gov. Jerry Brown is looking to make good on a
promise to curb California's petroleum use by shifting away from
new legislation and instead tucking his fuel-reduction goal in
the state budget. Oil companies spent millions in 2015 to strip a
controversial climate change bill…
http://www.sacbee.com/news/state/article60349731.html#storylink=cpy


Fiji becomes first country in the world to ratify Paris
Agreement. Fiji has become the first country in the world to
formally approve the UN climate deal agreed by 195 nations in
Paris in December last year. The island nation's parliament
unanimously agreed to ratify the Paris Agreement on Friday,
according to local news reports.
http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2447113/reports-fiji-becomes-first-country-in-the-world-to-ratify-paris-agreement



How 1 Midwestern state is plowing ahead with climate rules. Frank
Kohlasch, one of the lead architects of Minnesota's compliance
strategy for the Obama administration's signature climate
regulation, had just arrived at St. Cloud State University last
Tuesday when news broke that the Supreme Court had slammed the
brakes on the federal effort.
St. Cloud State was hosting the first of four statewide public
"listening sessions"…
http://www.eenews.net/energywire/2016/02/16/stories/1060032421 

Global leaders highlight climate risks. Climate change is "a very
particular kind of threat," global defense and foreign affairs
ministers said this weekend as they met in Munich to discuss top
security concerns. The annual Munich Security Conference this
year included a panel on climate risks.
http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2016/02/15/stories/1060032397 

FUELS 

High risk of bankruptcy for one-third of oil firms: Deloitte.
Roughly a third of oil producers are at high risk of slipping
into bankruptcy this year as low commodity prices crimp their
access to cash and ability to cut debt, according to a study by
Deloitte, the auditing and consulting firm. The report, based on
a review of more than 500 publicly traded oil and natural gas
exploration and production companies across the globe…
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-shale-bankruptcy-idUSKCN0VP0O6?feedType=RSS&feedName=businessNews


Venezuela talking to Russia about potential oil-price support:
Moscow. Venezuela is talking to some OPEC members and Russia
about the possibility of joint action to prop up oil prices, a
Russian Foreign Ministry official said, while another diplomat
said Moscow wanted better ties between Iran and Saudi Arabia.
Russia, one of the world's top oil producers…
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-russia-iran-saudiarabi-idUSKCN0VO0RT

http://www.wsj.com/articles/saudi-russia-qatar-venezuela-agree-to-freeze-oil-output-at-januarys-levels-1455615900

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/17/business/energy-environment/opec-oil-production.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=1


California BOE considers lowering gasoline excise tax rate for
third year in a row. The California State Board of Equalization
(BOE) will consider lowering the excise tax rate for gasoline by
2.2 cents for Fiscal Year (FY) 2016-17 during its 23 February
2016 meeting in Culver City. If adopted, the excise tax rate on
gas will be 27.8 cents per gallon from 1 July 2016 through 30
June 2017.
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2016/02/20160216-boe.html 
 
DOE requests information on biofuels & bioproducts process pilot
verification capabilities. The US Department of Energy is seeking
input from industry, academia, national laboratories, and other
biofuels and bioproducts stakeholders to identify existing pilot-
or process development-scale facilities with the capability to
perform process verifications for biomass conversion pathways to
biofuels, bioproducts, or intermediates that integrate multiple
unit operations on a scale of approximately 0.5 or greater tons
of dry biomass input per day.
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2016/02/20160213-doerfi.html 

VEHICLES

Utility plans car charging stations in eastern Washington. A
power company that wants to install 265 charging stations in
eastern Washington state is asking state regulators to approve a
two-year pilot program that would expand electric vehicle use in
the region. Avista, in a request filed last month with the
Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission, cites
environmental benefits…
http://www.sacbee.com/news/business/technology/article60345701.html#storylink=cpy


Auto industry pushes £500bn road maintenance plan as ‘green’
initiative. Critics react with disbelief as car companies suggest
EU should spend public money to resurface roads so that mandatory
car emissions cuts are not required. Europe’s car industry has
suggested that the continent’s entire road network be resurfaced
at a cost of hundreds of billions of euros as a “climate
initiative” so that it does not need to make mandatory car
emissions cuts by 2030.
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/feb/16/auto-industry-pushes-500bn-road-maintenance-plan-as-green-initiative


CMU study concludes alt fuel vehicle incentives for OEMs result
in increased fleet gasoline consumption and emissions.  A study
by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University has concluded that
regulatory incentives for OEMs for alternative fuel vehicles
(AFVs) intended to encourage a technology transition in the
transportation fleet result in increased fleet-wide gasoline
consumption and emissions.
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2016/02/20160215-cmu.html 

VW RECALL

Volkswagen managers were notified about diesel probe in May 2014
–sources.  A high-ranking employee warned senior Volkswagen
managers in May 2014 that U.S. regulators might examine car
engine software as part of an investigation into pollution
levels, two sources familiar with the matter said on Sunday. The
warning came in the form of a letter, which was sent more than a
year before the German carmaker's public admission that its cars…
http://www.reuters.com/article/volkswagen-emissions-idUSL2N15V0IL


VW Memo Warned of Emission Issues in 2014
A senior Volkswagen AG executive commissioned with
troubleshooting and known internally as “the fireman” warned the
company’s top management in May 2014 about an impending
investigation by U.S. environmental authorities into whether the
German car maker was using “test recognition” on some of its
diesel engines.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/vw-memo-warned-of-emission-issues-in-2014-1455572391


Mexico Issues $8.9 Million Fine Against Volkswagen Over
Emissions. Penalty covers 2016 models; authorities still
investigating vehicles sold between 2009 and 2015. Mexico has
issued an $8.9 million fine against Volkswagen Mexico for selling
45,494 vehicles for the 2016 model year without certificates
proving they comply with emissions standards. The fine isn’t the
last word in the VW emissions scandal.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/mexico-issues-8-9-million-fine-against-volkswagen-over-emissions-1455579256


Trial Illuminates Porsches’ Rise to Power at Volkswagen.  A
criminal trial in Germany has shed new light on how a billionaire
family acquired ultimate power at Volkswagen in the years leading
up to the carmaker’s emissions-cheating crisis. Two former top
managers of the Porsche family holding company — as part of one
of the more spectacular financial maneuvers of the last decade…
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/15/business/international/ex-porsche-executives-trial-sheds-light-on-a-familys-rise-at-volkswagen.html


VW's European sales show biggest contraction since scandal. The
marquee Volkswagen brand was hit in January by its biggest drop
in European sales since the German carmaker was engulfed in its
diesel emissions scandal, according to industry data released
Tuesday. The European carmaker's association, ACEA, reported that
sales of Volkswagen brand cars dropped 3.8 percent compared with
a year earlier,
http://www.fresnobee.com/news/business/article60594236.html#storylink=cpy


GREEN ENERGY 

Body Shop concocts new formula for making money while protecting
the planet. Beauty brand The Body Shop is turning 40 next month
and has set an ambitious goal of being "the world's most ethical
and truly sustainable global business". Founded in England in
1976 by the late environmentalist and rights activist Anita
Roddick, The Body Shop was famous for promoting natural,
ethically-sourced products and rejecting animal testing.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-retail-environment-biodiversity-idUSKCN0VO0K7
 

Sanders calls out Warren Buffett over solar energy. Sen. Bernie
Sanders (I-Vt.) called on billionaire investor Warren Buffett to
support the solar energy industry during a campaign stop in Reno,
Nevada on Saturday. Buffett, who is backing Sanders's Democratic
rival Hillary Clinton for president, is the owner of the largest
energy utility company in Nevada…
http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/269380-sanders-calls-out-warren-buffett-over-solar-energy


OPINIONS

Supreme Court made the right call on Obama's climate-change
overreach. To the editor: The U.S. Supreme Court's injunction
suspending President Obama's power plan was not “opaque” — it was
necessary and in congruence with the law. ("The U.S. can't allow
Supreme Court clean power roadblock to slow its fight against
climate change," editorial, Feb. 11) This is not just my opinion,
however, but one supported by 29 states…
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/readersreact/la-le-0214-sunday-obama-climate-change-20160214-story.html


Feinstein water bill could help with California's drought—if
House GOP gives it a chance. As an attempt to balance many
competing interests, the water bill that California Democrat
Dianne Feinstein introduced in the Senate last week appears
well-thought-through and carefully crafted — and as such it is
being greeted by many with the kind of lukewarm response that
such attempts often receive. Few seem ready to embrace it without
reservation, precisely because it offers a compromise.
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/editorials/la-ed-0214-feinstein-water-20160213-story.html


Farmers dig in their heels. The California High-Speed Rail
project rumbled through the news cycle again last week. Farmers
objecting to their land being taken for the train's path appeared
in court Thursday before Sacramento County Superior Court Judge
Michael Kenny, resuming a case begun in 2011.
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/project-364333-ocprint-land-farmers.html


Air Pollution Claims 5.5 Million Lives a Year, Making It the
Fourth-Leading Cause of Death Worldwide. Stricter regulations on
emissions haven’t led to fewer deaths by air pollution. You
probably don’t think of air pollution as a factor that affects
how long you will live. It’s actually the fourth greatest risk of
death, though, right after high blood pressure, dietary risks and
smoking.
http://www.newsweek.com/55-million-deaths-air-pollution-worldwide-each-year-426159?rx=us


BLOGS

A new study shows one of the most common anti-global warming
arguments is utterly false. A common claim by climate change
deniers is that scientists have been “altering” ground-based
temperature data to make it look like the Earth is warming. This
claim—which is not just wrong, but exactly wrong, as I’ll get to
in a sec—has gotten more traction than most others offered by the
forces of anti-science.
http://www.businessinsider.com/thermomemters-show-global-warming-is-real-2016-2



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