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newsclips -- ARB Newsclips for March 8, 2016.

Posted: 08 Mar 2016 12:18:54
ARB Newsclips for March 8, 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

China Navigation Fined for Air Pollution. The China Navigation
Co. Pte., deep-sea ship owning and operating arm of the Swire
group, has been fined USD 129,500 by the California Air Resources
Board for failure to switch its engines over from heavy diesel
“bunker” fuel to cleaner, low-sulfur fuel when close to the
California coast.
http://worldmaritimenews.com/archives/184821/china-navigation-fined-for-air-pollution/
 

Court pauses proceedings on challenges to refinery rules. At U.S.
EPA's request, a federal appellate court has placed a four-month
hold on proceedings in competing legal challenges to updated
emissions standards for refineries. The U.S. Court of Appeals for
the District of Columbia Circuit approved EPA's motion yesterday
to hold the case "in abeyance" until July 8 while agency
employees…
http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2016/03/08/stories/1060033628 

CLIMATE CHANGE

Obama administration pays out $500m to climate change project.
The first chunk of a $3bn commitment made at the Paris climate
talks ‘shows the US stands squarely behind climate commitments’,
the State Department said. The Obama administration has made a
first installment on its $3bn pledge to help poor countries fight
climate change – defying Republican opposition to the president’s
environmental plan.
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/mar/07/obama-administration-pays-out-500m-to-climate-change-project?utm_source=Inside+Climate+News&utm_campaign=c2033483ee-Today_s_Climate12_10_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_29c928ffb5-c2033483ee-327747457


China denies claims that the nation's emissions peaked in 2014. 
Economists suggested that the world's top emissions producer may
have achieved climate goals 16 years ahead of schedule, in a
paper published Monday. China's climate change envoy begs to
differ.
http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/2016/0307/China-denies-claims-that-the-nation-s-emissions-peaked-in-2014?utm_source=Inside+Climate+News&utm_campaign=c2033483ee-Today_s_Climate12_10_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_29c928ffb5-c2033483ee-327747457


Warming Brings Increasing Flood Risk And Heavier Rain. Umbrella
and galosh manufacturers may do well as the planet continues to
warm — if they can find somewhere dry to build their factories.
Findings of a new analysis of storm data and model projections
warn that flooding is going to be a worsening problem around the
world, with a warmer atmosphere already leading to heavier
downpours in both arid and wet climates.
http://www.climatecentral.org/news/warming-increasing-flood-risk-heavier-rain-20108?utm_source=Inside+Climate+News&utm_campaign=c2033483ee-Today_s_Climate12_10_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_29c928ffb5-c2033483ee-327747457


When it rains it pours: Global warming could bring flash flooding
to dry regions.
Climate change could spell increased precipitation for both dry
and wet climes alike, according to analysis of 60 years of
weather observations in the wettest and driest regions of the
globe.
http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/2016/0308/When-it-rains-it-pours-Global-warming-could-bring-flash-flooding-to-dry-regions


Climate change doesn't bleed, 2015 big network study shows.  Is
Kim Kardashian sexier than ocean acidification? For network
executives, the answer is a resounding yes. Top networks devoted
even less time last year to covering climate change than they did
in 2014, according to Media Matters for America's annual study on
how broadcast networks covered climate change.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2016/03/08/stories/1060033605 

DROUGHT

California storms send billions of gallons of water into
reservoirs. This weekend's soaking rains delivered just what
drought-weary Northern California needed: billions of gallons of
water pouring into the state's major reservoirs -- and more
predicted for later this week. With rain totals reaching 10
inches or more in some mountain areas, 46 of the largest
reservoirs in California…
http://www.mercurynews.com/drought/ci_29607725/california-drought-storms-send-billions-gallons-water-into


Water-poor Saudi Arabia moves farming venture to drought-stricken
California. Almarai, the largest dairy business in Saudi Arabia,
has purchased land in California to grow alfalfa for its cattle –
and it’s rubbing some people the wrong way. If you are the
largest dairy producer in Saudi Arabia and you are running out of
water to grow cattle feed, there’s only one thing to do if you
want to stay in business: go shopping.
http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2016/mar/08/saudi-arabia-alfalfa-california-drought-almarai


FUELS

Brent crude oil passes $40 mark. Oil prices continued an uptick
that's several weeks in the making, with Brent crude, the global
benchmark, rising above $40 amid signs that inventory buildup
rates may be ebbing. The price of Brent closed up 5.5% to $40.84
on Monday, while the price of West Texas Intermediate, the U.S.
benchmark, also rose 5.5% to close at $37.90.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2016/03/07/brent-crude-oil-prices/81437582/


Oil Prices Perk Up, Suggesting a Rebound Has Taken Hold. After a
prolonged slide that took oil prices within sight of the
$20-a-barrel threshold last month, sentiment in commodity markets
seems to have turned, raising the question of whether oil prices
have finally bottomed out. Whether it will prove lasting or not
remains to be seen, but the recent rebound in the oil market
comes as investors focus on declines in oil drilling…
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/08/business/energy-environment/oil-prices-perk-up-suggesting-a-rebound-has-taken-hold.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=1&utm_source=Inside+Climate+News&utm_campaign=c2033483ee-Today_s_Climate12_10_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_29c928ffb5-c2033483ee-327747457


We can convert to propane faster, Alliance says — then proves it.
In the fastest recorded alternative fuel conversion to propane
autogas — indeed, beating the company's own target time by a
significant margin — Alliance AutoGas technicians converted a
Ford F-150 in 1:32:25 last week at the NTEA Work Truck
Show.Alliance technicians Stephen Holland and Stacey Snyder
installed the company's new engineered conversion system on a
bi-fuel…
http://fleetowner.com/equipment/we-can-convert-propane-faster-alliance-says-then-proves-it


EPA study reviewers still debating definition of 'fracking'. Six
years into a massive U.S. EPA study of hydraulic fracturing, key
players are still debating what the term "hydraulic fracturing"
means. In a conference call yesterday, a panel of science
advisers reviewing the agency's draft study differed on what they
and the agency meant when they talked about fracking.
http://www.eenews.net/energywire/2016/03/08/stories/1060033588 

Researchers make fuel from waste gas. Researchers have developed
a cheap way to turn waste gases into liquid fuel using microbes.
Scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
outlined a system that makes diesel precursors by harnessing
yeast and bacteria in a study published yesterday in the
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2016/03/08/stories/1060033607 

VW RECALL

German Prosecutors Widen Investigation at Volkswagen.
Investigators have 17 suspects on their list, up from six
previously.  German prosecutors widened their criminal
investigation of Volkswagen AG ’s diesel emissions-cheating
scandal to cover 17 people, but have still found no evidence
directly linking former or existing board members to fraud or a
possible coverup.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/german-prosecutors-investigate-more-suspects-at-volkswagen-1457431389


VW Seeks to Mend Rift With Workers as Emissions Probe Widens.
Volkswagen AG’s leaders appealed to workers to back restructuring
efforts, seeking to mend an internal rift as the carmaker faced a
widening probe into the emissions- cheating scandal by German
prosecutors. Europe’s biggest carmaker is struggling to find a
way out of the crisis that began last September when it admitted
to using software to fudge emissions tests.
http://washpost.bloomberg.com/Story?docId=1376-O3O5VT6JIJUS01-4D7IQ4P76FE3GQK88991Q5HBNC


Volkswagen may cut jobs to pay for emissions scandal. CEO
Matthias Müeller told staff that crisis would inflict
‘substantial and painful’ financial damage on the company.
Volkswagen may have to cut jobs in the US and Europe, depending
on how much it is fined for manipulating diesel emissions tests,
a company official told workers at its German headquarters.
http://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/mar/08/volkswagen-may-cut-jobs-to-pay-for-emissions-scandal


Volkswagen just got more bad news about the emissions scandal.
German prosecutors have widened their investigation of
Volkswagen's diesel emissions cheating scandal and are now
investigating 17 employees, up from six previously, prosecutor
Klaus Ziehe said on Tuesday. "This is part of the diesel
investigation; the number of suspects has risen, although none
are from the management board…
http://www.businessinsider.com/r-vw-faces-more-bad-news-from-emissions-scandal-lower-saxony-pm-2016-3


GREEN ENERGY

Tata Motors joins RE100 clean energy movement. Tata Motors is
aiming to source 100 per cent of its electricity from renewables
as part of the RE100 initiative of international organisations
transitioning to clean energy. The Indian automotive giant is the
second major Indian company to join the RE100 movement in recent
days. Currently, 8 per cent of Tata Motors’ electricity is
covered by renewable energy with wind power and solar
photovoltaic…
http://www.climateactionprogramme.org/news/tata_motors_joins_re100_clean_energy_movement


OPINIONS

Partisan politics on air pollution are helping to make L.A.
smoggy again. Last Friday was a bad day for clean air. First, the
board of the South Coast Air Quality Management District voted to
fire its longtime executive officer. Then, it reconfirmed its
support for a plan to let oil refiners, power plants and other
major polluters keep spewing emissions.
The two votes weren't exactly a surprise.
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/editorials/la-ed-0308-scaqmd-20160308-story.html


BLOGS

Southern California air-quality watchdog is protecting Big Oil.
Los Angeles is the place that first made smog a household word,
and year after year, the L.A. region ranks as the smoggiest in
the nation. That’s why the region’s air quality watchdog, the
South Coast Air Quality Management District, was created 40 years
ago. The agency’s mission  is to make sure the entire region gets
the clean air it deserves.
http://grist.org/politics/southern-california-air-quality-watchdog-is-protecting-big-oil/


The Pentagon Just Added "Climate Change" to Its Official
Dictionary.  Military vocabulary warms to an emerging threat. The
Department of Defense has long acknowledged the threat to global
and national security posed by climate change. But last week, the
DoD officially included "climate change" in its official glossary
for the first time. The addition was first noticed by the
Federation of American Scientists.
http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2016/03/department-defense-climate-change-dictionary?utm_source=Inside+Climate+News&utm_campaign=c2033483ee-Today_s_Climate12_10_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_29c928ffb5-c2033483ee-327747457


Tesla Model S fined for excessive emissions in Singapore. Elon
Musk has already discussed the issue with the prime minister. In
the US, buyers of a Tesla Model S electric vehicle get a tax
credit from the federal government worth $7,500. In Singapore,
apparently, buyers get fined about $11,000. Joe Nguyen shelled
out about $400,000 for his Model S in Hong Kong (around $51,000
US)…
http://www.autoblog.com/2016/03/08/tesla-model-s-fined-for-excessive-emissions-in-singapore/


Diesel option signals plenty of life left for GM's aging
commercial vans. It’s rare for an automaker to allow a vehicle to
stick around for two decades without a major redesign. It’s rarer
still to equip such a dinosaur with a brand-new powertrain. But
that’s what General Motors is doing for its full-size commercial
vans, the Chevrolet Express and GMC Savana. GM will drop its
2.8-liter…
http://www.autonews.com/article/20160308/BLOG06/303089997/diesel-option-signals-plenty-of-life-left-for-gms-aging-commercial




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

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