What's New List Serve Post Display

ARB Newsclips for March 25, 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

Los Angeles port paid $5M, firm got out of air quality rule. The
Port of Los Angeles paid $5 million to outfit 17 oceangoing ships
with a clean power system, then didn't get the expected air
quality benefits when the Chinese company that owned the cargo
vessels stopped docking them in LA. The Los Angeles Times
reported Thursday (http://tinyurl.com/j6d56az) that port
officials quietly agreed in 2009 to let China Shipping ignore a
mandate that all ships plug…
http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/business/20160324/los-angeles-port-paid-5m-firm-got-out-of-air-quality-rule


CLIMATE CHANGE

Meteorologists overwhelmingly conclude climate change is real and
human-caused. Earth has witnessed its warmest two years on
record, 2015 and 2014, over the last two years. At the same time,
peer-reviewed studies have piled up demonstrating man’s influence
on our climate. Meteorologists, who keep their hands on the pulse
of what’s happening to the atmosphere, are taking notice. 
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2016/03/24/meteorologists-overwhelmingly-conclude-climate-change-is-real-and-human-caused/
 

How is climate change affecting agriculture?  If the current
trend of warmer winters continues in Yolo County, chill hours may
be insufficient for many walnut varieties by the year 2100.
That’s one of the factors that farmers will need to consider in
the future, according to a University of California study. 
http://www.dailydemocrat.com/article/NI/20160324/NEWS/160329956 


DIESEL ACTIVITIES

Glenn County judge asked to reconsider truck filter ruling.  As
promised, the Alliance for California Business has asked a judge
to reconsider his decision made earlier this month about an air
filter that the trucking industry says is expensive and
potentially dangerous.
http://www.chicoer.com/general-news/20160324/glenn-county-judge-asked-to-reconsider-truck-filter-ruling


Diesel Engine Cleanup Saved Lives, EPA Says. Grants for cleaning
up old diesel engines have cut down air pollution that causes
premature deaths and asthma attacks, the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency reported.      Handed to Congress on Wednesday,
the report touts the 2008 Diesel Emission Reduction Act program
as having retrofitted or replaced 73,000 diesel engines…
http://www.courthousenews.com/2016/03/25/diesel-engine-cleanup-saved-lives-epa-says.htm

ARB EL MONTE LABORATORY

State to move Air Resources Board lab from El Monte to UC
Riverside, rejecting Cal Poly Pomona. The state Air Resources
Board decided Thursday to move its offices and a laboratory now
based in El Monte to UC Riverside. The 400 employees who
currently work in El Monte will stay there until the lab is
ready, which may not be for five years, said Stanley Young, a
spokesman for the agency that oversees air quality.
http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/government-and-politics/20160324/state-to-move-air-resources-board-lab-from-el-monte-to-uc-riverside-rejecting-cal-poly-pomona

http://www.dailybulletin.com/government-and-politics/20160324/state-to-move-air-resources-board-lab-from-el-monte-to-uc-riverside-rejecting-cal-poly-pomona


CARB seeks new $366M vehicle testing and research facility at UC
Riverside. The California Air Resources Board voted 8-3 to
relocate its motor vehicle and engine emissions testing and
research facility from El Monte to an 18-acre site at the
University of California, Riverside, representing a $366-million
investment. The board decided that the site would provide the
best opportunity for growth in the coming decades…
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2016/03/20160325-arb.html

California Air Resources Board Chooses Riverside for $366 Million
Facility. The California Air Resources Board voted 8-3 today to
relocate its motor vehicle and engine emissions testing and
research facility from El Monte to an 18-acre site at the
University of California, Riverside, which represents a $366
million investment into the community and 400 knowledge-based
jobs in the Inland Empire.
http://www.highlandnews.net/business/california-air-resources-board-chooses-riverside-for-million-facility/article_aba0d2a8-f295-11e5-ad64-5bf2b9c0184f.html


VEHICLES

Most electric-car-friendly U.S. cities: new ranking puts Portland
on top. Since modern electric cars went on sale in volume five
years ago, some cities have been more eager to promote them than
others. Officials in those cities find electric cars attractive
for their ability to reduce pollution, among other reasons.
http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1103073_most-electric-car-friendly-u-s-cities-latest-rankings-portland-on-top


Toyota Mirai manga: hydrogen fuel cell beats electric cars,
plug-in hybrids. Manga are comics created in Japan, conforming to
a style set more than 100 years ago and still very much a part of
popular culture. While they may look like no more than light
entertainment, they're widely read by people of all ages—and
sometimes used to market commercial products.
http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1103074_toyota-mirai-manga-hydrogen-fuel-cell-beats-electric-cars-plug-in-hybrids


HIGH-SPEED RAIL

High-speed rail support hovers above majority, but possible
detours loom. There’s been little positive buzz of late about
California’s high-speed rail system. Gov. Jerry Brown, among its
biggest boosters, seldom brings up the ambitious and expensive
infrastructure project.
http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article68089777.html#storylink=cpy


GREEN ENERGY

Why this new solar market could be set to explode. Right now,
there’s an odd thing about solar in the United States (and
elsewhere). It’s either really big — at the scale of massive
solar farms with the capacity to generate tens or hundreds of
millions of watts of electricity — or pretty small: on your
rooftop, with maybe as little as 5 kilowatts, or thousand watts,
of capacity.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2016/03/24/why-this-new-solar-market-could-be-set-to-explode/


Clean energy is now winning the race against fossil fuels — but
the planet is still losing. A new United Nations report has found
that 2015 set a slew of new records for global investment in
clean energy — and furthermore, the bulk of investment was not in
places like the United States or Germany but rather in the
developing world.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2016/03/24/clean-energy-is-winning-the-race-against-fossil-fuels-but-the-planet-is-still-losing/


US Wind Energy Pays $222 Million Annually To Rural Landowners.
The US wind energy industry is currently paying $222 million
annually to rural landowners whose land supports wind farms, in
turn supporting some of the most economically distressed
communities in the US. AWEA-26This is according to new data
released this week by the American Wind Energy Association
(AWEA)…
https://cleantechnica.com/2016/03/25/us-wind-energy-pays-222-million-annually-rural-landowners/


First US Offshore Wind Energy Projects Could Deliver Jolt Of
Momentum To Struggling Sector. By the time summer rolls around,
five wind turbines, each rising 600 feet, could be spinning in
the Atlantic Ocean near Rhode Island. Two more could spring up
off the coast of Virginia by late next year. America’s first
offshore wind farms will arrive after more than a decade of fits
and starts…
http://www.ibtimes.com/first-us-offshore-wind-energy-projects-could-deliver-jolt-momentum-struggling-sector-2342840

OPINIONS

Too much catch-up on Aliso Canyon methane leak. This state may be
leading the fight against global warming, but the Aliso Canyon
methane disaster has been a humbling primer in all the catching
up we still have to do. A Public Utilities Commission report
released this week revealed that the catastrophic leak capped
last month…
http://www.sacbee.com/opinion/editorials/article68105727.html#storylink=cpy


Opinion: Global warming biggest threat to Lake Tahoe's future. My
first memory of the mighty Sierra Nevada was at age 6, during a
summer week in Yosemite along with a youth group. Sleeping under
the stars on a soft bed of pine needles by night and exploring
the peaceful trails, forests and waterfalls by day forever
touched my heart.
http://www.sierrasun.com/news/21291772-113/opinion-global-warming-biggest-threat-to-lake-tahoes

Opinion: A climate skeptic calls for a carbon tax. As tax day
approaches, one climate skeptic explains how a carbon tax could
really benefit the economy. I am not deeply worried about
man-made climate change. But I am appalled at all the absolutely
stupid, counter-productive things our government has implemented
in the name of climate change.
http://www.dailyclimate.org/tdc-newsroom/2016/march/opinion-climate-skeptic-carbon-tax

BLOGS

Storm clouds on solar energy's horizon.  In theory, subsidies for
solar power and other so-called renewables were sold as a
short-term measure to jump-start the transition to a clean energy
future. Forget the fact that solar energy has been the energy of
the future ever since the early 1970s.
http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/energy-environment/274272-storm-clouds-on-solar-energys-horizon



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