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newsclips -- ARB Newsclips for April 7, 2016.
Posted: 07 Apr 2016 14:17:09
ARB Newsclips for April 7, 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 Smog Forces 40% of Mexico City Cars Off Road as Uber Surges. Mexico City residents and local industry struggled to cope after a spike in smog levels forced authorities to impose restrictions on industry and ban 40 percent of cars from the roads, driving Uber prices up as much as 10 times. Cement, electricity and other industrial plants were told to reduce emissions by up to 40 percent, while many trucks with federal… http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-04-06/mexico-city-residents-battle-new-restrictions-as-smog-worsens Mexico City Doubles Driving Ban as Pollution Persists. Authorities order two out of every five private vehicles off the road amid heavy smog. Mexico City authorities have doubled down on the capital’s emergency driving ban, ordering two out of every five private vehicles to stay off the road Wednesday as heavy smog continued to blanket the megalopolis. Mexico City has struggled since mid-March to contain high levels of ozone… http://www.wsj.com/articles/mexico-city-doubles-driving-ban-as-pollution-persists-1459976212 CLIMATE CHANGE To help curb climate change, stop wasting food: scientists. Reducing food waste around the world would help curb emissions of planet-warming gases, lessening some of the impacts of climate change such as more extreme weather and rising seas, scientists said on Thursday. Up to 14 percent of emissions from agriculture in 2050 could be avoided by managing food use and distribution better… http://www.reuters.com/article/us-climatechange-emissions-food-idUSKCN0X41PQ Trying to Put a Price on Big Oil's 'Climate Obstruction' Efforts. Oil giants and trade groups spend an estimated $115 million per year blocking climate policies. ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch/Shell, and three oil-industry groups together spend $115 million a year on advocacy designed to “obstruct” climate change policy, according to new estimates released by Influence Map, a British nonprofit research organization. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-04-07/trying-to-put-a-price-on-big-oil-s-climate-obstruction-efforts Another study says warming may be worse than experts think. Most computer simulations of climate change are underestimating by at least one degree how warm the world will get this century, a new study suggests. It all comes down to clouds and how much heat they are trapping. According to the study published Thursday in the journal Science, computer model simulations say there is more ice… http://www.sacbee.com/news/nation-world/article70507077.html#storylink=cpy Can we accurately gauge the impact of climate change on extreme weather? While scientists have long avoided attributing specific extreme weather events to changes in global climate, a recent report suggests that some of these events can be attributed to climate change with a high degree of confidence. http://www.dailynews.com/environment-and-nature/20160406/can-we-accurately-gauge-the-impact-of-climate-change-on-extreme-weather The U.S. Is Experiencing Its Third Warmest Year-to-Date. With a mild March following a record warm winter, the contiguous U.S. is experiencing its third warmest year-to-date in 135 years of record keeping, according to data released Wednesday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. http://www.climatecentral.org/news/us-experiencing-third-warmest-year-to-date-20217?utm_source=Inside+Climate+News&utm_campaign=ac836d787b-Today_s_Climate12_10_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_29c928ffb5-ac836d787b-327747457 What the North American bison's diet says about climate change. The bones of mammoths and bison are revealing the secrets of how North American grasslands responded to past climate change. Scientists are looking to prehistory to understand how environmental shifts could affect two major types of grass -- those scientists refer to as C3 plants like wheat and rice, and C4 plants like corn. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2016/04/07/stories/1060035211 DROUGHT Exceptional And Extreme Drought Persists In California. The weekly U.S. Drought Monitor shows slight improvement in California’s drought last week even though there was "little or no precipitation." "Improved reservoirs and surface moisture indicators led to the removal of exceptional drought (in favor of D3 - extreme drought) in the Sacramento Valley," according to the report released April 7. http://www.capradio.org/articles/2016/04/07/exceptional-and-extreme-drought-persists-in-california/ Menlo Park: District seeks way to boost city's emergency water supply. A plan to increase Menlo Park's emergency water supply, which stalled last year as the city dealt with the drought, is back on track. Currently, there are "no storage facilities or local water services" for the city's Municipal Water District customers northeast of El Camino Real. http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/general-news/20160407/menlo-park-district-seeks-way-to-boost-citys-emergency-water-supply FUELS Oil Prices Slip as Investors Dismiss Inventories Decline. Growing doubts major oil producers will agree to curb output keep prices in check. Oil prices are fading Thursday from earlier gains as some investors are dismissing an unexpected decline in U.S. crude inventories and having growing doubts that major oil producers will agree to curb their output. http://www.wsj.com/articles/oil-prices-gain-in-volatile-trade-1460021129 VEHICLES CARB research seminar on new car buyers’ valuation of ZEVs. On 20 April, Dr. Ken Kurani of the UC Davis Institute of Transportation Studies will present findings from a study commissioned by the California Air Resources Board (ARB) assessing consumer attitudes, barriers, and motivators toward purchasing zero, near-zero, and low-emission vehicles. The project produced a statistically robust representation of California’s new car buying population to identify the factors… http://www.greencarcongress.com/2016/04/20160407-kurani.html European electric and plug-in hybrid sales for January-February 2016. The Renault-Nissan Alliance has sold more electric cars than any other company, with most of those sales coming from the Nissan brand. The Nissan Leaf is the bestselling electric car in history, and is popular in multiple markets. But so far in 2016, at least, it's Renault that is leading the charge in European electric-car sales. http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1103283_european-electric-and-plug-in-hybrid-sales-for-january-march-2016 The Tesla Model 3 Is Still a Rich Person's Car. And that’s all it may ever be. Tesla calls the Model 3, which the company revealed last week, “our most affordable car yet.” At a starting price of $35,000, they’re not wrong, but affordability is relative. In their eagerness to see Elon Musk’s electric car empire overthrow the old, traditional combustion engine… http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2016/04/tesla-model-3-/477243/ VW RECALL Volkswagen Dealerships Sue Auto Maker Over Emissions Scandal. U.S. lawsuit claims company badly hurt sales and the VW brand. Three family-owned dealerships sued Volkswagen AG, alleging the German auto maker intentionally defrauded them when installing software on diesel-powered vehicles capable of duping government emissions tests. http://www.wsj.com/articles/volkswagen-dealerships-sue-auto-maker-over-emissions-scandal-1459969923 Is lower fuel economy to blame for the halt on European VW diesel update? Six months on, an update for affected VW diesel cars in Europe is still in the works. Six months into the Volkswagen diesel scandal, the company still hasn't reached an agreement with regulators on how it will recall nearly 600,000 affected TDI cars in the U.S. But things didn't look so bad in Europe, at least for a while. http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/In-Gear/2016/0407/Is-lower-fuel-economy-to-blame-for-the-halt-on-European-VW-diesel-update GREEN ENERGY SunEdison setback may delay Modi's "ultra mega" solar drive in India. The likely collapse of SunEdison Inc's solar project in India, the first of 32 planned "ultra mega" complexes, could delay Prime Minister Narendra Modi's goal to increase renewable energy fivefold by several years and probably cost consumers more. As the U.S. solar giant fights to stave off bankruptcy, the 500 megawatt project… http://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFL3N1772TN?sp=true Google Backs Renewable Energy in Asia. All those Google searches take a whole lot of power. Google announced Thursday that the company is funding the Center for Resource Solutions in Taiwan in what the company hopes could be a first step toward buying more renewable energy for its data centers in Asia. The plan is that the San Francisco-based nonprofit can help create renewable energy certification programs in Asia. http://fortune.com/2016/04/07/google-backs-renewable-energy-in-asia/ State portfolio standards spur national expansion – report. States with renewable portfolio standards have been highly successful at meeting their targets, with a handful of states setting higher targets within the past year while at the same time average compliance costs added an average of 1.3 percent to customer bills. Those are among the findings of an annual report from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory that looks at the mandatory renewables… http://www.eenews.net/energywire/2016/04/07/stories/1060035203 Building with wood is good, right? Some might 'flip out' Forest advocates are divided on an update to the popular Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, green building certification program that opens it up to previously unacceptable sources of wood. The U.S. Green Building Council, which governs the LEED program, announced it was creating a pilot program to reduce… http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2016/04/07/stories/1060035233 MISCELLANEOUS Airbus, Siemens to Cooperate on Electric Plane Project. Companies to pool 200 engineers to demonstrate possibilities by 2020. European plane maker Airbus Group SE and German industrial conglomerate Siemens AG said Thursday they are joining forces to work on electric aircraft technology. The companies said they would pool about 200 engineers to demonstrate by 2020 the possibility of using electric or hybrid-electric technologies on aircraft. http://www.wsj.com/articles/airbus-siemens-to-cooperate-on-electric-plane-project-1460024827 OPINIONS An Overheated Climate Alarm. The White House launches a scary campaign about deadly heat. Guess what: Cold kills more people. The Obama administration released a new report this week that paints a stark picture of how climate change will affect human health. Higher temperatures, we’re told, will be deadly—killing “thousands to tens of thousands” of Americans. The report is subtitled “A Scientific Assessment,” presumably to underscore its reliability. http://www.wsj.com/articles/an-overheated-climate-alarm-1459984226 SoCal Gas CEO: We're honoring our Aliso Canyon mitigation commitment. To the editor: Your characterizations as to how Southern California Gas Co. may not mitigate the greenhouse gas impact of the Aliso Canyon leak are unfair. ("Ignoring its promises, SoCal Gas intends to offset Porter Ranch leak on its own terms," editorial, April 3) We will honor the letter and spirit of our commitment. http://www.latimes.com/opinion/readersreact/la-le-0407-thursday-socal-gas-leak-mitigation-20160407-story.html SoCalGas must live up to its promises after Porter Ranch leak. Southern California Gas Co. hasn’t said if it will follow a state plan to mitigate the effects of an estimated 100,000 tons of methane that billowed from its outdated wells at Porter Ranch. The company shouldn’t leave everyone in the dark. The leak at the Aliso Canyon facility — equal to about a quarter of what is emitted across the whole state in a year.. http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/opinion/20160406/socalgas-must-live-up-to-its-promises-after-porter-ranch-leak California is in a drought emergency. Visit www.SaveOurH2O.org for water conservation tips.