What's New List Serve Post Display
Below is the List Serve Post you selected to display.
newsclips -- ARB Newsclips for July 26, 2016.
Posted: 26 Jul 2016 16:29:46
ARB Newsclips for July 26, 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 Why refinery flares cost ExxonMobil nearly $20 million in pollution fines in just two years. ExxonMobil paid a hefty $18.5 million in fines over the past two years for producing excess sulfur oxide emissions during flaring events at its former refinery in Torrance, the Southern California News Group has learned. The fines, levied by the South Coast Air Quality Management District… http://www.dailybreeze.com/government-and-politics/20160725/why-refinery-flares-cost-exxonmobil-nearly-20-million-in-pollution-fines-in-just-two-years Smog alert called for Tuesday. The Bay Area Air Quality Management District issued its tenth Spare the Air Alert for smog in 2016. Air quality is forecast to be unhealthy again Tuesday. Strong high pressure over California is expected to bring hot inland temperatures of 105 degrees or higher and light winds. These conditions combined with motor vehicle exhaust from traffic will generate unhealthy ozone… http://napavalleyregister.com/news/local/smog-alert-called-for-tuesday/article_8da40528-b4bc-557b-b1d6-0462f535b2b8.html Wildfire smoke from Monterey County drifts into South Bay. Bay Area residents are getting a double assault on the air they breathe this week -- smog in a heat wave plus thick smoke drifting from the Soberanes wildfire into the South Bay and heading toward other parts of the Bay Area. Winds swept wildfire smoke from the Monterey County wildfire to the north into San Jose… http://www.mercurynews.com/bay-area-news/ci_30167279/wildfire-smoke-drifts-into-south-bay California fire containment grows; Washoe air quality improves. Smoke seen to the south of the Truckee Meadows is coming from a large fire in Monterey County, California, called the Soberanes Fire. Washoe County Air Quality says air is in the moderate range, meaning "Unusually sensitive people should consider reducing prolonged or heavy exertion". http://www.kolotv.com/content/news/Smoke-seen-in-Truckee-Meadows-is-from-Monterey-County-fire-388146162.html ALISO CANYON LA County sues SoCalGas to force installation of safety shut-off valves. In the latest legal fallout from the massive Porter Ranch natural gas leak, Los Angeles County went to court Monday seeking to force Southern California Gas Co. to install underground safety shut-off valves on every active gas storage well and distribution pipeline it operates in the county. The suit, filed in L.A. County Superior Court, claims SoCal Gas "put corporate profits before public safety" by failing more than 30 years ago to replace a faulty shut-off valve on the well that blew last fall at its Aliso Canyon storage facility. CLIMATE CHANGE EPA clears path to regulate carbon emissions from U.S. aircraft. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Monday paved the way for new curbs on emissions from passenger jets by ruling that greenhouse gases from airplanes endanger public health. The finding, which requires the EPA to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from aircraft under the federal Clean Air Act… http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-airlines-carbon-idUSKCN1051SK Scientists caught off-guard by record temperatures linked to climate change. Record temperatures in the first half of 2016 have taken scientists by surprise despite widespread recognition that extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and intense, the director of the World Climate Research Program said. The earth is on track for its hottest year on record with June marking the 14th straight month of record heat… http://www.reuters.com/article/us-weather-climatechange-science-idUSKCN1061RH ‘World can’t afford to silence us’: black church leaders address climate change. One of the largest and oldest black churches in the US warns that black people are disproportionally harmed by global warming and fossil fuel pollution. African American religious leaders have added their weight to calls for action on climate change, with one of the largest and oldest black churches in the US warning… https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/jul/24/african-methodist-episcopal-church-climate-change-letter The Link Between Armed Conflict And Climate Change Just Got A Bit Stronger. When one of the strongest El Niños ever recorded hit the South American country of Peru in 1982, the abnormal warming it brought to the Pacific Ocean was a catastrophic blow to the already economically fragile nation. The fishing industry quickly suffered massive losses... http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2016/07/26/3801541/climate-disasters-and-conflict-outbreak/ Parks face 'greatest threat' -- climate change. Visitors at the Beaver Meadows entrance here marvel over their first glimpse of thick ponderosa pine stands rolling out like a welcome mat to the snow-capped Rocky Mountains. But the meadows that should be filled with native bunchgrasses and flowers instead are covered with cheatgrass. The invasive plant has turned the fields brown and threatens extensive ecological... http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2016/07/26/stories/1060040751 DROUGHT Measuring Californians’ Daily Water Footprint. In California we commonly debate how much water is used by agriculture, the environment, industry and urban users. We talk about water in terms of acre-feet and entire sectors. But we spend less time thinking about water on the individual level. California’s water conservation mandate helped bring this back into focus, at least for a time. http://ww2.kqed.org/science/2016/07/25/measuring-californians-daily-water-footprint/ DIESEL ACTIVITIES Long Beach to build new station to showcase new zero-emissions buses. Long Beach Transit’s leadership plans to spend nearly $1.5 million to build on a new bus station to recharge and show off its incoming fleet of zero-emissions buses. The transit provider’s governing board voted unanimously Monday to hire Fast-Track Construction Corp., a Culver City company… http://www.presstelegram.com/business/20160725/long-beach-to-build-new-station-to-showcase-new-zero-emissions-buses FUELS Keystone’s Death Means Record Oil Revival for Canadian Railways. Keystone was the great hope for opening U.S. markets further to Canadian crude. Now that it’s dead, the railways are going to make not just a comeback, but transport more oil than ever before. The Keystone XL pipeline was set to carry heavy Canadian crude… http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-07-25/keystone-s-death-means-record-oil-revival-for-canadian-railways?utm_source=Inside+Climate+News&utm_campaign=b20dac8903-Today_s_Climate12_10_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_29c928ffb5-b20dac8903-327747457 Crude Slump, Pipeline Expansion Mark End of U.S. Oil-Train Boom. As more pipelines reach shale regions, producers have a cheaper way to move their oil to market. The oil-train boom is waning almost as quickly as it began. Rail became a major way to move crude after companies began unlocking new bounties of oil from shale formations… http://www.wsj.com/articles/crude-slump-pipeline-expansion-mark-end-of-u-s-oil-train-boom-1469484016?mod=pls_whats_news_us_business_f&utm_source=Inside+Climate+News&utm_campaign=b20dac8903-Today_s_Climate12_10_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_29c928ffb5-b20dac8903-327747457 BLM defends plans for Calif. oil and gas drilling. The Obama administration is again defending its plans for oil and gas development on public lands in California. Lawyers for the Bureau of Land Management late last week urged the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California to rule for the government in a lawsuit from environmentalists challenging… http://www.eenews.net/energywire/2016/07/26/stories/1060040761 VEHICLES Pressure builds on Calif. to adjust EV incentives. California regulators are facing pressure to tighten up their rules for zero-emission vehicles. At a hearing in Sacramento last week, environmentalists and executives from Tesla Motors Inc. urged the California Air Resources Board to reform its zero-emission vehicle mandate once again to encourage automakers to meet sales targets on the state and federal levels. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2016/07/26/stories/1060040776 VW RECALL The Only Winners in Volkswagen's Diesel Mess Are Drivers. A half-million tainted cars head to the scrap heap, and owners walk away with up to $44,000. Jeremy Malczyk's 2012 Volkswagen Jetta Sportwagen is no prize. It has 70,000 hard miles on it, and the interior has been finely detailed by his two young children: beige leather buffed with beige Cheerios. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-07-26/the-only-winners-in-volkswagen-s-diesel-mess-are-drivers Volkswagen Gets Initial Approval of $14.7 Billion Settlement With U.S. Drivers. Auto maker plans to hire 250 to 300 people to work exclusively on the process. A federal judge granted preliminary approval to Volkswagen AG’s $14.7 billion settlement with U.S. drivers of diesel-powered vehicles on Tuesday, clearing the way for the company to put the plan into action and put the emissions scandal behind it. http://www.wsj.com/articles/volkswagen-gets-initial-approval-of-14-7-billion-settlement-with-u-s-drivers-1469555383 German prosecutors widen Volkswagen probe to 21 staff. Prosecutors in the German city of Braunschweig said they had widened their probe into diesel emissions cheating, with 21 current and former Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) staff under investigation. As part of the probe, offices and private residences in the German state of Lower Saxony were searched, prosecutor Klaus Ziehe said on Tuesday. http://www.reuters.com/article/us-volkswagen-emissions-prosecutors-idUSKCN1061X4 Volkswagen settlement gets preliminary approval. A federal judge gave preliminary approval Tuesday to a sweeping settlement between Volkswagen, U.S. regulators and owners of VW diesels who will receive thousands of dollars in compensation. U.S. District Court Judge Charles Breyer set the settlement in motion, allowing the German automaker and plaintiff attorneys to begin collecting information from 475,000… http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2016/07/26/volkswagen-group-emissions-settlement-hearing/87564422/ http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2016/07/26/15-billion-volkswagen-emissions-deal-clears-1st-hurdle/ Updates to VW diesel cars: a few details, timing emerge on modifications. With luck, owners of the 466,000 Volkswagen and Audi 2.0-liter diesel cars at the center of the VW emission cheating scandal now know that they will be offered a choice of what to do with their cars. Either they will be able to sell their cars back to the company for a set price, or they can have their cars updated to comply… http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1105190_updates-to-vw-diesel-cars-a-few-details-timing-emerge-on-modifications Should Volkswagen diesel owners take the buyback or wait? Some Volkswagen diesel owners want their cars to go away, and will sell them back to the manufacturer that deceived them and lied to regulators. Others, though, still like their cars. It's a question that hundreds of thousands of VW 2.0-liter TDI diesel owners will be asking soon, if they haven't already: Should I take the buyback? http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/In-Gear/2016/0725/Should-Volkswagen-diesel-owners-take-the-buyback-or-wait Optimism for VW ahead of US decision on diesel retrofits. Volkswagen‘s hopes for a more cost-effective resolution to its diesel emissions cheating scandal in the United States were bolstered by California air quality chief Mary Nichols ahead of a court decision expected Tuesday. In an interview published Monday, Nichols told the German daily Handelsblatt that she was optimistic about… http://en.europeonline-magazine.eu/optimism-for-vw-ahead-of-us-decision-on-diesel-retrofitsby-felix-frieler-and-hannes-breustedt-dpa_472506.html GREEN ENERGY Historic solar flight marks first round-the-world journey. The world’s first round-the-world flight to be powered solely by the sun’s energy made history Tuesday as it landed in Abu Dhabi, where it first took off on an epic 25,000-mile journey that began more than a year ago. Since its March 2015 take off, the Swiss-engineered Solar Impulse 2 has made 16 stops across the world without using a drop of fuel… http://www.bostonglobe.com/news/world/2016/07/25/historic-solar-flight-marks-first-round-world-journey/LH9SIWaLBAyMQzb2CsrwtO/story.html?s_campaign=email_BG_TodaysHeadline&s_campaign= https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/jul/26/solar-impulse-plane-makes-history-completing-round-the-world-trip ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE Long Beach port gives $46 million to community to battle pollution, environmental damage. The board overseeing the Port of Long Beach unanimously approved a $46.4 million program intended to lessen pollution damage on the surrounding community. Lori Ann Guzman, president of the Harbor Commission, called the vote on Monday night before a room full of neighbors and activists “historic” and a “legacy” the commissioners should be proud of. http://www.presstelegram.com/business/20160725/long-beach-port-gives-46-million-to-community-to-battle-pollution-environmental-damage OPINIONS Column: Dirty air and foul water know no borders. is 2016 the worst year ever? There’s terrorism, economic stagnation, inequality — and even environmental woes such as the utter transformation of the air we all breathe. Yes, the pollution responsible for global warming has reached concentrations never before inhaled by any member of our species, Homo sapiens. And the list of 2016 woes goes on. http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/column-dirty-air-and-foul-water-know-no-borders/ BLOGS Finally, Climate Change Gets Stage Time At The Democratic Convention. “This election is about climate change, the greatest environmental crisis facing our planet,” Sen. Bernie Sanders said. Just one night into the Democratic National Convention, things are looking a whole lot brighter for the environment under a potential Hillary Clinton presidency than anything we heard in Cleveland last week. Climate change, fossil fuels and clean energy were all mentioned… http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/climate-change-dnc_us_5796e480e4b0d3568f84585a?utm_source=Inside+Climate+News&utm_campaign=b20dac8903-Today_s_Climate12_10_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_29c928ffb5-b20dac8903-327747457 California is in a drought emergency. Visit www.SaveOurH2O.org for water conservation tips.