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newsclips -- ARB Newsclips for August 12, 2016.
Posted: 12 Aug 2016 13:02:51
ARB Newsclips for August 12, 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. CAP AND TRADE Cap-and-trade carbon tax showdown looms. Cap and trade. Despite years of success in doing what it was supposed to do — cut emission levels — California’s controversial cap-and-trade system has run up against opposition that could be strong enough to sink it. But with nothing to lose and everything to gain, Gov. Jerry Brown has shifted into political overdrive to save it instead. http://calwatchdog.com/2016/08/12/cap-trade-carbon-tax-showdown-looms/ AIR POLLUTION Air pollution taking its toll across the state. California is in for a statewide warm-up with triple digit temperatures in the Central Valley and other interior areas by the weekend, which also brings the prospect of poor air quality. The National Weather Service says high pressure ridge will build into the state from the southwest through Saturday and remain in control through the middle of next week. http://www.dailydemocrat.com/article/NI/20160812/NEWS/160819972 Gassy cows pose a problem to California legislators. Everyone poops – and burps and farts. When cows do it, though, it’s a problem, and California is looking for cows to cut back. A proposed strategy from the California Air Resources Board seeks to reduce methane emissions from the dairy industry by more than 40 percent by 2030. http://www.abc10.com/news/local/california/gassy-cows-pose-a-problem-to-calif-legislators/295366917 Labor feud slowed effort to clean air at ports, according to pollution data. A labor dispute that caused massive bottlenecks at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach last year not only interrupted the economy — it also hurt efforts to clean the air. Long Beach’s annual report card on pollution released Thursday shows the air is significantly cleaner than it was in 2005. http://www.presstelegram.com/environment-and-nature/20160811/labor-feud-slowed-effort-to-clean-air-at-ports-according-to-pollution-data Air quality expected to be poor on Friday. The Bay Area Air Quality Management District issued a Spare the Air alert for Friday, the 15th alert in the 2016 summer season for excessive smog expected in the region. Air district officials are advising Bay Area residents to reduce driving and to limit outdoor exercise to the early morning hours when concentrations of smog, otherwise known as ozone… http://napavalleyregister.com/news/local/air-quality-expected-to-be-poor-on-friday/article_63916b01-3be2-549c-87b6-d5213ab0fcc0.html Smoke polluting Kings County air. Several fires burning around the San Joaquin Valley are bringing smoke into Kings County and causing breathing problems for people with respiratory issues. Perhaps the biggest contributor of smoke is the massive Soberanes fire in Monterey County that continues to burn weeks after it started. http://hanfordsentinel.com/news/local/smoke-polluting-kings-county-air/article_63dbf847-4565-564d-a769-17ad5fbaec26.html Big Sur fire: Smoke plaguing cities from Monterey to Santa Cruz and beyond. Residents on the Monterey Peninsula and in Salinas awoke Thursday morning to what turned out to be a heavy mix of smoke from the Soberanes Fire with a marine layer. The smoke is posing a potential health risk for many. Some areas received an "unhealthy" and "unhealthy for sensitive groups"… http://www.mercurynews.com/central-coast/ci_30237454/big-sur-fire-smoke-plaguing-cities-from-monterey CLIMATE CHANGE As Earth swelters, global warming target in danger of being missed. The Earth is so hot this year that a limit for global warming agreed by world leaders at a climate summit in Paris just a few months ago is in danger of being breached. In December, almost 200 nations agreed a radical shift away from fossil fuels with a goal of limiting a rise… http://www.reuters.com/article/us-climatechange-temperatures-idUSKCN10N18J Global warming polarizes more than abortion. Tempers are rising in America, along with the temperatures. Two decades ago, the issue of climate change wasn't as contentious. The leading U.S. Senate proponent of taking action on global warming was Republican John McCain. http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016/08/12/global-warming-polarizes-more-than-abortion.html DROUGHT San Luis Reservoir at lowest level in 27 years. Robert Haskins walked across a vast expanse of cracked mud, littered with old beer bottles and millions of tiny clam shells, that in most Augusts would be 50 feet underwater. But the San Luis Reservoir, the vast inland sea along Highway 152 that is a key part of Silicon Valley's water supply, is only 10 percent full, its lowest level in 27 years. http://www.mercurynews.com/drought/ci_30235421/california-drought-san-luis-reservoir-at-lowest-level FUELS EPA’s science advisers challenge agency report on the safety of fracking. Science advisers to the Environmental Protection Agency Thursday challenged an already controversial government report on whether thousands of oil and gas wells that rely on hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” systemically pollute drinking water across the nation. That EPA draft report, many years in the making and still not finalized… https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2016/08/11/epas-science-advisers-challenge-agency-report-on-the-safety-of-fracking/?utm_term=.aba287eafdb6 Report blasts Brown over fossil-fuel donors. Governor's office says his environmental record makes advocacy group's claims 'cuckoo'. A Santa Monica consumer group is criticizing Gov. Jerry Brown for his ties to utilities and other companies reliant on fossil fuels, linking almost $10 million in contributions from 26 oil, gas and power companies to decisions by Brown administration officials that directly benefited the donors. http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2016/aug/11/brown-consumer-watchdog/ Science board pushes EPA to change major fracking report. The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) scientific review board is criticizing a major agency study into fracking, saying officials need to offer more evidence backing up their claims. In a Thursday letter, EPA’s Science Advisory Board (SAB) told Administrator Gina McCarthy. http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/291187-science-board-pushes-epa-to-change-major-fracking-report?utm_source=Inside+Climate+News&utm_campaign=46f5bec830-Today_s_Climate12_10_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_29c928ffb5-46f5bec830-327747457 VW RECALL VW unit chief questioned by Korean prosecutors over emissions probe. South Korean prosecutors said they questioned the head of Volkswagen Group's local unit in connection with allegations that the automaker fabricated emissions test results for cars sold in the country. Johannes Thammer, Audi Volkswagen Korea CEO, answered a summons today, according to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office. http://www.autonews.com/article/20160811/COPY01/308119972/vw-unit-chief-questioned-by-korean-prosecutors-over-emissions-probe Volkswagen eyes SMA Solar storage systems in cooperation talks. Volkswagen is in early talks with German solar power equipment maker SMA Solar about working together, the companies said, as the automaker pushes ambitious electric car plans to overcome its diesel emissions scandal. SMA Solar, which makes inverters designed for home storage systems, declined to comment on the specifics of the talks. http://www.businessinsider.com/r-volkswagen-eyes-sma-solar-storage-systems-in-cooperation-talks-2016-8 Volkswagen should pay more for diesel buybacks, Consumer Reports says. Consumer Reports said last week that proposed buyback amounts may undervalue the retail prices of certain Volkswagen diesel models affected by the automaker's diesel cheating fiasco. Last month, a federal judge gave preliminary approval to a settlement covering Volkswagen 2.0-liter TDI diesel cars with illegal "defeat device" software. http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/In-Gear/2016/0812/Volkswagen-should-pay-more-for-diesel-buybacks-Consumer-Reports-says GREEN ENERGY 3 American cities that use 100% renewable energy — and 7 that plan to join them within 20 years. Despite the gains we've made in renewable energy, Americans' reliance on fossil fuels seems hard to escape. But some cities are leading the way. The environmental group Sierra Club compiled a list of some of the US cities that are on track to becoming 100% powered by renewable energy in the next 20 years — including some that are already there. http://www.businessinsider.com/the-greenest-american-cities-renewable-energy-2016-8 Proposal filed to shut down Diablo Canyon. Paperwork submitted to CPUC, pro-nuclear group appeals to Gov. Brown. A joint proposal calling for the shutdown of California’s lone remaining nuclear power plant was formally submitted by Pacific Gas & Electric on Thursday morning to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC). A number of environmental organizations and labor unions… http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2016/aug/11/diablo-joint-proposal/ Renewable energy: the technology that will transform our world. Earlier, we looked at the landscape for future energy. We explained why renewables are the future, instead of dead-end technologies like carbon capture and storage (CCS). Today, we’re going to continue our theme – by picking apart the renewable energy investment market. http://moneyweek.com/renewable-energy-the-technology-that-will-transform-our-world/ Will Rhode Island wind farm set course for offshore wind in US? Deepwater Wind's five-turbine wind farm off Block Island is set to be the first offshore wind farm in the United States. The nation's first offshore wind farm is set to open off the coast of Rhode Island this fall, ushering in a new era in the U.S. for the industry. Developers, federal regulators and industry experts say the opening will move the U.S. industry from a theory to reality… http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/2016/0811/Will-Rhode-Island-wind-farm-set-course-for-offshore-wind-in-US OPINIONS Infrastructure design must change with climate. Engineers have always taken climate into account when designing the infrastructure on which our lives depend. When building bridges, engineers have long considered how fast a river might flow or how strong the wind might blow. When designing roads, they consider how hot temperatures might be or how high flood waters might rise. http://www.ocregister.com/articles/climate-725495-engineers-infrastructure.html BLOGS To curb climate change, looking beyond carbon dioxide to your AC. Even as global temperatures shatter records in 2016, the year's biggest opportunity to curb further warming hinges on little-noticed negotiations addressing little-known chemicals. International negotiations in Vienna last month neared a deal for curtailing hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/energy-environment/291076-to-curb-climate-change-looking-beyond-carbon-dioxide-to California is in a drought emergency. Visit www.SaveOurH2O.org for water conservation tips.