What's New List Serve Post Display

ARB Newsclips for October 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.

CLIMATE CHANGE

Emerging Climate Accord Could Push A/C Out of Sweltering India’s
Reach.  A thrill goes down Lane 12, C Block, Kamalpur every time
another working-class family brings home its first
air-conditioner. Switched on for a few hours, usually to cool a
room where the whole family sleeps, it transforms life in this
suffocating concrete labyrinth where the heat reached 117 degrees
in May.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/13/world/asia/india-air-conditioning.html?_r=0


Why climate change divides us. Understanding each other.
Americans are becoming more polarized about climate change even
as scientists find consensus. Two Colorado counties offer a
portrait of why this is happening. Kellie Falbo is tackling
climate change one step at a time. That means lowering carbon
emissions by driving a biodiesel vehicle, keeping a vegetable
garden, and composting with worms.
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2016/1012/Why-climate-change-divides-us


Arctic Bees Could Teach Researchers About Climate Change.
Southern California researchers hope a bee that thrives in the
arctic could help them understand more about climate change.
University of California, Riverside researchers are recently back
from a trip to Alaska where they collected samples of a hardy
pollinator called Bombus polaris, the Arctic bumblebee.  Hollis
Woodard led the effort and said it could help researchers
understand how climate change affects harsh, but delicate
ecosystems.
http://www.kpbs.org/news/2016/oct/11/arctic-bees-could-teach-researchers-about-climate-/


Energy-Related CO2 Emissions For First Half Of 2016 Are Lowest
Since 1991. U.S. energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions
totaled 2,530 million metric tons in the first six months of
2016. This was the lowest emissions level for the first six
months of the year since 1991, as mild weather and changes in the
fuels used to generate electricity contributed to the decline in
energy-related emissions.
https://cleantechnica.com/2016/10/12/energy-related-co2-emissions-first-half-2016-lowest-since-1991/


Agency chief calls for better data 'to plan ahead' for warming.
As the effects of climate change become more acute, greater
investment is needed in the federal equipment used to monitor its
risks, a senior National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
official said yesterday. The current level of climate
understanding is unprecedented in human history…
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2016/10/12/stories/1060044140 

Scientists invent grass that reduces dangerous methane emissions
from flatulent cows. 'Super grass' expected to be ready by 2024
and could also increase milk production. Danish scientists are
attempting to formulate a new type of grass which could be more
efficiently digested by cattle, reducing the amount of methane
gas cows produce by burping and causing them to produce more
milk.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/denmark-scientists-develop-super-grass-to-cut-cow-burp-methane-emissions-a7358156.html


DROUGHT

Northern California will get a soaking, but will it ease the
drought? A pair of warm storms expected to hit Northern
California later this week could dump more than 8 inches of rain
in the mountains and have North Coast rivers roaring. But weather
forecasters and hydrologists say the first substantial storms of
California’s rainy season are unlikely to put much of a dent…
http://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/water-and-drought/article107638927.html#storylink=cpy


A Mega-Drought Is Coming to America’s Southwest. Unless carbon
emissions plummet soon, the risk of a region-altering disaster in
Arizona and New Mexico will exceed 99 percent. Between 1545 and
1548, an epidemic swept through the indigenous people of Mexico
that is unlike anything else described in the medical literature.
http://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2016/10/megadroughts-arizona-new-mexico/503531/


DIESEL ACTIVITIES

Shippers Brace for New Rules to Cut Deadly Sulfur Emissions. The
global shipping industry is bracing for a key regulatory decision
that could mark a milestone in reducing maritime pollution, but
which could nearly double fuel costs in a sector already reeling
from its worst downturn in decades. The shipping industry is by
far the world's biggest emitter of sulfur, with the sulfur
dioxide, or SOx, content in heavy fuel oil up to 3,500…
http://ttnews.com/articles/basetemplate.aspx?storyid=43516

FUELS

Wholesale gasoline prices surge after power outage shuts down
Torrance refinery. Wholesale gasoline prices jumped Tuesday and
consumers could see higher prices at the pump after a South Bay
power outage forced a Torrance fuel refinery to shut down.
Southern California Edison reported a power outage that left more
than 100,000 South Bay residents without electricity Tuesday
morning. The former Exxon Mobil refinery also lost power, the
second such shutdown in as many months.
http://www.latimes.com/business/ 

Fossil Fuel Production Emits More Methane Than Previously
Thought, NOAA Says. The exhaustive global study found emissions
from oil, gas and coal sites are between 20 and 60 percent higher
than many earlier estimates. Emissions of planet-heating methane
from fossil fuel production are between 20 and 60 percent higher
than widely cited estimates, including those used by the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)…
https://insideclimatenews.org/news/11102016/noaa-study-says-fossil-fuel-industrys-contribution-global-methane-problem-more-thought


VW RECALL

Volkswagen Emissions Deal Could Wreck Market for Charging
Electric Cars, Critic Says. ChargePoint says companies would be
unable to afford to invest in new charging products or services.
A U.S. government settlement with Volkswagen AG to resolve some
emissions-cheating claims could upend the market for charging
electric vehicles and put companies out of business, the company
that operates…
http://www.wsj.com/articles/volkswagen-emissions-deal-could-wreck-market-for-charging-electric-cars-critic-says-1476289903

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-volkswagen-emissions-idUSKCN12C234


GREEN ENERGY

Renewable energy could offer security as global tensions rise.
How Germany is embracing renewables. It's already a
well-established fact that renewable sources of energy are clean
and increasingly cost effective. But with parts of the world
gripped by geopolitical tensions and armed conflict, clean energy
can offer something extra: The potential of energy independence
and security.
http://www.cnbc.com/2016/10/11/renewable-energy-could-offer-security-as-global-tensions-rise.html


U.S. rises in global energy security ranking. The United States
is gaining on its global peers when it comes to energy security,
energy equity and environmental sustainability, according to new
rankings published yesterday by the World Energy Council.
According to the council's sixth "World Energy Trilemma Index,"
released at the 23rd World Energy Congress in Istanbul, the
United States now ranks 14th in the world…
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2016/10/12/stories/1060044142 

OPINIONS

For the Record: Hey! Over here! It's a real issue like climate
change. Sigh. What does it mean for democracy when the election
now depends on how you view the P-word? And why, if this is all
we can talk about, is Team FTR even bothering to tell you where
the candidates stand on matters that don’t involve genitalia? We
don't know either. But consider our weekly dive into the issues a
big middle finger to the campaigns. We DO care about real stuff,
dammit.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2016/10/12/climate-change/91917932/


Updated Tool Continues to Ignore California’s Most Disadvantaged
Communities. The California Communities Environmental Health
Screening Tool, more commonly known as CalEnviroScreen, was
designed by the California Environmental Protection Agency
(CalEPA) to serve as a tool for identifying California’s most
disadvantaged communities when prioritizing time, resources… 
http://www.publicceo.com/2016/10/updated-tool-continues-to-ignore-californias-most-disadvantaged-communities/


'Consensus' on climate change: what that does and doesn't mean.
Agreement on basics of climate science is very strong, while
there is much less certainty about specifics such as how fast
temperatures or sea levels can be expected to rise. Discussions
of climate change often pit two polarized sides talking past each
other, split along partisan political lines. Little wonder that
it can seem hard to sift the answer to a fundamental question…
http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/2016/1012/Consensus-on-climate-change-what-that-does-and-doesn-t-mean


Is using less water the secret to cutting our greenhouse gas
emissions? When most of us think of slowing global warming, we
think of reducing car exhaust and power plant emissions –
limiting activities that involve combusting fossil fuels. But we
rarely draw the connection between the production of energy and
another important resource: water. Yet in California, 20% of the
state’s electricity and 30% of the natural gas…
https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2016/oct/11/greenhouse-gas-water-use-emissions


BLOGS

Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities Projects Funded by
SGC. Today the Strategic Growth Council approved 25 projects for
funding under the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities
(AHSC) program. All of them combine affordable housing
development and transportation improvements for either transit,
walking, biking, or a combination of all three modes.
http://cal.streetsblog.org/2016/10/11/affordable-housing-and-sustainable-communities-projects-funded-by-sgc/


Global Warming Versus Salmon: Dam If You Do, Dam If You Don't.
Early this month, a federal judge forced discussion of a radical
step to save endangered salmon: taking out four somewhat large
hydroelectric dams on the Lower Snake River in Washington State.
These four dams include Ice Harbor, Lower Monumental, Little
Goose and Lower Granite Dams.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesconca/2016/10/12/global-warming-versus-salmon-dam-if-you-do-dam-if-you-dont/#277885a0614e


Climate Change Has Doubled the Area Burned by Western Fires.
Since the late 1970s, global warming has been responsible for
about half of the drying that leads to forest fires. The last few
years have been hotter and drier than most in the Western United
States. That makes for prime conditions for forest fires. Now,
researchers report in Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences what many had suspected: Although it’s not the only
ingredient, global climate change…
https://psmag.com/climate-change-has-doubled-the-area-burned-by-western-fires-87bfa8401af8#.jrdmq839j


Daimler wants to cut EV research spending as it preps EQ.
Daimler's first EQ EV concept vehicle was shown off at Paris
Motor Show last month. Daimler AG is hoping that the legwork it's
done preparing its EQ electric-vehicle sub-brand will allow it to
slightly reduce annual spending on plug-in vehicle technology.
The Mercedes-Benz parent is looking to cut electric-vehicle
research-and-development…
http://www.autoblog.com/2016/10/12/daimler-cut-ev-research-spending-eq/



EPA Proposes New Tactic for Adding Ethanol Blends at Fueling
Stations. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is taking a
different tactic to increasing ethanol blends available at
fueling stations. A new EPA proposal would reclassify ethanol
blends above E15 as “ethanol flex fuels,” potentially opening the
door to wider use of these blends…
http://www.hybridcars.com/epa-proposes-new-tactic-for-adding-ethanol-blends-at-fueling-stations/




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