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newsclips -- ARB Newsclips for November 21, 2016
Posted: 21 Nov 2016 12:43:00
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. PARIS AGREEMENT UN Climate Talks End with Pleas for Trump to Join Fight. The first U.N. climate conference after the landmark Paris Agreement closed Friday with delegates appealing to Donald Trump to join the battle against global warming and inviting him to see its impacts in Pacific islands. Suddenly faced with the possibility that the U.S. could withdraw from the emissions pact adopted in Paris last year, countries rallied in support of the deal and said they would forge ahead no matter what. http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/UN_CLIMATE_TALKS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT The Problem With Abandoning the Paris Agreement. If the Trump administration withdraws the United States from the Paris Agreement, the country would face a massive global diplomatic backlash and permanently cede worldwide leadership on climate and renewable-energy issues to China, experts warn. Withdrawing from the treaty “would be a huge mistake, even forgetting about climate change,” said Todd Stern, the former U.S. special envoy on climate change. He added that it would have “radiating bad impacts with respect to U.S. standing” on all other international issues. http://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2016/11/the-problem-with-abandoning-the-paris-agreement/508085/ COP22 Opens New Era in Climate Negotiations: EFEverde. This global meeting featured new alliances that will bolster the transition to a low-carbon economy as part of the implementation of the Paris Climate Agreement, the news Agency noted. The Marrakesh conference was also an opportunity to celebrate the entry into force of the said Agreement only eleven months after its adoption, while the Kyoto Protocol had to wait seven years to enter into force, added “EFEverde”, noting that the Paris Accord has been ratified to date by 111 countries, which represent 80 pc of global emissions of greenhouse gases. https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2016/11/201847/cop22-opens-new-era-climate-negotiations-efeverde/ AIR POLLUTION High court gives ministers deadline for tougher air pollution plan. The government is being forced to deliver an effective plan to tackle the UK’s air pollution crisis within eight months, after a high court judge rejected a longer timetable as “far too leisurely”. Environmental lawyers ClientEarth inflicted a humiliating legal defeat on ministers earlier in November – its second in 18 months – when the high court ruled that ministers’ plans to tackle illegal levels of air pollution in many UK cities and towns were so poor they were unlawful. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/nov/21/high-court-ministers-deadline-air-quality-pollution-plan Delhi's air pollution: What China got right and where we fall behind. Delhi’s smog may have made national headlines in early November 2016–when air-quality levels exceeded by 40 times safe limits set by the World Health Organization (WHO)–and subsequently receded from public attention. But as IndiaSpend was interviewing Pallavi Aiyer, author of ‘Choked’, a new book that investigates Delhi and India’s air-pollution crisis, the air was unhealthy or worse in the majority of 17 cities where our sensors are installed. http://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/delhi-s-air-pollution-what-china-got-right-and-where-we-fall-behind-116112100175_1.html ALERT: Air Pollution Could Promote Drug-Resistant Bacteria. A new study revealed that air pollution could provide a possible means of transportation for the genes that make bacteria resistant to existing drugs. The study, published in the journal Microbiome, showed that the DNA from genes, which makes bacteria resistant to most drugs, lingers in the air samples taken from Beijing. http://www.natureworldnews.com/articles/32432/20161121/alert-air-pollution-promote-drug-resistant-bacteria.htm CLIMATE CHANGE What Does A Trump Presidency Mean For Climate-Change Education? On Nov. 8, the World Meteorological Organization published a press releasesummarizing the findings from a report on global climate from 2011-2015. The report identified the last five years as the hottest on record, with 2015 marking the first year with global temperatures more than 1 degree Celsius above the pre-industrial era. Arctic sea ice declined, sea levels rose and many extreme weather events occurred — events that were "made more likely as a result of human-induced (anthropogenic) climate change." http://www.npr.org/sections/13.7/2016/11/21/502847128/what-does-a-trump-presidency-mean-for-climate-change-education How Climate Change Advocates Plan to Fight the Next Four Years Under Trump. During the campaign, Donald Trump pledged to curb regulations on fossil fuel exploration, decimate the EPA, and bring back the coal industry. He's called climate change a "hoax." His environmental transition team is led by a climate change denier, and names being floated for secretary of energy and interior include an oil industry executive, a billionaire fracking entrepreneur, and Sarah Palin. http://www.newsweek.com/how-climate-change-advocates-plan-fight-next-four-years-under-trump-522760 Climate Scientist Ponders Trump Presidency's Effect On Climate Change Progress. One thing President-elect Donald Trump has been pretty clear about this campaign season is that he wants to dismantle the Environmental Protection Agency. He called the agency a disgrace and has put a leading climate change skeptic in charge of his EPA transition team. To get some perspective, we called up Katharine Hayhoe. She's an atmospheric scientist and director of the Climate Science Center at Texas Tech University. She's also a devout Christian and has spent her life outside of her research convincing fellow conservative Christians that climate change is real. http://www.npr.org/2016/11/20/502770941/climate-scientist-ponders-trump-presidency-effect-on-climate-change-progress What Trump really means for global progress on climate change. That was the refrain along the canopied walkway that runs through the makeshift tent village here at the United Nations climate conference. Yes, United States president-elect Donald Trump is threatening to pull the world’s second-largest emitter out of a major international deal to ratchet down greenhouse gases. But, no, it will not scuttle progress. No doubt, Mr. Trump’s election victory still hung over this conference as it concluded in the early morning hours Saturday. It’s impossible to know what more might have been accomplished here but, as expected, events ended with a proclamation to come back next year to continue constructing the rules that will underpin the international climate regime. http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/Inhabit/2016/1119/What-Trump-really-means-for-global-progress-on-climate-change Donald Trump actually has very little control over green energy and climate change. Yes, there are reasons to fear an impending environmental disaster: Donald Trump has spent much of his campaign claiming the mantle of climate-change-denier-in-chief, and his vice-presidential running mate isn’t much better. Now they are mulling their picks for key Cabinet posts: Interior Secretary Sarah “Drill, baby drill” Palin, if elephant hunter Donald Trump Jr. doesn’t get that gig? Energy Secretary Harold Hamm, if the oil and gas mogul decides he is willing to spend the Trump administration outside the private sector? Environmental Protection Administrator Myron Ebell, unless the fringe-hugging climate skeptic dismantles the agency instead? http://www.salon.com/2016/11/20/trump-has-very-little-control-over-green-energy-and-climate-change_partner/ Trump is taking advice on the future of the environment from a man who denies basic science. Trump has said that he does not believe the planet is warming as a result of human activity — despite the research-backed consensus reached long ago by researchers across the globe. He even Tweeted publicly in 2012 that "the concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make US manufacturing non-competitive." More recently, Trump has pledged to roll back Obama's Clean Power Plan — a set of rules that requires states to substantially reduce their emissions over the next few decades. http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-epa-climate-science-myron-ebell-2016-11 Sea level rise — a common threat, an array of answers. The levee that rings Oakland International Airport seemingly has nothing in common with the salt-crusted stretch of land and water alongside Menlo Park’s Bayfront Park. One is a 7-foot-high line of boulders, an engineered barrier between the tidal flows that surge in through the Golden Gate twice daily and the runways used by 10,000 commercial flights every month. The other is quiet desolation, a white void dotted with stagnant pools of water. Both, though, are examples of the Bay Area shoreline at risk from the long-term effects of sea level rise — and reminders that there’s no single way to prepare for what might lie ahead. http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Sea-level-rise-a-common-threat-an-array-of-10625837.php Nuclear Power's Last Hope: Climate Change. Climate change is the one phenomenon that could overcome public opposition and economic obstacles to nuclear power, a former director of Argonne National Laboratory said Friday. “In principle I don’t think there’s a real obstacle to” building a new fleet of reactors, said Robert Rosner, a theoretical physicist who directed Argonne from 2005-09 and founded its Advanced Reactor Technologies program. ”The obstacle—because there’s money and risk—is the will, and the will isn’t there. http://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffmcmahon/2016/11/20/nuclear-powers-last-hope-is-climate-change/#4fdee6517d13 CA DROUGHT California Today: More Than 100 Million Trees Are Dead. What Now? California’s trees are dying at an alarming rate. Late last week, the U.S. Forest Service said an aerial survey revealed that 36 million additional trees had died while in the grip of persistent drought, bringing the total since 2010 to more than 102 million. Those numbers have startled California officials and scientists while adding urgency to a long-simmering debate over what should be done about it. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/21/us/california-today-dead-trees-forests.html FUELS Trump’s Vow to Bring Back Coal Gives Hope to Weary Regions. The hard-eyed view along the Tug Fork River in West Virginia coal country is that President-elect Donald Trump has something to prove: that he'll help bring back Appalachian mining, as he promised time and again on the campaign trail. Nobody thinks he can revive it entirely - not economists, not ex-miners, not even those recently called back to work. But for the first time in years, coal towns are seeing a commodity that had grown scarcer than the coal trains that used to rumble through around the clock: hope. http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_COAL_COUNTRY_COMEBACK?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT http://www.sfgate.com/news/politics/article/Trump-s-vow-to-revive-coal-country-is-met-with-10627267.php VEHICLES The 11 Hottest Rides Driving This Year’s LA Auto Show. Los Angeles may be the land of the car, but Silicon Valley’s efforts to rejigger the auto industry with ridesharing, electric motors, and autonomous cars are starting to infiltrate Southern California. This year, that change in focus even killed the long-running Los Angeles Auto Show press days, when journalists get a preview of what’s coming to the show floor: That gathering now calls itself as “Automobility LA.” https://www.wired.com/2016/11/11-hottest-rides-driving-years-la-auto-show/ Electric Cars Will Get Big Boost From Rules Curbing Conventional Ones-Report. Car manufacturers are suddenly accelerating plans to build electric cars as the realization dawns that tightening rules on traditional engines will make them uncompetitive quicker than expected. During the transition though, auto manufacturers’ profits will take a huge hit. That’s the conclusion of a report by investment banker Morgan Stanley, which has revised its estimate for electric car sales up to between 10 and 15% of the global market by 2025, more than three times the current average of expectations. http://www.forbes.com/sites/neilwinton/2016/11/18/electric-cars-will-get-big-boost-from-rules-curbing-conventional-ones-report/#3153c6d84f61 Electric vehicles face uncertain future under Trump. The Chevrolet Bolt EV, Tesla Model 3 and electric vehicles in general face a radically new regulatory and political playing field as a professed climate change skeptic prepares to occupy the White House. The budding Trump administration so far has been short on policy specifics. But just two days after the election, automakers' chief lobbying group, the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, urged the Trump transition team to revise not only the fuel economy standards, but also the Obama administration's autonomous vehicle standards, on the grounds that they could cost its member companies billions of dollars. http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2016/11/21/electric-vehicles-face-uncertain-future-under-trump/94203910/ How Electric Vehicles Are Becoming a Tool for Grid Stability. A high penetration of renewables has started to cause resource-planning issues for some states, such as California and Hawaii. Not only do grid operators have to prepare for a spike in electricity usage in the late afternoon, they also have to account for negative pricing and potential over-generation in the late morning and early afternoon -- an issue commonly known as the duck curve. Electric vehicles (EVs), if managed properly, could offer a solution. https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/How-EV-Are-Becoming-a-Tool-for-Grid-Stability-duck-curve RENEWABLE ENERGY Canada to Phase Out Coal-Fired Electricity by 2030. Canada is announcing a plan to phase out the use of coal-fired electricity by 2030. The move is in stark contrast to President-elect Donald Trump's vow to revive the American coal industry. Environment Minister Kathleen McKenna said Monday that the goal is to make sure 90 percent of Canada's electricity comes from sustainable sources by that time — up from 80 percent today. http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/CN_CANADA_COAL_PHASE_OUT?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2016/11/21/world/ap-cn-canada-coal-phase-out.html http://www.sacbee.com/news/business/article116165233.html http://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/Canada-to-phase-out-coal-fired-electricity-by-2030-10627703.php World's poorest countries to aim for 100% green energy. Members of the Climate Vulnerable Forum issued their statement on the last day of the Marrakech climate conference. Bangladesh, Ethiopia, and Haiti, among others, say they will update their national plans on cutting carbon before 2020. Delegates here welcomed the move, saying it was "inspirational". These two weeks of negotiations have been overshadowed to an extent by reaction to the election of Donald Trump to the US presidency. http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-38028130 As green energy gains traction, oil majors are under pressure to de-risk. Following the breakthrough at the United Nations COP21 conference last year, countries and businesses are now being scrutinized to make sure they implement the correct strategies to deliver a greener future. And as zero-carbon fuels gain more traction, oil majors will have to embrace the new energy world, or face getting left behind. "Global energy trends are changing. Sixty percent of global energy demand growth over the next 20 years will come from either gas or zero-carbon fuels such as wind and solar," Paul McConnell, research director of global trends for Wood Mackenzie, told CNBC Friday. http://www.cnbc.com/2016/11/18/as-green-energy-gains-traction-oil-majors-are-under-pressure-to-de-risk.html Burney biomass plant, sawmill get five-year reprieve. With a stroke of a pen in September, Gov. Jerry Brown gave a five-year reprieve to workers at a biomass facility and associated lumber mill in Burney. In signing Senate Bill 859, Brown set in motion steps that temporarily saved the biomass facility and sawmill Shasta Green from having to shut down and sending more than 80 people to the unemployment line. Assemblyman Brian Dahle, R-Bieber, amended the bill that allocates $900 million in cap and trade funds to various initiatives to also require electricity retailers to enter into five-year contracts with biomass facilities using wood harvested from fire hazard zones. http://www.redding.com/news/local/burney-biomass-plant-sawmill-get-five-year-reprieve-40f8338e-53c8-38ee-e053-0100007fd484-402082725.html Solar Energy Has Big Apple Potential But New York Real Estate Entrepreneurs Haven't Seen the Light. I love New York. I can walk outside, look up and get a lesson in history just from looking at its buildings. Not only is it the birthplace of the American dream, its skyline is an icon of industry, capitalism and our intention to always go bigger and do better. As a local contributor to that skyline, it’s personal, but this home of mine is slower in keeping up with the sustainability Joneses than a city of 8.4 million people should. Meanwhile, smaller cities in California and Arizona are saving money big time by installing solar panels on large commercial buildings -- something that NYC lacks. http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Solar-Energy-Has-Big-Apple-Potential-But-New-York-10625186.php MISCELLANEOUS From chaos, a bicycle- and pedestrian-friendly Freeport Boulevard is born. The stretch of Freeport Boulevard through Land Park and Curtis Park has long been one of the busiest and most chaotic commute routes in central Sacramento. Now the street has completed a $2.3 million personality makeover. City officials cut the red ribbon Friday on a project that turned the four-lane thoroughfare into a calmer two-lane street with a center turn lane and bike lanes on each flank – a transformation that could serve as a model for other corridors in the city. http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/transportation/article115956748.html OPINION Trump is a threat to the Paris agreement. Can states like California defend it? There’s no point hiding from it – Donald Trump’s election should give us all concern for our future and the future of our children. The chances of successfully mitigating climate change and holding global temperature increases to below a manageable 1.5 degree rise has nosedived. Trump, a man who believes that climate change is a “hoax”, wants to pull the US out of the Paris climate agreement. Even if that ends up taking time, he can decimate US federal agencies engaged in efforts to move to a greener society. He will probably cancel Obama’s Clean Power Plan, and slash federal funding for renewable energy. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/nov/21/trump-threat-paris-agreement-california-climate-change California is in a drought emergency. Visit www.SaveOurH2O.org for water conservation tips.