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newsclips -- ARB Newsclips for December 13, 2016.
Posted: 13 Dec 2016 14:09:00
ARB Newsclips for December 13, 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 Cows and rice paddies boost methane emissions: study. Global methane emissions from agriculture and other sources have surged in recent years, threatening efforts to slow climate change, an international study has found. Researchers led by French Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement (LSCE) reported that methane concentrations in the air began to surge around 2007 and grew precipitously in 2014 and 2015. http://www.reuters.com/article/us-environment-methane-idUSKBN14100L Air Resources Board Sets Goals for 2017(Video). As we head into a new year, what plans are being made for California’s Air Resources Board? Capital Public Radio’s state government reporter Ben Bradford recently spoke with Mary Nichols, chair of the board, about its goals for 2017, including the future of cap and trade, which is set to expire in 2020. http://www.capradio.org/news/insight/2016/12/12/insight-121216b/ EPA issues new rule for Texas plants in likely test for Pruitt. U.S. EPA is again seeking to impose new pollution control requirements on Texas coal-fired power plants under its regional haze program, potentially triggering a high-stakes test of the incoming Trump administration's attitude toward air quality regulation. In a proposed rule released late Friday… http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2016/12/12/stories/1060047054 CLIMATE CHANGE Scientists are frantically copying U.S. climate data, fearing it might vanish under Trump. Alarmed that decades of crucial climate measurements could vanish under a hostile Trump administration, scientists have begun a feverish attempt to copy reams of government data onto independent servers in hopes of safeguarding it from any political interference. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2016/12/13/scientists-are-frantically-copying-u-s-climate-data-fearing-it-might-vanish-under-trump/?utm_term=.5ba1643e597b Polar bear numbers seen declining a third from Arctic sea ice melt. Rising temperatures that melt sea ice in the Arctic will probably reduce the polar bear population by a third over the next few decades, and the same warming trend is likely to worsen the decline of wild reindeer, scientists said on Monday. The new findings by university and government researchers were presented as part of a panel discussion about climate impacts… http://www.reuters.com/article/us-environment-climate-arctic-idUSKBN14205I?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=Inside+Climate+News&utm_campaign=ad36e4f673-Today_s_Climate12_10_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_29c928ffb5-ad36e4f673-327747457 Peabody Bondholders Tout Donald Trump’s Plan to Roll Back Emission Rules. Peabody Energy bondholders buoyed by Donald Trump’s promise to ‘bring back coal 100%’. President-elect Donald Trump’s plan to roll back the Obama administration’s signature proposal for reducing greenhouse gas emissions will be a boon to creditors of Peabody Energy Corp., according to bondholders who want a say in the coal miner’s debt restructuring. http://www.wsj.com/articles/peabody-bondholders-tout-donald-trumps-plan-to-roll-back-emission-rules-1481647278 Trump's Election Leaves Scientists In A Climate Of Uncertainty. Thousands of Earth scientists are in San Francisco this week to talk about climate change, volcanoes and earthquakes. And another tectonic topic: President-elect Donald Trump. As president, Trump will oversee a huge government scientific enterprise. Agencies like the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and NASA have satellites collecting valuable data on the climate. http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/12/13/505309445/trumps-election-leaves-scientists-in-a-climate-of-uncertainty?utm_source=Inside+Climate+News&utm_campaign=ad36e4f673-Today_s_Climate12_10_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_29c928ffb5-ad36e4f673-327747457 Polar Vortex And Global Warming: Will Winters Get Colder? Climate Change Could Make Icy Blasts More Common. Freezing temperatures and ice-cold winds were expected to descend upon the Midwest and Northeast United States this week in what some scientists predicted would be a repeat of record-low temperature conditions nearly three years ago that led to widespread damages and several deaths. http://www.ibtimes.com/polar-vortex-global-warming-will-winters-get-colder-climate-change-could-make-icy-2458840 What you should know about the polar vortex. In the Midwest and Northeast of the US, residents should prepare for temperatures 20 to 30 degrees below the average. Many Americans are bundling up this week, as frigid temperatures mark the return of the polar vortex. Scientists say that although many of us will feel the vortex’s chilly effects intensely this week… http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/2016/1213/What-you-should-know-about-the-polar-vortex Satellite data reveal pace of glacier melt. Scientists have used 25 years' worth of satellite data to reconstruct the dissipation of West Antarctica's glaciers. Glaciers in the region — including the Pine Island, Thwaites, Pope, Smith and Kohler glaciers — are currently shrinking by 7 meters of height per year. All of them are connected to the Amundsen Sea, and their melt-off is contributing to sea-level rise across the planet. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2016/12/13/stories/1060047073 DROUGHT Drought to intensify in Kenya in 2017, new early warning system shows. Kenya needs to brace itself for worsening drought in 2017, the United Nations said on Tuesday, using a new early warning system that predicts the availability of forage for animals in the country's arid livestock-dependent north. People and animals' lives are at risk because they have not had a chance to recover from drought in 2014 as rains were also poor in 2015 and 2016… http://www.reuters.com/article/us-kenya-drought-idUSKBN1421WH California drought: Project to retrofit one of Bay Area’s largest dams doubles in cost, face. Reflecting problems at other aging reservoirs, a $200 million project to drain and repair one of the Bay Area’s largest dams to reduce the risk of it collapsing in a major earthquake will double in cost and be delayed by at least two more years. Managers at the Santa Clara Valley Water District, based in San Jose… http://www.mercurynews.com/2016/12/12/california-drought-project-to-retrofit-one-of-bay-areas-largest-dams-doubles-in-cost-faces-long-delays/ DIESEL ACTIVITIES How one state senator wants to clean up truck pollution. Aiming to help pay for California Gov. Jerry Brown’s effort to take the dirtiest big rigs off the road, state Sen. Tony Mendoza, D-Artesia, is pushing a $600 million bond to fund cleaner trucks and goods movement. Mendoza introduced legislation last week that would place a bond measure on the June 2018 ballot to support Brown’s sustainable freight program… http://www.presstelegram.com/environment-and-nature/20161212/how-one-state-senator-wants-to-clean-up-truck-pollution EPA to Reduce Diesel Emissions. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has awarded a total of $6,329,500 in Diesel Emission Reduction Act funds to public and private partners in California, Arizona, Nevada, Hawaii and American Samoa. EPA’s Acting Regional Administrator, Alexis Strauss made the announcement at a meeting of the international Commission for Environmental Cooperation in Long Beach, California. http://agnetwest.com/2016/12/12/epa-reduce-diesel-emission/ FUELS Rapid rise in methane emissions in 10 years surprises scientists. Methane warms planet 20 times as much as similar CO2 volumes but lack of monitoring means scientists can’t be sure of sources. Emissions of the powerful greenhouse gas methane have surged in the past decade, threatening to thwart global attempts to combat climate change. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/dec/12/rapid-rise-methane-emissions-10-years-surprises-scientists With Oil Sands Ambitions on a Collision Course With Climate Change, Exxon Still Stepping on the Gas. Despite understanding environmental risks, the company and Canada remain committed to extracting and exporting Alberta’s carbon-heavy fuel source. ExxonMobil placed a risky bet on the tar sands of Canada, even though they contain some of the dirtiest oil in the world and the company's own scientists had documented the link between fossil fuels and global warming. https://insideclimatenews.org/news/12122016/exxon-climate-change-investigation-tar-sands-oil-development-canada?utm_source=Inside+Climate+News&utm_campaign=ad36e4f673-Today_s_Climate12_10_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_29c928ffb5-ad36e4f673-327747457 Aurora Co-op joining forces with ethanol company. One of the largest co-ops in Nebraska is combining its assets with those owned by a California-based ethanol company to create a new entity. Aurora Cooperative Elevator Company said it will combine its Aurora West Grain Elevator, loop track, related land and other assets with the two Aurora ethanol plants and related assets owned by Pacific Ethanol. The Aurora co-op also is contributing $30 million in cash. http://journalstar.com/business/agriculture/aurora-co-op-joining-forces-with-ethanol-company/article_8b45f3a3-7841-5069-bed0-43e04886d676.html New biofuels laboratory opens in Australia. A new biocrude and biofuels laboratory has opened in Queensland, Australia, on the site of the Northern Oil advanced biofuels pilot plant in Gladstone. Southern Oil and JJ Richards & Sons, joint venture partners in the Northern Oil Refinery at Yarwun, near Gladstone, built the multi-million dollar laboratory with funding support from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA). http://biofuels-news.com/display_news/11530/new_biofuels_laboratory_opens_in_australia/ Fossil fuel divestment doubled since last year. Advocates of divestment from fossil fuel companies celebrated the growth of their movement yesterday and called it a potential "bulwark" against an incoming Trump administration intent on rolling back many of President Obama's climate regulations. Institutions and individuals controlling $5.2 trillion in assets worldwide have pledged to sell off their holdings in fossil fuel… http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2016/12/13/stories/1060047078 GREEN ENERGY Trump picks former Texas Governor Perry as energy secretary. Donald Trump has chosen former Texas Governor Rick Perry to head the U.S. Department of Energy, a source close to the president-elect said, putting him in charge of an agency he proposed eliminating during his bid for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination. The choice of Perry adds to the list of oil-drilling advocates skeptical about climate change… http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-energy-perry-idUSKBN1421PT PV installations soar amid record solar demand growth. Robust demand for clean energy set the U.S. solar industry on its strongest growth spurt in history between July and September, with 4.1 gigawatts of new photovoltaic capacity coming online during the third quarter, industry officials announced this morning. The surge in new installations, representing a 191 percent increase from the third quarter of 2015… http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2016/12/13/stories/1060047079 OPINIONS Addressing income inequality is critical to California’s prosperity. When the California Economic Summit convenes in Sacramento on Tuesday, regional stewards from throughout the state will be asking the hard questions about what else can be done to restore upward mobility. While we have many pressing problems, addressing income inequality is foundational to our… http://www.sacbee.com/opinion/op-ed/soapbox/article119508553.html#storylink=cpy BLOGS New Delhi’s Air Pollution Rises Again. Air pollution in New Delhi spiked again last week, covering the city in a thick, toxic smog that resulted in reduced visibility, as harsh winter days approach. The Indian capital’s air quality has been at hazardous levels for much of the past week, according to measurements taken by the U.S. embassy. Real-time air quality data from India’s Central Pollution Control Board… http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2016/12/12/new-delhis-air-pollution-rises-again/ Air pollution and neighborhood stress appear to harm aging brain. Combination of stressors could mean more cognitive impairment for vulnerable older adults, USC researcher says. ven with key steps taken to decrease air pollution in recent decades, there are serious health effects connected to auto exhaust and other pollutants in the air we breathe, especially for older adults. http://news.usc.edu/113160/air-pollution-and-neighborhood-stress-appear-to-harm-aging-brain/ How Companies Set Internal Prices on Carbon. Despite the uncertainty created by the recent election, companies around the globe are demonstrating a commitment to keeping climate change in check. More than 300 American companies signed an open letter to President-elect Trump urging him not to abandon the Paris agreement. Others are acting on their own to reduce emissions in their daily operations, by setting an internal price on carbon. http://blogs.edf.org/climate411/2016/12/12/how-companies-set-internal-prices-on-carbon/ California is in a drought emergency. Visit www.SaveOurH2O.org for water conservation tips.