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newsclips -- ARB Newsclips for January 9, 2017.

Posted: 09 Jan 2017 14:08:33
ARB Newsclips for January 9, 2017. 

This is a service of the California Air Resources Board’s Office
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AIR POLLUTION

Beijing launches environmental police force to tackle air
pollution. The smog-hit Chinese capital of Beijing will establish
a police force to deal specifically with environmental offences
as part of its efforts to clean up its air and crack down on
persistent polluters. The smog police will crack down on open-air
barbecues, garbage incineration, biomass burning and dust from
roads, Beijing's acting mayor Cai Qi said on Saturday, according
to the official Xinhua news agency.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-pollution-idUSKBN14T0NX
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/police-set-smog-squad-crack-down-causes-choking-beijing-air-pollution-1600061
 
http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/08/asia/china-smog/index.html 
http://www.environmentalleader.com/2017/01/china-now-police-force-deal-persistent-polluters/
 

London Breaks Annual Air Pollution Limits Five Days Into 2017.
London broke the annual limit for air pollution just five days
into 2017, according to data from the capital’s main monitoring
system. A site on Brixton Road in south London surpassed hourly
limits for nitrogen dioxide concentrations 24 times so far this
year, breaking the European Union’s annual permitted limit of 18
breaches…
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-01-06/london-breaks-annual-air-pollution-limits-five-days-into-2017


From Iceland to Maldives, Chinese Seek ‘Lung Cleansing’ Trips(1).
Toxic haze that settled over much of China during the last three
weeks has triggered a flight reflex among residents, leading to
the rising popularity of smog avoidance travel packages to
far-flung locations such as Iceland and Antarctica. Traveler’s
online keyword searches for terms such as “smog escape,” “lung
cleansing” and “forests” had tripled amid the air pollution…
http://washpost.bloomberg.com/Story?docId=1376-OJ934M6TTDSY01-3TTRS3R1PN4VR8MGUG2JCV616D


Southern China Is Blanketed in Smog as Beijing Gets Slight
Reprieve. With pollution levels receding in Beijing, parts of
southern China, including Hong Kong, experienced dangerous levels
of smog Monday as weather patterns pushed bad air into the
region. The worsening conditions caused the Hong Kong government
to warn of a “very high” health risk, particularly for the
elderly, children and those with existing respiratory conditions.
http://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/09/world/asia/china-air-pollution-hong-kong.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&utm_source=Inside+Climate+News&utm_campaign=0fb063654e-Today_s_Climate12_10_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_29c928ffb5-0fb063654e-327747457&_r=0
 

Chinese Defy Pollution, a Stubborn Visitor. Like ghosts floating
in a dim netherworld, the dancers twirled, spun and curtsied in
smog so dense that couples a few steps away seemed to be murky
apparitions suspended in a gray haze. Filthy air has swamped much
of northern China for weeks, but some amateur dancers have stuck
to their outdoor ballroom routines.
http://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/06/world/asia/china-smog-pollution.html?_r=0


Frosts Kill Dozens in Central Europe, Smog Forces Production
Cuts. Severe frosts and snow storms killed at least 25 people in
central Europe over the weekend, mainly in Poland, as
temperatures in the region dropped below -30 degrees Celsius in
some places. The Danube river was slowly freezing over in
Budapest, a rare sight in recent years. Air pollution, mostly
from airborne dust particles, forced production cutbacks at…
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2017/01/09/world/europe/09reuters-centraleurope-weather-freezing.html


Live Global Map Lets You See Pollution In A New Way. It’s now
possible to see on a map pollution rising up from cities and
spreading around the globe on wind currents, in nearly real time.
The airborne microfragments known as small particle pollution are
important because they shorten the lives of millions of people
each year. The captivating 3D visualization is the creation of a…
http://www.kpbs.org/news/2017/jan/09/live-global-map-lets-you-see-pollution-whole-new-w/


EPA to issue regional haze regs, likely sparking lawsuits. U.S.
EPA is poised to formally issue a package of changes to its
regional haze regulations, opening the door for legal challenges.
The package, various parts of which have drawn opposition from
conservation groups, power producers and a coalition of
Republican attorneys general, is set for publication in
tomorrow's Federal Register.
http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2017/01/09/stories/1060048052 

CLIMATE CHANGE

Landmark global scale study reveals potential future impact of
ocean acidification on species' distribution. Ocean Acidification
and the extent to which marine species are able to deal with low
pH levels in the Earth's seas, could have a significant influence
on shifting the distribution of marine animals in response to
climate warming. This is one the findings of a landmark new study
that has taken a first-ever global scale integrative approach…
http://phys.org/news/2017-01-landmark-global-scale-reveals-potential.html#jCp


US plan on threatened polar bears lacks teeth, critics say. The
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service released its plan Monday for the
recovery of threatened polar bears, acknowledging it will take no
direct action for addressing the primary threat - greenhouse
gases that contribute to the decline of sea ice habitat. Polar
bears, the first species to be declared threatened or endangered
because of climate change…
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_POLAR_BEAR_RECOVERY_PLAN?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

OTHER RELATED STORIES
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/01/09/without-action-on-climate-change-say-goodbye-to-polar-bears/?utm_campaign=0fb063654e-Today_s_Climate12_10_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Inside
Climate News&utm_term=.3065c1b44515  

US had near record heat, costly weather disasters in 2016. With
steamy nights, sticky days and torrential downpours, last year
went down as one of the warmest and wildest weather years on
record in the United States. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration announced Monday that 2016 was the second hottest
year in the U.S. as Alaska warmed dramatically and nighttime
temperatures set a record.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_SCI_HOT_WILD_YEAR?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


2016 was hottest year ever recorded in New Zealand. Unusually
warm winds and seas helped make last year the hottest ever
recorded in New Zealand. The average temperature during 2016 was
13.4 Celsius (56.1 Fahrenheit), according to a report released
Monday by the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric
Research.
That was nearly 1 degree Celsius warmer than normal and
fractionally hotter than the previous record set in 1998.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_NEW_ZEALAND_RECORD_TEMPERATURES?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


Study documents tree species' decline due to climate warming. A
type of tree that thrives in soggy soil from Alaska to Northern
California and is valued for its commercial and cultural uses
could become a noticeable casualty of climate warming over the
next 50 years, an independent study has concluded. Yellow cedar,
named for its distinctive yellow wood, already is under
consideration for federal listing as a threatened or endangered
species.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_CLIMATE_WARMING_YELLOW_CEDAR?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


Climate change should not be 'partisan issue,' Kerry says. Work
to avert the problems caused by climate change should not be a
partisan issue, outgoing Secretary of State John Kerry told
students at an elite U.S. engineering school on Monday, in one of
his final speeches as the nation's top diplomat. Kerry noted U.S.
officials from military and intelligence leaders to the mayors of
coastal cities agree the problem of…
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-kerry-idUSKBN14T1VH 

Human-Driven Global Warming Is Biggest Threat to Polar Bears,
Report Says. Federal wildlife officials on Monday called climate
change the biggest threat to the survival of the polar bear and
warned that without decisive action to combat global warming, the
bears would almost certainly disappear from much of the Arctic.
“It cannot be overstated that the single most important action
for the recovery of polar bears…
http://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/09/science/polar-bears-global-warming-climate-change.html
http://www.sltrib.com/home/4798499-155/without-action-on-climate-change-say
 

UW faculty angry at Wisconsin agency climate change revision. A
group of University of Wisconsin-Madison professors criticized
the state Department of Natural Resources on Monday for scrubbing
its website of language that stated human activity is causing
climate change, accusing the agency of ignoring facts and
violating the public trust. The Republican-controlled DNR's
revisions came last month.
http://www.sfgate.com/news/education/article/UW-faculty-challenge-DNR-climate-change-revisions-10845010.php


99% of coral reefs to be impacted by climate change, study says. 
Climate change is having a damaging and long-lasting impact on
the health of the ocean’s coral reefs, a new study has found. By
the end of the century, 99 percent of coral reefs will be
impacted each year by bleaching, a process in which reefs lose
their coloring and are more susceptible to disease and death.
http://www.sacbee.com/latest-news/article124752339.html#storylink=cpy


Obama: US climate efforts can withstand 'near-term politics'
President Barack Obama argued Monday the election of Donald Trump
and a GOP Congress will not stop US efforts to fight climate
change and spur clean energy development. The essay published
online Monday in the journal Science goes through the scientific
case for actions the administration has taken on climate change,
energy efficiency and emissions…
http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/09/politics/obama-climate-change-science-coal/index.html
 

State sites still teach about climate change. Teachers and
students in Wisconsin still have access to state-operated
environmental education sites that discuss climate change,
despite the Department of Natural Resources' recent move to scrub
references to the concept from its website. The Department of
Public Instruction will temporarily take over three educational
programs previously administered by the DNR.
http://www.wisconsinrapidstribune.com/story/news/local/2017/01/09/state-sites-still-teach-climate-change/96150006/
 http://www.stevenspointjournal.com/story/news/local/2017/01/09/state-sites-still-teach-climate-change/96150006/


Rich countries dominate climate research — study. Developed
countries' dominance in climate research may make it harder for
poorer nations to participate effectively in the Paris climate
agreement, according to a report published last week in Nature
Climate Change. That imbalance is overwhelming: Researchers from
industrialized countries published 10,442 scientific and
technical journal articles in 2011…
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2017/01/09/stories/1060048006

FUELS

US gas prices jump 12 cents over 3 weeks to $2.38 a gallon. The
average price of regular-grade gasoline has surged 12 cents
nationally over the past three weeks, to $2.38 a gallon. Industry
analyst Trilby Lundberg said Sunday the hike mostly results from
the gasoline market catching up with rising crude oil costs.
Lundberg says the current price is 33 cents a gallon above what
it was one year ago.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_GAS_PRICES?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


EMBARGOED-Gasoline taxes fall despite promises to slow climate
change-study. Average taxes on gasoline worldwide have tended to
fall in recent years despite promises by many nations to do more
to limit global warming, a study showed on Monday. Gasoline, or
petrol, the most common fuel used to power cars, emits the
greenhouse gas carbon dioxide when burnt. Tax paid on the average
litre of gasoline fell 13.3 percent to 24.2 cents in the first
half of 2015…
http://uk.reuters.com/article/energy-taxes-idUKL5N1EZ1YP   

Sensing Gains Ahead Under Trump, the Kochs Court Minorities. The
crowd that thronged a gospel concert last month in Richmond, Va.,
was in for an unusual Christmas treat. “Your energy bill’s paid!”
the M.C. declared between soaring numbers from recording artists
like VaShawn Mitchell and Charles Jenkins, calling to a young
woman from the audience, who shrieked and started twirling on the
floor.
http://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/05/business/energy-environment/koch-brothers-fossil-fuels-minorities.html?_r=1


Obama admin spars with critics over methane rule. The fate of an
Obama administration methane-slashing rule was on the line last
week as critics and fans of the regulation argued over whether it
should be halted. With government lawyers, environmentalists and
supporting states on one side and industry groups and several
opposing states on the other…
http://www.eenews.net/energywire/2017/01/09/stories/1060048012 

VEHICLES

China boosts VW sales despite diesel emissions scandal. German
automaker Volkswagen saw sales jump 16 percent in December for
its namesake brand, propelled by a big increase in China,
Volkswagen's biggest market. Global sales reported Monday rose to
567,900 from 487,700 despite the damage to the company's
reputation from its scandal over cars rigged to cheat on diesel
emissions tests.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_GERMANY_VOLKSWAGEN_SALES?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


VW RECALL

Second VW Employee Arrested Over Emissions Scheme. The Volkswagen
executive who once was in charge of complying with U.S. emissions
regulations was arrested during the weekend in Florida and
accused of deceiving federal regulators about the use of special
software that cheated on emissions tests. Oliver Schmidt, who was
general manager of the engineering and environmental office for
VW of America, was charged in a criminal complaint with
conspiracy to…
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_VOLKSWAGEN_ARREST?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


OTHER RELATED STORIES
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2017/01/09/us/ap-us-volkswagen-arrest.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/09/business/volkswagen-diesel-emissions-investigation-settlement.html?_r=1

http://www.latimes.com/business/autos/la-fi-hy-volkswagen-arrest-20170109-story.html

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2017/01/09/fbi-arrests-top-volkswagen-executive-emissions-scandal/96340582/
http://www.scpr.org/news/2017/01/09/67927/second-vw-employee-arrested-over-emissions-scheme/
 

GREEN ENERGY

Obama presses Trump not to back away from clean energy. President
Barack Obama cast the adoption of clean energy in the U.S. as
"irreversible," putting pressure Monday on President-elect Donald
Trump not to back away from a core strategy to fight climate
change. Obama, penning an opinion article in the journal Science,
sought to frame the argument in a way that might appeal to the
president-elect: in economic terms.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_OBAMA?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


Obama says push toward clean energy is 'irreversible' President
Obama says trends toward clean energy are "irreversible" and will
overcome "near-term politics" in an article he wrote Monday for
the journal Science. The article, entitled "The irreversible
momentum of clean energy," was published in the journal's policy
forum, and details why the president believes there's no turning
back from renewable energies such as solar, wind and geothermal.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/sciencefair/2017/01/09/president-obama-science-journal/96342060/

http://www.pv-tech.org/news/eia-clean-energy-to-grow-even-if-trump-scraps-clean-power-plan


Scott Wiener models state solar bill on S.F. law. Newly sworn-in
state Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, plans to introduce
legislation Monday requiring all new construction in the state to
include solar panels. The bill expands on a San Francisco city
ordinance Wiener wrote while on the Board of Supervisors that
requires solar panels to be put on new construction within the
city…
http://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Scott-Wiener-models-state-solar-bill-on-S-F-law-10843577.php?t=848b1faa85&cmpid=twitter-premium


Amazon to surpass 1 GW of clean energy capacity. Is it enough?
Amazon.com Inc. this month will begin receiving the first of
roughly 930 megawatts of new renewable energy in what could be
one of the largest expansions of wind and solar power by a
private-sector firm in 2017. The company's growing portfolio of
clean power projects — whose collective capacity should reach
1.16 gigawatts by year's end…
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2017/01/09/stories/1060048034 

A grim prognosis for Mission Innovation under Trump. President
Carter installed 32 solar water heating panels on the White House
roof in 1979, and President Reagan took them down in 1986. The
decision was symbolic of the ideological divide between the two
administrations on energy policy and how the two presidents
sought to address challenges like the oil crisis and the lagging
economy.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2017/01/09/stories/1060048035 

MISCELLANEOUS

San Diego’s Public Transit Growth Hits Speed Bump. Most effective
transportation policies are highly unpopular. Just over a year
after the passage of San Diego's Climate Action Plan, the city's
goal of dramatically shifting its residents' commuting habits
away from cars and toward public transit is slipping further from
reach.
http://www.kpbs.org/news/2017/jan/09/public-transit-ridership-falls-san-diego-seeks-sol/


OPINIONS

Seeing the devastation of climate change in the ruins of Aleppo.
I recently followed a drone through the ruined Syrian city of
Aleppo, courtesy of YouTube. The destruction was sobering, to say
the least. The camera glided by exploded apartment buildings and
streets piled with rubble, block after city block. The political
situation in Syria is contemptible, the impact of war on human
lives horrendously tragic…
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-stier-climate-change-and-syrian-civil-war-20170106-story.html

California must tighten fracking regulations. The Environmental
Protection Agency’s final report on the impact of fracking on
water supplies finds more danger than previously acknowledged —
but there’s no way a Donald Trump administration is going to
toughen the minimal federal regulations now in place. The
president-elect already promised the industry last fall that he
would try to end regulation of fracking, which involves injecting
water and chemicals into the ground at high pressure to force oil
and gas from rock formations.
http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/01/06/editorial-california-must-tighten-fracking-regulations/


Climate change and farming: let's be part of the solution! What
with rising rainfall in the west, and hotter, drier summers in
the east, British farmers place plenty of challenges from global
warming, writes Anna Bowen. But there are also positive
opportunities for agricultural innovators to adapt their farming
systems to changing conditions, make their operations more
resilient and sustainable, and make themselves part of the
solution. http://www.enn.com/climate/spotlight/50253 

Why automakers spend heavily to promote gas guzzlers. When Nissan
rolled out its all-electric Leaf in 2010, the company's bold
advertising grabbed attention — and criticism. The spot, which
premiered during an NFL game, showed a polar bear trekking south
past pollution-spewing power plants and cars, until he meets a
Leaf driver and hugs him.
http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2017/01/09/stories/1060048038 

BLOGS

Drought and Equity in California. The Pacific Institute and the
Environmental Justice Coalition for Water have released the first
analysis of the impacts of the California drought on vulnerable
communities and put forward recommendations to alleviate those
impacts. The study focuses on three impacts of the drought:
domestic water supply shortages, rising water costs, and declines
in the salmon fishery.
http://pacinst.org/news/drought-equity-california/ 

Getting a better grip on gas taxes. When 195 nations joined to
fight climate change in the 2015 Paris Agreement, leaders hailed
the occasion as “historic” and “a tremendous victory.” Others
sounded notes of caution. Agreements and results are two
different things, they said, especially when the agreements are
nonbinding. Moreover, it can be difficult to measure the actions
individual countries are taking due to a basic lack of reliable
information and data.
https://www.ioes.ucla.edu/article/getting-better-grip-gas-taxes/


The chances of Trump demanding a carbon tax to save the world
from climate change is, to be polite, remote to non-existent. The
introduction, or should I say, the force feeding of the Ontario
carbon cap-and-trade, and the Alberta version, which they prefer
to term a carbon “levy” were, and will be, dominate factors
affecting prices in both provinces as well as Quebec. While the
Ontario Government gave substantial forewarning of the intent to
apply the cap-and-trade throughout 2016…
http://www.trucknews.com/blogs/chances-trump-demanding-carbon-tax-save-world-climate-change-polite-remote-non-existent/


Global warming is creating a wildfire 'death spiral' in alpine
areas, say climate change scientists. 'Landscape flammability,
and thus fire, are likely to increase as a result of warming
effects'. Global warming is creating a vicious feedback loop that
could increase the number of wildfires in alpine areas,
scientists have warned. After fire sweeps through an area, it can
effectively clears the land and the researchers…
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/global-warming-wildfire-climate-change-environment-alpine-areas-australia-alps-fire-plants-flammable-a7517686.html


New California Dam Proposed to Combat Climate Change Concerns.
Nevada Irrigation District, which serves two California counties,
wants to build a new reservoir on the Bear River to capture
rainfall, amid concerns that climate change is shrinking Sierra
Nevada snowpack. Americans have had one primary reason for
building dams over the past century: capturing water for growth,
whether on farms or in cities. Now a new dam proposed on
California’s Bear River offers another reason: adapting to
climate change.
https://www.newsdeeply.com/water/articles/2017/01/09/new-california-dam-proposed-to-combat-climate-change-concerns?utm_source=Inside+Climate+News&utm_campaign=0fb063654e-Today_s_Climate12_10_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_29c928ffb5-0fb063654e-327747457





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

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