What's New List Serve Post Display

ARB Newsclips for January 10, 2017. 

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

S.F. Supervisor Wants Answers From Chevron on Toxic Gas Release
and Odor. San Francisco Supervisor Mark Farrell wants to haul
executives from the Chevron oil company to City Hall to explain
why two malfunctions at their Richmond refinery may have sent
toxic gas to San Francisco twice late last month. Prompted by
KQED’s reporting…
https://ww2.kqed.org/news/2017/01/10/s-f-supervisor-wants-answers-from-chevron-on-toxic-gas-release-and-odor/


Beijing and Paris step up air pollution crackdown. Businesses in
two of the world's most famous cities could soon face increased
pressure to curb pollution and step up efforts to improve air
quality, as officials in Beijing and Paris this week unveiled
bold new policy measures to tackle growing smog fears. According
to Reuters reports, the Chinese government is to establish a new
'smog police' unit to specifically target environmental offences.
http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/3002171/beijing-and-paris-step-up-air-pollution-crackdown


EPA advances incinerator guidelines for states. U.S. EPA is
proceeding with a federal framework for implementing incinerator
emissions guidelines in states that don't put together plans of
their own. The proposed rule, set for publication in tomorrow's
Federal Register, would apply to existing commercial and
industrial solid waste incinerators and serve as an enforcement
vehicle for the amended…
http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2017/01/10/stories/1060048130  

CLIMATE CHANGE

Methane may not last long in the atmosphere — but it drives sea
level rise for centuries. It seems like just about every week,
there’s more news on the rapid melting of glaciers in Greenland,
Antarctica and elsewhere — and scientists’ growing concern about
their potentially dramatic contributions to global sea level
rise. But there’s another major element affecting global sea
levels, and research suggests that it could be a factor for
centuries to come. 
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/01/09/methane-may-not-last-long-in-the-atmosphere-but-it-drives-rising-seas-for-hundreds-of-years/?utm_campaign=c63b52581d-Today_s_Climate12_10_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Inside
Climate News&utm_term=.548208c610d9   

China Wants to Be a Climate Change Watchdog, but Can’t Yet Lead
by Example. President-elect Donald J. Trump has called climate
change a hoax created by China and said he would cancel an
international accord to curb greenhouse gas emissions. But
leaders of other nations, including China, are rolling up their
sleeves for the hard work of putting that deal into practice.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/10/world/asia/china-wants-to-be-a-climate-change-watchdog-but-cant-yet-lead-by-example.html?_r=0


Obama admin sets climate metric for federal projects. The Obama
administration is finalizing a controversial if under-the-radar
rule tackling the climate change impact of transportation
projects days before the end of the administration. A final draft
of a rule the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) published on
its website would require state and regional highway planners to
measure and report the greenhouse gas emissions of projects
receiving federal funding.
http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/stories/1060048136/search?keyword=california


Is our wastewater treatment ready for climate change?  As sea
levels continue to inch up the coast, urban planners are
beginning to worry that the water could disable a critical cog of
urban infrastructure: wastewater facilities. Higher tides and
storm surges are posing an increasing risk to facilities that
clean out city sewage before routing it back into ocean…
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2017/01/10/stories/1060048072 

Hazardous toxin to humans could rise with warming water. Most
seafood lovers have never heard of domoic acid, but it might be
time for them to start paying attention — the material,
occasionally found in shellfish, is a serious health risk, and
researchers have recently linked its presence with climatic
phenomena.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2017/01/10/stories/1060048087 

DROUGHT

The worst of the storms is over. Here’s what’s next for
California. Northern California’s major rivers swelled and then
began receding during a pause between rainstorms Monday, leaving
a trail of toppled trees and damaged roadways but no major urban
flooding in Sacramento or elsewhere. The weekend’s big rainfall,
the most Sacramento has seen in a two-day stretch since 2000…
http://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/water-and-drought/article125541679.html#storylink=cpy


California gets rains, but drought still means fewer lawns in
future. Deborah Butler spent three years apologizing for her
lawn. After buying a corner property in Studio City with her
husband over three years ago, they inherited a ragged front lawn
they didn’t particularly want or need – not with a park across
the street, and especially not amidst a five-going-on-six year
drought.
http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/Inhabit/2017/0109/California-gets-rains-but-drought-still-means-fewer-lawns-in-future


FUELS

Carbon capture takes 'huge step' with first U.S. plant. Petra
Nova carbon-capture project. President-elect Donald Trump said
during his campaign "there is a thing called clean coal." In the
United States, he just got exhibit A. Today, NRG Energy Inc.
announced that its Petra Nova project, the world's largest
retrofit of a coal plant with carbon capture technology, is
operational southwest of Houston.
http://www.eenews.net/energywire/2017/01/10/stories/1060048090 

VEHICLES

GM's Chevrolet Bolt electric car wins North American Car of the
Year. General Motors picked up the crown jewel in the trifecta of
trophies Monday for its new long-range electric car, the
Chevrolet Bolt. The Bolt was named North American Car of the
Year, beating two conventionally powered luxury sedans, the
Genesis G90 and the Volvo S90, in an announcement delivered at
the North American International Auto Show.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2017/01/09/gms-chevrolet-bolt-electric-car-wins-north-american-car-year/96334822/

http://money.cnn.com/2017/01/09/autos/bolt-car-of-the-year/index.html

http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1108206_2017-chevy-bolt-ev-electric-car-wins-north-american-car-of-the-year-award


Despite scandal, VW in running for global sales crown. It's
ironic: Volkswagen spent 2016 battling a huge scandal over cars
it rigged to cheat on emissions tests.
And now stands a decent chance to pass Toyota for the title of
world's biggest carmaker for the year.Booming business in China
helped Volkswagen increase its sales to 10.31 million vehicles
last year across all its brands, which include Audi, Porsche and
Skoda…
http://www.sacbee.com/news/business/article125583224.html#storylink=cpy


Cities unite to seek 'record breaking' electric fleet. Four of
the largest West Coast cities are asking automakers whether they
can produce "a potentially record-breaking order" of 24,000
electric vehicles. Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle and
Portland, Ore., joined in a request for information (RFI) from
automakers. The cities described it as the first step in a formal
bidding process.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2017/01/10/stories/1060048109 

GREEN ENERGY

Is Amazon's secrecy preventing a greener grid?  Amazon.com, that
seller of all things, offers endless information on its products.
But the sharing stops cold when it comes to its own energy use
and carbon footprint, and that reticence might be slowing the
greening of the electric grid, a new report claims. The study
from Greenpeace, called "Clicking Clean," is a periodic and
comprehensive look at the energy…
http://www.eenews.net/energywire/2017/01/10/stories/1060048103 

Southern unit scoops up another chunk of renewables.  Southern
Co.'s wholesale power unit has bought another wind farm in Texas,
increasing its renewable energy portfolio to more than 3,200
megawatts. Southern Power has bought the 276-MW Bethel Wind
Energy Center, the company said yesterday. Google's renewable
energy arm has agreed to buy most of the electricity and
renewable-energy credits.
http://www.eenews.net/energywire/2017/01/10/stories/1060048076 

Wind power blows past coal in U.K. Wind produced more electricity
than coal in the United Kingdom for the first time last year.
Coal power fell to its lowest levels of generation in eight
decades, partly because of the closure of three major plants.
Coal contributed 9.2 percent of U.K. power, compared with 22.6
percent the year before. Wind energy supplied 11.5 percent of
electricity generation in 2016.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2017/01/10/stories/1060048084 

OPINIONS

Letter: The PurpleAir option for measuring air quality. The Dec.
30 article, "Bad air and broken pollution monitors to ring in
2017," brings home the inadequacy of our official air pollution
monitoring system. In spite of good intentions, Utah's Division
of Air Quality (DAQ) is not doing the job they should:
Effectively monitoring our air quality to help protect the public
from harmful polluted air.
http://www.sltrib.com/opinion/4765466-155/letter-the-purpleair-option-for-measuring


BLOGS

Calif. Senator Proposes Statewide Solar Mandate For New
Buildings. Scott Wiener, a newly elected California state senator
representing District 11, has introduced legislation to require
the installation of solar power on new residential and commercial
buildings throughout California. The statewide requirement would
resemble a city mandate Wiener authored and helped pass last year
as a member…
http://solarindustrymag.com/calif-senator-proposes-statewide-solar-mandate-for-new-buildings


Calif. Senator Proposes Statewide Solar Mandate For New
Buildings. Scott Wiener, a newly elected California state senator
representing District 11, has introduced legislation to require
the installation of solar power on new residential and commercial
buildings throughout California. The statewide requirement would
resemble a city mandate Wiener authored and helped pass last year
as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.
http://solarindustrymag.com/calif-senator-proposes-statewide-solar-mandate-for-new-buildings




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