What's New List Serve Post Display

ARB Newsclips for January 19, 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.

CAP AND TRADE

TESTING CLIMATE LEADERSHIP WITH CAP AND TRADE. In Oregon
environmental advocates hope a market-based program will help
accelerate climate leadership. Sen. Lee Beyer, D-Springfield, has
introduced a cap and trade bill that would repeal the state's
existing emissions goals, and replace them with a new goal for
2025 and caps for 2035 and 2050. In 2050, carbon dioxide
emissions would be capped at least 75% below 1990 levels.
http://www.oregonbusiness.com/article/item/17463-oregon-tests-climate-leadership-with-cap-and-trade


AIR POLLUTION

London Mayor Issues Health Alert Over Air Pollution. London's
mayor has issued a smog alert for the British capital, advising
people with heart and lung conditions to avoid outdoor exercise.
Mayor Sadiq Khan says Londoners with asthma or heart problems
"are advised to consider reducing strenuous physical activity,
particularly outdoors."
The London Air Quality Network, run by King's College London…
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2017/01/19/world/europe/ap-eu-britain-air-pollution.html


Trump's EPA pick casts doubt on California's power to regulate
auto emissions. Donald Trump’s pick to head the Environmental
Protection Agency cast doubt on whether California should
continue to have power to impose its own emission rules for cars
and trucks, an authority the state has enjoyed for decades that
is also the cornerstone of its efforts to fight global warming.
Oklahoma Atty. Gen. Scott Pruitt said at a contentious
confirmation hearing Wednesday that he cannot commit to keeping…
http://www.latimes.com/nation/ 
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2017/01/19/stories/1060048609 

Bay Area to seek more greenhouse, smog controls. Two days before
climate change skeptic Donald Trump becomes America’s president,
the Bay Area’s clean air agency released a blueprint to reduce
greenhouse gases, smog, soot and other pollutants. Bay Area Air
Quality Management District officials said Wednesday they have
the will and authority to push ahead with new industrial controls
to reduce…
http://www.eastbaytimes.com/2017/01/18/bay-area-to-seek-more-greenhouse-smog-controls/
 
Diesel Brothers’ lawsuit reveals challenges of emissions
enforcement in Utah. A recent lawsuit has exposed a Woods
Cross-based reality TV group’s alleged air-polluting antics, as
well as gaps in enforcing laws meant to clear Utah smog. Utah
Physicians for a Health Environment filed suit last week against
hosts of the Discovery Channel show “Diesel Brothers” David W.
“Heavy D” Sparks…
http://www.standard.net/Environment/2017/01/18/Diesel-Brothers-lawsuit-reveals-challenges-of-emissions-enforcement-in-Utah


In court, EPA defends analysis of mercury regs' benefits. U.S.
EPA is asserting a wide prerogative to gauge the potential impact
of proposed air quality regulations in a legal tussle over
whether the agency properly considered compliance costs in going
ahead with its regulations on power plant mercury emissions.
Under its preferred approach, the agency interpreted the Clean
Air Act "as not requiring a formal…
http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2017/01/19/stories/1060048661  

CLIMATE CHANGE

Trump's energy pick Perry softens stance on climate change. Rick
Perry, President-elect Donald Trump's pick to run the U.S. Energy
Department, said during a Senate confirmation hearing on Thursday
that global warming caused by humans is real, but that efforts to
combat it should not cost American jobs. The comment marks a
shift for the former Texas governor, who had previously called
the science behind climate change "unsettled" and a "contrived,
phony mess."
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-congress-perry-idUSKBN1531OZ
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-01-19/trump-nominees-accept-global-warming-but-only-to-a-degree

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/rick-perry-spars-with-bernie-sanders-over-climate-change/article/2612338
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/01/18/epa-nominee-scott-pruitt-confirmation-hearing/96679106/
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/19/us/politics/confirmation-hearings-cabinet-donald-trump.html?_r=0
   
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1060048626 

Climate change will hurt crops more than it helps them, study
suggests. Out of the many consequences of climate change, from
melting glaciers to changing weather patterns, its effect on
agriculture has emerged as one of the most complex issues for
scientists to investigate. It’s also among the most globally
significant. As the world’s population approaches 8 billion
people — and is expected to exceed 9 billion before midcentury…
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/01/19/yet-another-study-suggests-that-climate-change-will-hurt-crops-more-than-it-helps-them/?utm_term=.23b3ee698ab1


Wisconsin state agencies are deleting talk of human-caused
climate change from their websites. Information on the science of
human-caused climate change has begun to disappear from Wisconsin
state government websites. According to local news reports, both
the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and the Public
Service Commission have either altered or removed web pages
devoted to global warming in recent months.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/01/19/wisconsin-state-agencies-are-deleting-talk-of-human-caused-climate-change-from-their-websites/?utm_term=.0ccbb90f5c99


Wildfires, sea level rise, coral bleaching: Climate change is
already here. From extreme wildfires in the Western United States
to melting ice sheets in Antarctica, the effects of rising
temperatures on Earth have not gone unnoticed. On Wednesday, NASA
and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced
2016 was the hottest year on record. Before that, the record was
set in 2015.
http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-global-warming-effects-20170118-story.html


Analysis: Climate change and mass migration: a growing threat to
global security. When international leaders met in the
Bangladeshi capital last month for ongoing discussions about a
new global migration policy, they glossed over what experts say
will soon become a massive driver of migration: climate change.
“The international system is in a state of denial,” said A.N.M.
Muniruzzaman, a retired major-general who now heads...
http://yubanet.com/world/analysis-climate-change-and-mass-migration-a-growing-threat-to-global-security/


The 10 species most at risk from climate change. From penguins in
Antarctica, to butterflies in Spain, and rodents and coral in the
Great Barrier Reef, as the world warms these species are
disappearing.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jan/19/critical-10-species-at-risk-climate-change-endangered-world


Democrats fail to land fatal blow in Pruitt hearing. Scott Pruitt
doesn't think climate change is a hoax and says he believes U.S.
EPA has an obligation to regulate planet-warming carbon dioxide
emissions. But Democrats and environmental advocates aren't
breathing any sighs of relief. Although the Oklahoma attorney
general has sued the federal government over its clean air and
climate regulations more than a dozen times…
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2017/01/19/stories/1060048624 

DROUGHT

California has the snow. It just needs to keep it frozen. With
another round of winter storms hitting California this week, the
question isn’t just how much rain and snow they will dump, but
how cold they will be. The coldness of storms can make the
difference between one that adds to the fast-rising snowpack — an
essential source of water for the state — and one that also
leaves a wet mess. Northern California was pulled out of a
five-year drought by a series of storms over the last few weeks…
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/  

5 feet in Big Bear? 'The drought is going to get crushed,'
forecaster says of new winter storms. SoCal skiers may see heavy
snow pound their favorite resorts the next several days, as
another winter storm system — again arriving in three overlapping
chapters — rolls through the region. "Although we are not in an
El Niño pattern, these weather systems affecting California are
behaving much like El Niño, where you get these taps into the
atmospheric rivers that enhance rainfall,”… 
http://www.latimes.com/travel/deals/la-tr-mammoth-thursday-20170118-story.html


California drought continues to shrink, federal government says.
With major reservoirs nearly full, the Sierra Nevada snowpack
well above average and flood warnings in place for some rivers,
federal scientists reported Thursday a continued weakening of
California’s drought. Overall, 44 percent of the state remains in
severe drought conditions or worse, down from 49 percent a week
ago…
http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/01/19/california-drought-shrinking-federal-government-says/

California Drought Retreats During Winter Rain Storms.
California’s drought continues to wane just as the Bay Area is
about to receive five straight days of rain, according to the
National Weather Service. The U.S. Drought Monitor’s weekly
analysis, released on Thursday shows only 2 percent of the state
remains in the most extreme category “exceptional drought,” down
43 percent from a year ago.
https://ww2.kqed.org/science/2017/01/19/california-drought-retreats-during-winter-rain-storms/


How much drought can a forest take? Aerial tree mortality surveys
show patterns of tree death during extreme drought. Why do some
trees die in a drought and others don't? And how can we predict
where trees are most likely to die in future droughts?
Scientists from the University of California, Davis, and
colleagues examined those questions in a study published in the
journal Ecology Letters.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/01/170119143406.htm 

FUELS

Biodiesel faces a mixed forecast as the industry gathers in San
Diego.  As a new presidential administration comes into power,
ambiguity reigns for the biodiesel industry.
But at the same time, the California market appears to be growing
solidly for the fuel derived from a diversity of products
including soybeans, canola oil and animal fats.
“We have learned to thrive on uncertainty,” said Jennifer Case,
president of New Leaf Biofuel, based in San Diego.
http://www.latimes.com/business/  

VEHICLES

Toyota, Shell Among Giants Betting $10.7 Billion on Hydrogen.
Toyota Motor Corp. and four of its biggest car-making peers are
joining oil and gas giants including Royal Dutch Shell Plc and
Total SA with plans to invest a combined 10 billion euros ($10.7
billion) in hydrogen-related products within five years. In all,
13 energy, transport and industrial companies are forming a
hydrogen council to consult with policy makers and…
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-01-17/toyota-shell-among-auto-and-oil-giants-forming-hydrogen-council

http://www.motortrend.com/news/toyota-help-lead-new-global-council-advance-hydrogen-adoption/
 

VW RECALL

Ex-Volkswagen CEO denies early knowledge of diesel emissions
cheating. Former Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) Chief Executive Martin
Winterkorn refused to tell German lawmakers when he first learned
about systematic exhaust emissions cheating but said it was no
earlier than VW has officially admitted. VW has said its
executive board did not learn of the software violations until
late August 2015 and formally reported the cheating to
authorities in the United States in early September that year.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-volkswagen-emissions-winterkorn-idUSKBN15318J

http://www.wsj.com/articles/volkswagens-ex-ceo-denies-prior-knowledge-of-emissions-cheating-1484834026

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/19/business/germany-investigation-volkswagen-winterkorn-diesel-emissions.html?_r=0


GREEN ENERGY

GE signs $1.4B electricity deal in Iraq. General Electric Co. has
landed another gigawatt-sized energy contract in the Middle East,
further signaling its aggressive push to feed the region's
growing demand for electricity. Yesterday, GE announced that it
has signed an agreement with Iraq to add 2 gigawatts' worth of
electricity generating capacity. The company said it would also
invest in improved infrastructure necessary to deliver a further
1.75 GW to Iraq's grid.
http://www.eenews.net/energywire/2017/01/19/stories/1060048606 

MISCELLANEOUS

Developer Rick Caruso agrees to shave height of apartment tower.
The developer of a residential tower planned near the Beverly
Center offered new concessions to the city on Wednesday, saying
he will reduce the height of his project by nearly 23%, taking it
from 240 feet to 185. Businessman Rick Caruso, appearing before
the Los Angeles City Council’s Planning and Land Use Management
Committee, said he has agreed to scale back the La Cienega
Boulevard project… http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/ 

Isidro Baldenegro, Mexican Environmental Activist, Is Shot to
Death. Isidro Baldenegro López, an indigenous activist whose
struggle to protect the pine-oak forests of Mexico’s Sierra Madre
range won him the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize, has
been killed by a gunman, the authorities said on Wednesday. A
leader of the Tarahumara people who live among the jagged peaks
of the western Sierra Madre, Mr. Baldenegro defended the area’s
old-growth forests against powerful…
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/18/world/americas/mexico-environmental-activist-shot-sierra-madre.html


OPINIONS

As senators grilled Trump’s climate change skeptic EPA nominee,
scientists said 2016 was warmest on record. Unsurprisingly, 2016
was the hottest year on record — the third straight year in which
worldwide temperatures have reached record levels. Ironically,
Scott Pruitt, the climate change skeptic whom Donald Trump has
chosen to run the Environmental Protection Agency, just happened
to be testifying before…
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/editorials/la-ed-trump-global-warming-pruitt-20170119-story.html


Jay Evensen: How to fund education and fight pollution. If Utah
lawmakers are creative enough in the session that begins Monday,
they might be able to tackle two vexing problems at once —
education funding and air pollution. The only downside is that
you, the taxpayer, would have to pay a bit more of your
hard-earned money to the state; but let’s face it, just about
every reliable political barometer is pointing in that direction
anyway…
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865671349/How-to-fund-education-and-fight-pollution.html


The Guardian view on Trump and global warming: the right fight.
On climate change, like so many other things, the world is going
one way and Donald Trump is going the other. On Twitter the
president-elect has claimed manmade global warming was a hoax
invented by China to increase its trade surplus with the US.
However, for most Americans, like most other people on the globe,
daily life is increasingly impacted by extreme weather.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jan/18/the-guardian-view-on-trump-and-global-warming-the-right-fight

Protectionism and the fight against climate change. You rather
spoiled your commendable editorial (19 January) on making America
great again by going green, when you dismissed the idea of
protectionist carbon tariffs on those US exports made
artificially cheap by being produced using subsidised fossil
fuels. This could be an important transitional step to shifting a
world economy already falling out of love with globalisation
towards…
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jan/19/protectionism-and-the-fight-against-climate-change

Climate change a growing challenge for a new president. In what
amounts to blockbuster news in the field of climate change,
scientists confirmed Wednesday that the Earth set a new record in
2016 — the third year in a row — for warmth. We await word of
what President-elect Donald Trump plans to do about that. Climate
change, and the threat it poses to our environmental, safety and
the natural world…
http://chicago.suntimes.com/opinion/editorial-climate-change-a-growing-challenge-for-a-new-president/
 

Climate change will affect all of us. So why the lack of urgency?
Tomorrow the world shudders as Donald Trump becomes US president.
Hopes that wise advisers would mitigate the erratic, half-crazed
stream of contradictions pouring from his lips have been dashed
as he picks fake news purveyors and climate change-deniers for
his close consiglieri.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jan/19/climate-change-affect-all-urgency-trump-brexit
 

Environmental Racism Is a Special and Urgent Concern. The focus
of environmental justice has been the preservation of ecologies
and spaces largely uninhabited by people of color. There is grave
consideration for the preservation of national parks, but not for
the preservation of black life and space. The ideas of justice
and environment refer to the surrounding conditions of living
things, yet the apathy that surrounds…
http://www.theroot.com/environmental-racism-is-a-special-and-urgent-concern-1791343793


What does environmental justice organizing look like in the time
of Trump? Environmental justice work will need to change in
critical ways as Donald Trump ascends to the White House, but not
in all ways, says Miya Yoshitani, executive director of the Asian
Pacific Environmental Network (APEN). On-the-ground organizing
around community members’ local concerns will still be the core.
http://grist.org/opinion/what-does-environmental-justice-organizing-look-like-in-the-time-of-trump/


After the bust, industry begins rebalancing act. The great oil
bust is over. But so is the boom. That's the consensus emerging
in company boardrooms and among energy industry analysts. Recent
government data are reaching that conclusion, too, suggesting an
end to falling oil production in the United States…
http://www.eenews.net/energywire/2017/01/19/stories/1060048582

Challenging Arthur Little study on electric-car emissions:
questionable assumptions. Transitions into new technologies
always generate confusion and misinformation, and certainly that
has been the case with modern electric cars. Buyers, automakers,
and analysts debate their cost, suitability, real-world range,
wells-to-wheels carbon footprint, and recyclability, among other
issues. Six years after the first modern electric cars launched…
http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1108418_challenging-arthur-little-study-on-electric-car-emissions-questionable-assumptions



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