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newsclips -- CARB Newsclips for March 2, 2017.

Posted: 02 Mar 2017 15:30:35
CARB Newsclips for March 2, 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.

CARB BUSINESS

One or more workshops/meetings have been scheduled and are now
located in ARB's Workshop Calendar. Please go to:
http://www.arb.ca.gov/app/calendar/cur_evnt.php?type=workshops   
   
which links to meeting details, including:

March 7, 2017: SB 375 Targets Update Workshop March 7, 2017.
more info
https://www.arb.ca.gov/cc/sb375/meetings/meetings.htm    

March 9, 2017: SB 375 Targets Update Workshop March 9, 2017.
more info
https://www.arb.ca.gov/cc/sb375/meetings/meetings.htm       

March 14, 2017: SB 375 Targets Update Workshop March 14, 2017.
more info
https://www.arb.ca.gov/cc/sb375/meetings/meetings.htm      

The California Air Resource Board has posted an updated Notice of
Upcoming Low Carbon Fuel Standard Credits Release for Non-Metered
Residential Electric Vehicle Charging.

http://www.arb.ca.gov/fuels/lcfs/workgroups/elect/022217notice.pdf
  

Request for Proposal (RFP):  Data Monitoring, Collection, and
Analysis for Projects Granted under Fiscal Year (FY) 2014-15 Air
Quality Improvement Program (AQIP) and Low Carbon Transportation
Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) Investments. 

The California Air Resources Board is seeking a contractor to
monitor, collect, and analyze data for heavy-duty vehicle,
off-road equipment, and bulk ship projects granted under AQIP and
Low Carbon Transportation GGRF Investments, as identified in the
fiscal year (FY) 14-15 Funding Plan approved by the Board in June
2014.  The contractor shall collect and monitor vehicle and
facility data, as applicable, such as vehicle specifications and
performance data, as well as capital costs and operation and
maintenance data for vehicles and facilities. 

RFP Information: The Data Monitoring, Collection, and Analysis
for Projects Granted under FY 14-15 AQIP and Low Carbon
Transportation GGRF Investments RFP advertisement is available
at: 
https://caleprocure.ca.gov/pages/Events-BS3/event-search.aspx 
(Event ID 0000004538).  In order to submit a response, please
register on the Cal eProcure website at: 
https://caleprocure.ca.gov/pages/

The final date for the proposal submission is Friday, March 24,
2017, 3:00 p.m., Pacific Standard Time.

The staff of the California Air Resources Board (CARB or Board)
conducted a public workshop to discuss potential regulatory
changes to CARB’s Heavy-Duty Vehicle Inspection Program (HDVIP)
and Periodic Smoke Inspection Program (PSIP) on February 28,
2017. A recording is available here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEcpQ36igsc 

The slide presentation is available here:
https://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/hdim/meetings/opacity_workshop_presentation_02-28-2017.pdf


CAP AND TRADE

Scant demand for California pollution permits. California saw
another three months of weak demand for pollution permits amid
persistent uncertainty about the future of the state's cap on
carbon emissions, according to state data released Wednesday.
California will take in only about $8 million from an auction
that could have generated $592 million or more if all permits
were sold.
http://www.apnewsarchive.com/2017/California-saw-another-three-months-of-weak-demand-for-pollution-permits-amid-persistent-uncertainty-about-the-future-of-the-state-s-cap-on-carbon-emissions/id-f073e4cc3b34433cab9a7e2a1e69e015


California’s cap and trade auction another washout. February’s
quarterly auction of carbon dioxide emission allowances under
California’s cap and trade program was another financial washout
for the state. Results for last week’s auction were posted
Wednesday morning, revealing that just 16.5 percent of the 74.8
million metric tons of emission allowances were sold at the floor
price of $13.57 per ton. 
http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article135781558.html#storylink=cpy


Only a few drips of cash expected from cap-and-trade auction.
California's cap-and-trade program limped through another weak
auction of pollution permits last month, according to results
provided by state regulators Wednesday. Demand for the permits,
which are required to release greenhouse gas emissions into the
atmosphere, has fluctuated over the last year amid questions
about the program's long-term viability. 
http://www.latimes.com/politics/essential/la-pol-ca-essential-politics-updates-cap-and-trade-1488398264-htmlstory.html


Money From Cap-And-Trade Plummets (Again). For the third time in
four quarters, California’s most prominent program to fight
climate change brought in a fraction of the revenue state
officials projected. Under the cap-and-trade program, companies
must purchase pollution credits that allow their emissions. But
results released Wednesday show the latest quarterly auction of
those credits…
http://www.capradio.org/articles/2017/03/01/money-from-cap-and-trade-plummets-(again)/


Carbon Tax? Cap and Trade? Oregon Lawmakers Weigh Options For
Reducing Emissions. What’s the best way for Oregon to reduce its
contributions to climate change? Supporters and opponents weighed
in Wednesday at a legislative hearing on five bills that aim to
reduce Oregon’s carbon emissions. Dozens of people lined up at a
joint committee hearing to testify in support of taking action to
cap carbon emissions…
http://www.opb.org/news/article/oregon-lawmakers-weigh-two-options-for-reducing-carbon-emissions/


Low cap-and-trade auction ahead of Ontario's. A joint
Quebec-California cap-and-trade auction has yielded
less-than-stellar results, just three weeks ahead of Ontario's
first auction and a year before the province plans to link its
own system with that market. Ontario is set to hold an auction on
March 22 in its new cap-and-trade system, which limits how much
pollution companies can emit.
http://www.waterloochronicle.ca/news-story/7166556-low-cap-and-trade-auction-ahead-of-ontario-s/


'Anemic' demand for cap-and-trade permits plagues state.
California's latest auction of greenhouse gas permits saw low
demand, hurting state revenue, according to figures released
yesterday. The Feb. 22 auction sold just 16.5 percent of the 75
million allowances put up for auction by California; its trading
partner, Quebec; and utilities that receive allowances to sell.
The allowances fetched $13.57 per ton, the floor price set by the
state.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1060050817/search?keyword=california


'They're not going to work for one.' Exxon and a carbon tax?
Exxon Mobil Corp. commands attention and gets it. So energy and
climate experts naturally took notice last week when CEO Darren
Woods said charging a fee on greenhouse gases across the United
States is a good idea.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2017/03/02/stories/1060050813 

AIR POLLUTION

L.A. keeps building near freeways, even though living there makes
people sick. 
Are you one of the 2.5 million Southern Californians already
living in the pollution zone?
1 dot  = 1 person living within 1,000 feet of a freeway in 2010
For more than a decade, California air quality officials have
warned against building homes within 500 feet of freeways. and
with good reason: People there suffer higher rates of asthma…
http://www.latimes.com/projects/la-me-freeway-pollution/ 

Freeway pollution: How we reported the story. On Thursday we
published a report detailing the home-building near
high-pollution zones next to freeways. This is how we reported
the story. How we measured housing growth. Under the California
Public Records Act, The Times obtained a database of building
permits from the City of Los Angeles dating to 2005; the year
state air quality regulators began warning…
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-freeway-pollution-how-20170227-story.html


Regional anti-pollution agency says rainstorms cut down on
‘winter smog’ this year. Southern California’s anti-smog agency
said the region breathed a little easier this winter after seeing
a sizeable decrease in air pollution. The South Coast Air Quality
Management District pointed to rainy weather for the improved air
quality — several rain storms cleansed the air…
http://www.sgvtribune.com/environment-and-nature/20170301/regional-anti-pollution-agency-says-rainstorms-cut-down-on-winter-smog-this-year


Air quality data shows pollution from Torrance refinery far
higher than others in Southern California. Over the past four
years, the Torrance refinery has released more pollution into the
air via unplanned flaring than the six other oil refineries in
Southern California combined, according to data just released by
the region’s air quality watchdog. The figures put the scale of
the air pollution…
http://www.dailybreeze.com/environment-and-nature/20170301/air-quality-data-shows-pollution-from-torrance-refinery-far-higher-than-others-in-southern-california


Critics seek state probe of Bay Area air district’s alleged
destruction of records. An alliance for workers called Wednesday
for the state Attorney General’s Office to investigate claims
that the Bay Area’s air district destroyed records about
industrial pollution. At a public meeting of the Bay Area Air
Quality Management District Board, eight speakers urged board…
http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/03/01/critics-seek-state-probe-of-air-districts-alleged-destruction-of-records/


Federal waivers at risk, but California contends state air
standards will remain. California policymakers and regulators
maintain the state’s stringent environmental standards will be
preserved and enforced even if the federal government fails to
renew necessary waivers for the state. California received a
waiver from the federal administration that allows the state to
enact its own emission standards on the automobile sector.
https://analytics.icis.com/federal-waivers-at-risk-but-california-contends-state-air-standards-will-remain/
   (BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY)

CLIMATE CHANGE

U.S. Republican Issa joins bipartisan House caucus on climate
change. U.S. Republican Representative Darrell Issa of California
has joined the Climate Solutions Caucus, a bipartisan group of
lawmakers dedicated to fighting climate change, spokesmen for the
group and Issa said on Wednesday. The group, founded a year ago
by Florida lawmakers looking to slow the effects of global
warming…
http://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFL2N1GF009 

EU Nears Final Talks on Emissions Trading. System is cornerstone
of bloc’s efforts to curb global warming. European Union
officials are gearing for final talks on the future shape of the
bloc’s emissions-trading system, a cornerstone of the EU’s
efforts to curb global warming, after the bloc’s governments
agreed Tuesday to accelerate reductions in carbon discharges by
industry.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/eu-nears-final-talks-on-emissions-trading-1488395593


Antarctica temperature hit 63.5 degrees, sets new record high
temperature. The continent of Antarctica officially has a new
record high temperature of 63.5 degrees, scientists from the
World Meteorological Organization (WMO) announced Wednesday.
The record was set on March 24, 2015, at the Argentine Research
Base Esperanza, located near the northern tip of the Antarctic
Peninsula.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/weather/2017/03/01/antarctica-new-record-high-temperature/98538084/


Why California Is Environmentalists' Trump Card. Unique authority
granted to the golden state allows it to have a profound impact
on emissions regulations. With Scott Pruitt, a close ally of the
oil and gas industry, now confirmed as administrator of the
Environmental Protection Agency, environmentalists are bracing
for a broad assault on former President Obama’s green legacy…
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/03/why-california-is-environmentalists-trump-card/518301/


Global warming made Australia's record-breaking, sizzling summer
50 times more likely. Millions of Australians just endured a
sizzlingly hot summer, with three blistering heat waves
enveloping much of southeastern Australia during January and
February sending temperatures soaring as high as 48.2 degrees
Celsius, or 118.7 degrees Fahrenheit.
http://mashable.com/2017/03/02/australia-record-heat-global-warming/#pJ7_7nWSPEqK


Thinning sea ice can weaken glaciers and raise oceans. Thinning
sea ice in the Arctic can cause glaciers to break apart and
contribute to sea-level rise, according to new research. Thick
sea ice helps prevent icebergs from breaking off glaciers,
because it places pressure on the land-based mass of snow and
ice. But if that sea ice is reduced…
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2017/03/02/stories/1060050787

DROUGHT

Snowpack levels surge in the Sierra Nevada, helping to power
California out of drought. lunging the long, metal rod into the
snow beneath his feet in the mountain town of Phillips, state
snow survey chief Frank Gehrke measured the Sierra Nevada
snowpack Wednesday not against California’s recent, historic
drought but against its biggest rain years. “It’s in the top two
or three, three or four snow accumulations for March,” Gehrke
said, standing on a 9-foot-high pillow of fresh powder Wednesday
morning.
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-snowpack-survey-march-20170301-story.html


Rains Ease the Drought — and Boost California’s Power Supply,
Too. Even as dam spillways are put to the test and parts of
Northern California flood, there’s a silver lining to all the
rain, beyond ending the drought. It gives California more
hydroelectric power. “In the thick of the drought last year and
previous years, the dam levels all over the Northwest actually
were low.
https://ww2.kqed.org/news/2017/03/01/rains-ease-the-drought-and-boost-californias-power-supply-too/


California Drought Status: Flooding Causes $50 Billion In Damage
After State's Wettest Season. Just as California’s long-standing
drought was finally almost alleviated, another problem hit the
state in its wake. After one of the wettest seasons in recent
memory, California officials estimated Wednesday they would need
$50 billion to control flooding in the state.
http://www.ibtimes.com/california-drought-status-flooding-causes-50-billion-damage-after-states-wettest-2501129


VEHICLES

Stop-start cars push battery metal lead into investors' focus.
Investors are starting to focus on lead due to the large amounts
of the metal in batteries used in increasingly popular stop-start
cars produced by automakers aiming to comply with stringent new
emissions legislation. In stop-start autos the engine
automatically cuts off when a car comes to a stop and restarts as
the foot comes off the brake…
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-lead-batteries-stopstart-analysis-idUSKBN1692HN


FIAT/CHRYSLER (FCA)

FCA Warns Investors It Could Face Billions In Fines Over Diesel
Emissions Cheats. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles has told its
shareholders that it may face fines of up to $4.6 billion if
federal regulators determine that the company fitted diesel
control devices on its vehicles.  The Detroit News reports that
FCA recently informed investors that it had received subpoenas
and information requests from the U.S. Department of Justice,
Security and Exchange Commission and a number of states’
attorneys.
http://www.carscoops.com/2017/03/fca-warns-investors-it-could-face.html


GREEN ENERGY

Newly Completed Wind Farm Helps Westar Reach Emissions Milestone.
Thanks to the completion of its Western Plains wind farm, Topeka,
Kan.-based Westar Energy Inc. is now meeting more than half of
the annual electricity needs of its customers with emissions-free
power. The 280 MW Western Plains wind farm, located in Ford
County and comprising 2.3 MW Siemens turbines, began full
operations on March 1.
http://nawindpower.com/newly-completed-wind-farm-helps-westar-reach-emissions-free-milestone


As wind grows, so does its opposition. Oklahoma wind developers
are fresh off a record-setting year. Only Texas installed more
wind capacity in 2016, a fact that thrusts the Sooner State's
power markets into a sudden transition and is agitating opponents
along the way. Wind barely registered in Oklahoma a decade ago,
but it now accounts for 20 percent of the state's electricity
generation.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2017/03/02/stories/1060050773 

MISCELLANEOUS

Trump poised to lift federal coal ban, other green rules: White
House. U.S. President Donald Trump will target a handful of
Obama-era green regulations, including a federal coal mining ban
and an initiative forcing states to cut carbon emissions, in an
executive order as soon as next week, a White House official told
Reuters on Wednesday. Trump and his fellow Republicans who
control Congress…
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-energy-idUSKBN168592?utm_source=Inside+Climate+News&utm_campaign=e35c47f85d-Today_s_Climate12_10_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_29c928ffb5-e35c47f85d-327747457


Scientists Identify 208 Natural Minerals That Formed From Human
Activity. A team of researchers has identified 208 new natural
minerals that couldn't have formed from natural chemical
processes, but largely from human activities. The study published
in the journal American Mineralogist suggests that the activities
of people on…
http://www.itechpost.com/articles/89426/20170302/scientists-identify-208-natural-minerals-formed-human-activity.htm


OPINIONS

What Do We Want From California Climate Policy? When you listen
closely to debates over California climate change policy, it
becomes clear that the disagreements are along two dimensions:
what is the best approach to meeting the state’s goals and what
exactly are those goals. I think the differences are increasingly
about different goals, rather than about different methods of
achieving those goals.
http://www.theenergycollective.com/severinborenstein/2399458/want-california-climate-policy


AQMD should stand by air-quality plan — and public process: Guest
commentary. This Friday, the South Coast Air Quality Management
District (AQMD) Governing Board will vote on the 2016 Air Quality
Management Plan (AQMP), a comprehensive document that sets the
region’s air quality goals for the next four years and determines
how the AQMD will attain them.
http://www.dailynews.com/opinion/20170301/aqmd-should-stand-by-air-quality-plan-and-public-process-guest-commentary


BLOGS

California-Quebec carbon market participants appear to wait for
future auctions and more information. Carbon auction results
released today show low demand for California’s carbon allowances
in the first carbon auction of 2017, with only 18% of allowances
selling. The results say more about the many milestones that are
ahead for the cap-and-trade program rather than anything…
http://blogs.edf.org/climatetalks/2017/03/01/california-quebec-carbon-market-participants-appear-to-wait-for-future-auctions-and-more-information/


REPORT: CA Utilities Are Leaking Lots of Gas – but There’s a Way
to Stop It. A new report confirms with greater accuracy than ever
before that California natural gas utilities are letting huge
amounts of their product escape into the atmosphere – about 6.6
billion cubic feet in 2015. That’s more than the amount of gas
released during last year’s Aliso Canyon disaster…
http://blogs.edf.org/energyexchange/2017/03/01/report-ca-utilities-are-leaking-lots-of-gas-but-theres-a-way-to-stop-it/


Air Pollution Particles May Fertilize Oceans, Study Finds. 
Scientists may have found an upside to air pollution. A new study
found that two pollutants coming out of the smokestacks at
coal-fired power plants interact to make a kind of fertilizer for
ocean-dwelling plankton. That may help increase how much
planet-warming carbon dioxide the plankton absorb. The authors
didn't study the size of the fertilizer effect.
http://www.voanews.com/a/pollution-particles-fertilize-oceans/3745610.html






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

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