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This is a service of the California Air Resources Board’s Office
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individual websites to view some of the following news articles.
 
CARB BUSINESS

The Air Resources Board (ARB or Board) will conduct a public
hearing at the time and place noted below to consider approving
for adoption the proposed amendments to California Evaluation
Procedures for New Aftermarket Catalytic Converters. 

DATE:                    September 28, 2017

TIME:                    9:00 A.M.

LOCATION:         California Environmental Protection Agency
                	       Air Resources Board
                	       Byron Sher Auditorium
                	       1001 I Street
                	       Sacramento, California  95814
Electronic submittal:  
              http://www.arb.ca.gov/lispub/comm/bclist.php      


______________________________

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) invites you to
participate in a public workshop to begin discussing concepts for
minimizing community health impacts from seaports, railyards, and
warehouses/distribution centers.   

Workshops will be held at the locations and dates shown below.
Both workshops will follow the same format and present the same
material.

LOS ANGELES
Tuesday, August 29, 2017, (1:00 – 3:00 pm) Junipero Serra
Building
320 West 4th Street, Los Angeles, California 90013

SACRAMENTO (also webcast)
Wednesday, September 6, 2017, (1:00 – 3:00 pm) California
Environmental Protection Agency Headquarters, Sierra Hearing
Room
1001 I Street, Sacramento, California 95814

For more information on this workshop, please see the meeting
notice at:  https://www.arb.ca.gov/gmp/sfti/FreightFacility.htm  
      

______________________________

Northern California Truck Owners and Operators -- You’re invited
to attend a One-Stop Truck event in Santa Rosa on Wednesday,
August 30. At this event, you’ll be able to get help with all of
your CARB compliance questions, get up-to-date info on truck
rules, learn about financial incentives to help purchase new
trucks, visit with vendors, and check out the latest clean
trucks.

Here's what you will find at this One-Stop event: 
• One-on-one compliance assistance (Asistencia en espańol
disponible)
• Enforcement inspection demo
• Truck and bus and off-road regulation overview • New technology
options for compliance • Funding options for on-road trucks • CHP
Inspection update • Industry vendors & local agency booths •
Clean vehicle/technology displays
For more information and to sign up to attend, please visit our
One Stop Truck Event webpage:
www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/truckstop/azregs/onestop.htm or call the
Diesel Hotline at 866-634-3735    

______________________________  

CAP AND TRADE

Carbon Offsets Really Do Help Lower Emissions.  In California,
offsets from forests totaled 4.7 million metric tons of carbon in
2015. A new study examining the efficacy of paying to preserve
forests finds that carbon offsets do produce genuine emissions
reductions. The study, published in the journal Frontiers in
Ecology and the Environment by three Stanford University
researchers…
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/carbon-offsets-really-do-help-lower-emissions/?sf106260696=1


Mexico Looks to Curb Carbon with a New Cap-and-Trade System.
Mexico's stock market has begun trading simulated emissions
permits. Mexico kicked off 2017 with a 20 percent spike in
gasoline prices, driven in part by the phasing out of subsidies.
Some consumers set fires at gas stations—a response that
highlights the backlash countries can face as they stop
subsidizing carbon-based fuels and start encouraging
climate-friendly alternatives.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/mexico-looks-to-curb-carbon-with-a-new-cap-and-trade-system/


AIR POLLUTION

Northern China air quality worsens in January-July: ministry. Air
quality worsened in China's northern region of
Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei in the first seven months of this year,
piling pressure on authorities to crack down on firms in their
efforts to meet politically crucial 2017 pollution targets. The
region's 13 cities racked up an increase of 11.3 percent in
concentrations of hazardous breathable particles known as PM2.5…
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-pollution-idUSKCN1AW0QG


City official: Chemical plant can do more to cut cancer-causing
emissions. A Rubbertown chemical plant gripped in an
environmental justice fight could actually meet a stringent
emission goal - one that the company seeks to relax, according to
the head of Louisville's air pollution agency.
http://www.courier-journal.com/story/tech/science/environment/2017/08/16/rubbertown-chemical-plant-can-do-more-cut-cancer-causing-emissions/571792001/


Air Purifiers Could Protect Heart From Air Pollution, Study Says.
Air pollution causes severe harm to the heart health. A recent
study suggested that air purifiers can play a significant role to
protect the heart from this threat. Recently, researchers
performed a study in China to explore how the air purifiers play
an important role to save the heart from air pollution.
http://www.sciencetimes.com/articles/17776/20170816/air-purifiers-could-protect-heart-from-air-pollution.htm


CLIMATE CHANGE

Swiss, EU move closer to linking emissions trading systems.
Switzerland and the European Union have moved closer to linking
their carbon emissions trading systems (ETS) after the European
Commission and Swiss government gave their backing for a deal. An
accord could be signed by the year's end and needs approval from
EU leaders and ratification by the Swiss and EU parliaments,
according to announcements in Brussels and Bern.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-swiss-eu-carbontrading-idUSKCN1AW1EI


Fast-melting Arctic sign of bad global warming. One of the
coldest places on Earth is so hot it’s melting. Glaciers, sea ice
and a massive ice sheet in the Arctic are thawing from toasty air
above and warm water below. The northern polar region is heating
up twice as fast as the rest of the planet and that’s setting off
alarm bells.
http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/fast-melting-arctic-sign-of-bad-global-warming-1.2230473


DIESEL ACTIVITIES

Port Of Oakland Boosts Efforts To Curb Emissions With New
High-Power Line. Port of Oakland officials said today they’ve
commissioned new equipment bolstering efforts to curb diesel
emissions from ships. The Port OKd a high-voltage cable system
that will connect more vessels to Oakland’s landside power grid.
The Port said the breakthrough will accelerate the program that
has helped cut emissions 76 percent in Oakland since 2009.
http://www.marineinsight.com/shipping-news/port-oakland-boosts-efforts-curb-emissions-new-high-power-line/

http://worldmaritimenews.com/archives/227321/port-of-oakland-adds-new-equipment-to-cut-ship-emissions/


CARL MOYER

Butte County Air Quality Grant helps farmers become more green.
Butte County leaders are struggling to meet the federal air
quality standards and are hoping an old grant will help farmers
and the county to reduce air pollution. One Chico walnut farmer
received the grant and says it helped him buy new equipment,
which can be very expensive."
http://www.actionnewsnow.com/story/35127525/butte-county-air-quality-grant-helps-farmers-become-more-green


Chico School District to get lower-emission school buses. The
Chico Unified School District is receiving $677,656 dollars
through a grant program to help replace old school buses with new
ones. The Butte County Air Quality Management District (BCAQMD)
administers the Carl Moyer Program. A grant program established
by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) that gives grants to
replace old diesel engines with cleaner technology.
http://www.krcrtv.com/news/local/butte/chico-school-district-to-get-lower-emission-school-buses/605364425

http://www.actionnewsnow.com/story/36134492/chico-unified-upgrading-to-greener-school-bus-fleet

http://www.chicoer.com/general-news/20170815/air-quality-grants-bringing-new-school-buses-to-butte-county


VEHICLES

How Elon Musk and Cheap Oil Doomed Push for Another Car Fuel. The
idea was nothing short of revolutionary: convert the nation’s
millions of trucks, buses and other commercial vehicles to run on
natural gas instead of gasoline and diesel. Back in 2008, the
proposal by energy magnate T. Boone Pickens had some appeal. U.S.
oil production was plunging, and the world’s biggest
fuel-consuming…
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-08-14/how-elon-musk-and-cheap-oil-doomed-push-for-natural-gas-cars


GREEN ENERGY

The Energy Market's Facts Of Life. Realists will tell you that
what counts are facts on the ground. But sometimes half-formed
facts on the ground can be just as important. A clutch of these
have materialized in the U.S. power sector of late. Southern Co.
several weeks ago suspended work on what was supposed to be a
pioneering plant to turn coal into gas for generating
electricity.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-08-15/why-coal-and-nuclear-don-t-figure-big-in-energy-s-future


Will a trade fight with Asia sabotage the U.S. solar industry?
That may be up to Trump. President Trump’s most useful ally in
his push to restore the dominance of coal, oil and gas in America
could ultimately turn out to be a pair of bankrupt solar firms
seeking help from the federal government getting back on their
feet. In an unorthodox trade case roiling the solar industry
worldwide, the duo of distressed panel makers is aiming to
empower…
http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-trump-solar-20170815-story.html


Visalia solar company makes a short list  CalCom Solar of Visalia
has been named to a list of the fastest-growing private companies
in the country by the business magazine Inc. CalCom ranks 23rd on
the list, boasting of a three-year growth rate of 9,000 percent.
"We take a very strategic approach to developing some of the
largest solar farms in the agricultural and water management
industries.
http://www.centralvalleybusinesstimes.com/stories/001/?ID=33137

What happens to the grid when solar power goes dark during the
eclipse? The last solar eclipse that cast a shadow across the
United States didn’t spark much interest from the nation’s
electric utilities. That was back in 1991, before the sun became
a significant contributor to the power grid. But when the sky
darkens during Monday’s solar eclipse, operators of the nation’s
electric…
http://www.philly.com/philly/business/energy/what-happens-to-the-grid-when-solar-power-goes-dark-during-the-eclipse-20170818.html


U.S. DoE Report Shows How Renewables Can Help Utilities Avoid
Risky Investments. It’s no secret rising demand for clean
electricity has upended America’s utility sector, making building
new fossil fuel generation a difficult proposition. But a related
challenge caused by this trend is challenging utilities – the
need for flexible planning and procurement to avoid risky
investments.
http://www.theenergycollective.com/energy-innovation-llc/2410892/u-s-doe-report-shows-renewables-can-help-utilities-avoid-risky-investments


School System Taps ForeFront Power For 1.4 MW Solar Canopy
Portfolio. ForeFront Power and Los Altos School District (LASD)
in California have partnered to develop 1.4 MW of solar canopy
systems across nine schools. The solar canopy systems will
deliver significant energy cost savings, promote sustainability,
and provide shade to the parking lots and outdoor school areas.
http://solarindustrymag.com/school-system-taps-forefront-power-1-4-mw-solar-canopy-portfolio


OPINIONS

Another climate-change nightmare: 91 new volcanoes beneath
Antarctica’s ice. Antarctica has been having a rough time of it
lately, you may have heard. You know — greenhouse gases, warming
oceans, trillion-ton icebergs breaking off the continent like a
middle-aged man losing hair in the sink. Not the best century for
the old South Pole. And now it turns out Antarctica has problems
we didn't even know about.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2017/08/15/another-climate-change-nightmare-dozens-of-volcanoes-beneath-antarcticas-thinning-ice/?utm_term=.e7cd57968b2a


Case for climate change grows ever stronger. Could proof grow any
more powerful that humanity is responsible for a dangerously
warming planet? Scientists studying Earth's atmosphere and oceans
are finding ever more troubling evidence.  Last year was the
hottest on record, according to a report late last week from the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2017/08/14/climate-change-trump-administration-editorials-debates/562985001/


Air pollution: Are you better off in your car or on the sidewalk?
Anyone walking along Capital Boulevard or Six Forks Road during
morning rush hour is likely to get a lungful of engine exhaust,
but they won’t be as bad off as the people in the passing cars.
That’s one of the takeaways from a study of the exposure of
drivers to pollution done by scientists at Duke University…
http://www.newsobserver.com/news/traffic/article167253582.html#storylink=cpy


Climate Change Could Make Newly Discovered Volcanoes in
Antarctica More Active.  Ice sheets and glaciers mitigate
volcanic activity—but they are melting. When one thinks of
Antarctica, one of the last things to come to mind is volcanoes,
but that is precisely what scientists recently discovered under
the continent’s western ice sheet. Conducted by Edinburgh
University, the project discovered 91 volcanoes…
http://observer.com/2017/08/volcanoes-antarctica-climate-change/


LETTER: Man-made climate change claims are irresponsible. The
front page article (Aug. 13) “Five signs that climate change is
starting in New Jersey” is yet another grossly irresponsible
article about issue of man-made climate change (MMCC). Claim that
“climate change is coming” is ridiculous against the backdrop of
incessant warnings by MMCC believers that dire change has been
imminent for more than 20 years. This sounds like the “sky is
falling.”
http://www.app.com/story/opinion/readers/2017/08/16/letter-man-made-climate-change-claims-irresponsible/565512001/


Close to Home: Cap-and-trade funds need to support creative rural
solutions, like those on the North Coast. Gov. Jerry Brown
recently signed Assembly Bill 398, which extends cap-and-trade,
California’s cornerstone climate change program, through 2030.
The program requires the largest emitters of greenhouse gas
emissions (e.g., the oil and gas industry, cement plants, large
food processors) to cut their emissions.
http://www.pressdemocrat.com/opinion/7298879-181/close-to-home-cap-and-trade-funds?artslide=0


Opinion: Widespread wind and solar energy projects makes sense
for B.C. In his comment piece in The Vancouver Sun, Aug. 4, Simon
Fraser University professor Mark Jaccard is correct in citing
that dispatchable energy is of more value than variable energy.
His analogy regarding the dispatchability of emergency services
is also quite compelling.
http://vancouversun.com/opinion/op-ed/opinion-clean-reliable-renewable-energy-just-makes-sense


BLOGS

Cap and Trade and Regional Grid Integration Go Hand in Hand.
California recently reauthorized the central element of its
cornerstone climate initiative, which sets a declining cap on the
amount of greenhouse gas emissions (GhG) that industrial and
other sources can release into the air, and sets rules for
industries to acquire and trade permits to emit pollution under
the cap’s limit.
https://www.nrdc.org/experts/carl-zichella/cap-and-trade-and-regional-grid-integration-go-hand-hand


How cap and trade affects green building through revenue
spending. Our graphics give you a view of how cap-and-trade
revenues are distributed to sustainability initiatives. The
California legislature recently passed a 10-year extension to cap
and trade. With the graphics below, USGBC gives you a closer look
at the proportion of emissions being regulated in various sectors
of the California economy…
https://www.usgbc.org/articles/how-cap-and-trade-affects-green-building-through-revenue-spending


Climate change will cut crop yields: study. Climate change will
have a negative effect on key crops such as wheat, rice, and
maize, according to a major scientific report out Tuesday that
reviewed 70 prior studies on global warming and agriculture.
Experts analyzed previous research that used a variety of
methods, from simulating how crops will react to temperature
changes at the global and local scale…
https://phys.org/news/2017-08-climate-crop-yields.html#jCp 

Tesla Takes Tiny House On Tour To Tout Rooftop Solar & Energy
Storage In Australia. Electricity from sunlight makes economic
sense in Australia, in part because the cost of electricity in
that sun-splashed country is sky high. Tesla’s overall plan is to
include displays for its rooftop solar products in its stores.
The problem is, at the present time, it has an official sales
presence only in Sydney and Melbourne.
https://cleantechnica.com/2017/08/15/tesla-takes-tiny-house-tour-tout-rooftop-solar-australia/


Study: How To Convince Climate Change Deniers Without Using
Graphs. There are many people who don’t believe in climate change
-- starting with President Donald Trump and the head of the
Environmental Protection Agency Scott Pruitt -- and it seems like
climate change deniers and believers won’t ever understand each
other. Those who don’t believe in climate change are often
portrayed as being out of touch…
http://www.ibtimes.com/study-how-convince-climate-change-deniers-without-using-graphs-2578894


What if the EPA dialed back emissions rules, but only on trucks?
Back in March, Donald Trump authorized a review of current U.S.
emissions regulations. Those regulations cover vehicles through
the 2025 model year and were hastily finalized by the
Environmental Protection Agency in the days leading up to Trump's
inauguration. 
The review alarmed environmental activists, not to mention
California's Air Resources Board.
http://www.thecarconnection.com/news/1112116_what-if-the-epa-dialed-back-emissions-rules-but-only-on-trucks


Amidst Solar Eclipse's Test On Clean Power, One Smart Grid
Solution Offers A Cautionary Tale. Almost 2,000 utility-scale
solar plants could experience a shortfall in power next week big
enough to light up Los Angeles—all due to a solar eclipse set to
sweep across the country on August 21. While power operators
stand ready and are confident that the steep drop in solar power
won’t impact service…
https://www.forbes.com/sites/ucenergy/2017/08/16/amidst-solar-eclipses-test-on-clean-power-one-smart-grid-solution-offers-a-cautionary-tale/#723bcb5b2ffb


12-Step Climate Change & Global Warming Action Plan For India.
Clean air and a livable climate are inalienable human rights. And
solving this crisis is not a question of politics. It is a
question of our own survival. Climate change is real. Global
warming is the root cause of climate change. Far too often
climate change is dismissed as an issue for the future.
https://cleantechnica.com/2017/08/16/12-step-climate-change-global-warming-action-plan-india/


Trump wants to ignore the effects of climate change when
permitting infrastructure projects. President Trump signed an
executive order Tuesday that he said will streamline the
environmental review required to get large public construction
efforts — like roads, bridges, and buildings — off the ground.
From the gilded lobby of Trump Tower, the president proclaimed
that the executive order would repair…
http://grist.org/briefly/trump-wants-to-ignore-the-effects-of-climate-change-in-permitting-infrastructure-projects/


What does climate change mean for the Great Lakes? A new report
from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration calls
2016 the warmest year on record around the globe. The surface
temperature of the Great Lakes was also above average. According
to NOAA’s 2016 State of the Climate report, eight of the last 10
years have been among the warmest years on record, globally.
https://www.northcountrypublicradio.org/news/story/34499/20170816/what-does-climate-change-mean-for-the-great-lakes


Global warming could cause yield of sorghum crops to drop
‘substantially’. Rising global temperatures could cause yields of
sorghum – a cereal crop known for its resilience to heat stress
and drought – to fall substantially, new research finds. Sorghum
is the fifth most economically important cereal in the world and
is grown in some of the most arid parts of Africa and South Asia,
where it is a staple food for half a billion people.
https://www.carbonbrief.org/global-warming-could-cause-yield-sorghum-crops-drop-substantially


The electric industry is prepared for next week's eclipse. But
what about the one in 2024?Utilities most impacted by the total
eclipse say they have lined up alternate power supplies for when
solar goes dark. Warnings about fake viewing glasses and unusual
pet behavior. Advice on the proper gifts and kitsch for your
watch party. NASA will live stream it and bars will name drinks
after it. The United States has gone crazy for next week's
eclipse.
http://www.utilitydive.com/news/the-electric-industry-is-prepared-for-next-weeks-eclipse-but-what-about-t/449409/


How Quickly Have US Solar and Wind Grown? Here at the Union of
Concerned Scientists, we spend a lot of time focusing on the
future—where we need to get to (on climate change, for example),
how we do that (clean energy, clean transportation, carbon
pricing,…), what happens when we delay (sea-level rise, anyone?).
For clean energy in particular, though…
http://blog.ucsusa.org/john-rogers/how-quickly-have-us-solar-and-wind-grown
 

Countries urged to start bargaining over negative emissions.
There is an emerging consensus CO2 needs to be sucked out of the
air to meet climate goals, but no discussion of which countries
are responsible for acting. Countries need to start negotiating
who will take responsibility for removing carbon dioxide from the
atmosphere…
http://www.climatechangenews.com/2017/08/14/countries-urged-start-negotiating-negative-carbon-emissions/