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CARB fines rental company $98,000 over diesel emissions
inspections. The California Air Resources Board recently fined
one diesel fleet nearly $100,000 for failing to perform emissions
checks on its trucks. CARB fined Sunbelt Rentals $98,500 for
failing to conduct diesel truck smoke tests in 2007 and 2008 at
20 of its fleet facilities in California. Posted.
http://www.landlinemag.com/todays_news/Daily/2009/Sept09/083109/090209-03.htm

The tea parties: Not my cup of tea. Driving into work on Friday
morning, I was stuck behind two gleaming, painted tour buses that
could’ve belonged to a rock-star on tour. Curious if someone
interesting, (could it be Brett Michaels?), was stopping in
Sacramento, I patiently waited to pass the buses that had somehow
managed to block all traffic on 10th street. Posted.
http://www.capitolweekly.net/article.php?_c=y8q6zpm537pckc&xid=y8q6mmjntedbiw&done=.y8q6zpm5388ckc

FACTBOX: Climate risks, and how to limit damage. (Reuters) - A
155-nation conference in Geneva agreed on a plan to improve
climate information to help people cope with ever more droughts,
floods, sandstorms and rising sea levels projected this century.
The plan for a "Global Framework for Climate Services" includes
the appointment of a task force of high-level, independent
advisors within four months. Posted.
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE58241K20090903

Shroud of Smoky Haze Hangs Over Much of the West. DENVER — A
smoky gray soup settled over Denver and other towns and cities
across the West this week, a byproduct of fires that continue to
blaze in California, Utah and Colorado. Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/03/us/03smoke.html?em

Feds didn't clear brush in wildfire area. LOS ANGELES — Federal
authorities failed to follow through on plans earlier this year
to burn away highly flammable brush in a forest on the edge of
Los Angeles to avoid the very kind of wildfire now raging there,
The Associated Press has learned. Months before the huge blaze
erupted, the U.S. Forest Service obtained permits to burn away
the undergrowth and brush on more than 1,700 acres of the Angeles
National Forest. But just 193 acres had been cleared by the time
the fire broke out, Forest Service resource officer Steve Bear
said. Posted.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gNirrGO3UeJug3__BuGV2m6TzUIQD9AFHJG00

UN chief: rapid progress needed in climate talks. GENEVA — U.N.
chief Ban Ki-moon told a meeting of some 150 governments on
Thursday that time is running out for a new climate deal to cut
greenhouse gas emissions. The Copenhagen talks in December are
looming and little real negotiating time is left "to resolve some
of the most complex issues," the U.N. secretary general told the
World Climate Conference. "We need rapid progress." Posted.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gfZSv6yRkqQ2SAM8I4SExAwMKdTwD9AFNOL80

Can Dirt Really Save Us From Global Warming? This month the
Senate is set to take up the climate and energy bill that
Congress began work on last spring. One provision will likely set
up a system to pay farmers for something called "no-till
farming." The concept: When crops are planted without tilling,
the soil holds more carbon, which means less goes up into the
atmosphere. Posted.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=112496096

China stresses prevention of heavy metal pollution. BEIJING —
China needs to work harder to fight heavy metal pollution
following the recent discovery of clusters of severe lead
poisoning involving hundreds of children, the country's
environment minister said Thursday. More than 1,300 children in
central Hunan province, 200 in Yunnan province and at least 615
in northern Shaanxi province tested positive for lead poisoning
in the last month. Lead poisoning can damage the nervous and
reproductive systems and cause high blood pressure and memory
loss. Posted.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g7wv0eo5eoz5m7jhnU24w4NIk6GQD9AFM4IO0

Chinese Get Angrier About Pollution. China has some of the most
polluted cities in the world, a consequence of the country's
rapid economic development. More than 320 million people in China
drink unsafe water, according to Greenpeace China. The country's
Environmental Protection Administration considers 45% of the
rivers and waterways it monitors to be unsuitable for human
contact, says Greenpeace. Posted.
http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/sep2009/gb2009092_230895.htm


BLOGS

Calculating costs: the United Nations on clean energy
commitments  - September 02, 2009. With the Copenhagen climate
summit just three months away, the global warming community is
starting to crank out numbers. Last week it was adaptation, and
this week it's mitigation. The United Nations' latest estimates
indicate that the developing world will need $500 to $600 billion
annually to leapfrog industrialized nations and chart a
sustainable energy future (AFP). Posted.
http://blogs.nature.com/news/thegreatbeyond/2009/09/post_40.html

The CARB impact on truck specs. “This question is really more
about the strategies a fleet operation must employ to meet
regulations in effect at acquisition time, as well as applying
diligent forethought to ensure the spec meets future
regulations.” –Ken Gillies, truck engineering manager, GE Capital
Fleet Services. If there is anything more convoluted or fraught
with potentially expensive missteps facing a fleet manager today,
it’s got to be complying with emission regulations – both at the
state and federal level, I might add. One of the big challenges
in the emissions arena is dealing with myriad rules promulgated
by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) that are affecting
commercial trucks in various ways. Posted.
http://blog.fleetowner.com/trucks_at_work/2009/09/03/the-carb-impact-on-truck-specs/

Response to Climate Depot's Distortions. Dear Mr. Morano of
Climate Depot,
Your lengthy response to my piece "Obama Needs to Give a Climate
Speech - ASAP" contains numerous errors of fact and
interpretation. I think you revealed your politically driven
agenda quite nakedly when you assailed the United Nations for its
role in climate and energy policy. Posted.
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/capitalweathergang/2009/09/response_to_climate_depots_cru.html