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California Air Resources Board News Clips for November 17, 2009.


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.

Omega Waste Fined By State. The California Air Resources Board
fined commercial recycler Omega Waste Management Inc., also known
as Specialized Fibers, $7,950 last month for diesel emission
violations during 2007 and 2008. A resource board investigation
showed that Omega Waste Management, Inc. of Corning failed to
properly inspect its heavy-duty diesel on-road vehicles and
failed to comply with the solid waste collection vehicle rule’s
retrofit and emission control labeling requirements. Posted.
http://www.corning-observer.com/news/waste-6366-omega-diesel.html

New Climate Law Analysis To Reflect Economic Downturn.
California's economic case for tackling climate change will
change next month when it releases a new analysis that includes
the cost of several new programs and the current economic
downturn. California came under fire from economists last year
when it released an optimistic economic analysis of the state's
2006 global warming law, A.B. 32. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2009/11/17/6

Webb Blasts Cap And Trade. Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.) slammed major
climate legislation yesterday and sharply criticized cap and
trade as a concept. The Virginia Democrat, one of a handful of
potential swing voters on an ultimate global warming package,
said he would not support climate legislation sponsored by Sens.
John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) that just
passed through the Environment and Public Works Committee.
Posted. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2009/11/17/5

Protestors Rally Against Deal Between Long Beach Port And
Trucking Industry. Long Beach - A coalition of environmental and
labor groups, truck drivers and community activists rallied
outside Long Beach port headquarters Monday evening to denounce a
recently signed deal between port executives and the trucking
industry that protestors insist violates state law and undermines
the port's authority to enforce a plan to rid the harbor of
polluting big rigs. Posted. 
http://www.presstelegram.com/news/ci_13801548?source=rss

New Emissions Guidelines Worries Truckers. Oakland, CA -
Truckers are packing a meeting room in Oakland. They're worried
about the tough new emissions standards set by the California Air
Resources Board that will go into effect at the port of Oakland
at the first of the year. Truckers expressed their concerns to
local and state air quality officials as well as the Port of
Oakland. They are looking for last-minute relief from new state
emission standards they say could cost them their livelihoods.
Posted.
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/local/east_bay&id=7122215&pt=print

California Air Resources Board Releases Results of Electronic
Signal Testing on Reflective Glass; Finds No Interference with
Ankle Bracelets or Cell Phones, GPS Units Affected in Some Cases.
As part of its work toward enacting auto glass regulations in the
state of California, the California Air Resources Board (CARB)
has released information on testing it has conducted on the
reflective glass that could be required by the legislation and
its impact on electronic frequencies and signals. Posted.
http://glassbytes.com/newsCARB20091116.htm

U.S. Official Expects Commitment to Climate Financing.
Washington -- A United Nations summit on climate change scheduled
for next month is likely to yield a financial commitment by rich
countries to help poor countries fight the effects of warmer
temperatures, President Barack Obama's top adviser on energy and
climate change said Tuesday. The official, Carol Browner, stopped
short of saying how much the U.S. would commit to help developing
countries adapt to and mitigate rising greenhouse-gas emissions.
Posted.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125847489735152229.html?mod=googlenews_wsj#printMode

Survey: Gov'ts See Climate Change As Aid Challenge. Nairobi,
Kenya — A global network of aid agencies says world powers
consider climate change the most significant challenge to
humanitarian work. The International Federation of Red Cross and
Red Crescent Societies says rich, middle-income and poor nations
expect aid agencies to face more demands caused by climate
change-related emergencies such as floods. Posted.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hNArs-idaw9nPlMIl9Vwon40cWUQD9C19E180

Green Wave Energy Is Trying To Turn Wind Power Market On Its
Axis. The company and investors are banking on the unconventional
design of its microturbines that can generate energy by capturing
breezes from any direction. The potential for profit is blowing
in the wind, and Green Wave Energy Corp. plans to catch it. Among
its secret weapons: an 11-foot-tall, blazingly white, nearly
indestructible prototype generator that produces as much as 11
kilowatts of electricity using gusts of wind. Posted.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-smallbiz-greenwave17-2009nov17,0,6806836,print.story

U.S. vs. China: Working Together on Global Warming? Global
warming is a problem that spans the entire world, but when it
comes to figuring out how to stop it, the burden will largely
fall on two countries: the U.S. and China. The U.S. is the
world's largest historic carbon emitter, responsible for putting
more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere over the past century
and a half than any other nation. China recently surpassed the
U.S. as the current top emitter, and will be responsible for more
greenhouse gases in the future than any other country. Posted.
http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/printout/0,29239,1929071_1929070_1940013,00.html#

Editorial: From Copenhagen To Nopenhagen For Climate Treaty. In
a major blow to the campaign against the presumed threat of
global warming, world leaders acknowledge that a legally binding
global treaty won't be approved at next month's 192-nation
climate conference in Copenhagen, Denmark. The concession Sunday
significantly delays U.N. efforts to orchestrate a treaty to
limit greenhouse gases to replace the Kyoto treaty, which expires
in 2012. Nations like the United States and poorer nations share
the blame for the missed deadline. Posted.
http://www.ocregister.com/common/printer/view.php?db=ocregister&id=219678

Copenhagen's Collapse. The climate change sequel is a bust. 'Now
is the time to confront this challenge once and for all,"
President-elect Obama said of global warming last November.
"Delay is no longer an option." It turns out that delay really is
an option—the only one that has world-wide support. Over the
weekend Mr. Obama bowed to reality and admitted that little of
substance will come of the climate-change summit in Copenhagen
next month. Posted.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704431804574540002267533772.html

Low-Emission Locomotives May Boost Public Health. A new crop of
"ultra-low emission" short-haul locomotives could have
significant public health benefits, according to rail industry
officials and federal health experts, who suggest that they could
help decrease the risk of cancer and heart and respiratory
disease for people living near rail yards. Switcher engines that
move train cars between tracks in rail yards make up a small
percentage of the trains in service nationwide. Posted.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/16/AR2009111603882_pf.html

Capitol Corridor Train Engine Overhauled To Burn The Cleanest
Among Passenger Trains in California. A cleaner era in train
travel begins in the Bay Area today with the debut of an engine
overhauled for $826,000 to burn cleaner than any other diesel
passenger train in California. The Bay Area and Sacramento air
pollution districts are joining the federal Environmental
Protection Agency this morning in an Oakland news conference to
roll out the train locomotive for service on the Capitol Corridor
line from San Jose to Sacramento. Posted.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/news/ci_13807446

Bristlecone's Growth May Reflect Global Warming. Bristlecone
pines, those ancient and iconic trees on many of California's
mountaintops, reflect the impact of global warming in a curious
way - not by dying off like coral reefs in the world's oceans,
but by growing faster than at any time in the past thousands of
years, scientists have discovered. Posted.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/11/17/BAI61ALAHV.DTL&type=printable

U.S., China Ventures Target 'Clean Coal,' Shale Gas. Several
U.S. companies today announced "clean coal" ventures with their
Chinese counterparts to develop and deploy "clean coal"
technologies, and the United States and China moved to explore
China's potential to develop its shale gas resources. 
Announcements by General Electric Co., Peabody Energy Corp. and
AES Corp. came alongside President Obama and Chinese President Hu
Jintao's unveiling in Beijing of a $150 million research center
to promote development of clean energy technologies in the two
countries, the world's largest greenhouse gas emitters. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/print/2009/11/17/3

Fort Ord Burn Causes 'Unhealthy Levels' Of Smoky Air Over
Highway 68. The last prescribed burn of the year at the former
Fort Ord came without a hitch, but lingering smoke around Highway
68 reached "unhealthy levels" Monday, officials said. The burning
of nearly 200 acres of vegetation was part of continuing efforts
to safely remove unexploded munitions. "When you have a fire like
this, it almost creates its own weather," said Richard Stedman,
Monterey Bay Unified Air Pollution Control District director. The
smoke was widely dispersed during the burn, he said. Posted.
http://www.thecalifornian.com/article/20091117/NEWS01/911170306/1002/Fort-Ord-burn-causes-unhealthy-levels-of-smoky-air-over-Highway-68

Clean Air Act Turns 19; Important Clean Air Milestones Reached,
More Remain. EPA has made strides on incinerators, cement kilns
just in the last 10 months alone. Washington, D.C. -- Take a deep
breath, and say Happy Birthday. The Clean Air Act—our nation’s
strongest law for cleaning up toxic air pollution—just turned 19
years old. The first iteration of the Clean Air Act became law in
1955 but it wasn’t until decades later, November 15, 1990, that
the law became what it is now. Posted.
http://www.healthnewsdigest.com/news/Environment_380/Clean_Air_Act_Turns_19_Important_Clean_Air_Milestones_Reached_More_Remain_printer.shtml

NRCS Funds Available. Farmers in Sonoma, Marin, Napa and Solano
counties are eligible to apply for federal funds to help reduce
emissions from diesel engines and other air pollution sources.
The USDA’s Natural Resource Conservation Services, or NRCS,
program will provide up to $37.5 million in funding annual over
four years nationwide. Posted.
http://www.northbaybusinessjournal.com/16777/nrcs-funds-available/


National Health Ranking Show Golden State Checks In At 23rd. Put
down that cigarette, stop munching that fully loaded burrito, and
pay attention here. The 20th edition of a national health reports
ranks California 23rd among the 50 states in health rankings, up
one notch since 2008. Posted.
http://sanfrancisco.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/stories/2009/11/16/daily27.html


Burn Restrictions Differ By County. Fireplace restrictions began
on November first in some Northern California counties. But they
vary widely. In Sacramento County, Monday was a "Stage Two - All
Burning Prohibited" day according to the Sacramento Metropolitan
Air Quality Management District. The restriction forbids wood
burning in fireplaces, with rare exceptions allowed. But San
Joaquin and Stanislaus County air managers did not declare any
restrictions on Monday. Posted.
http://www.fox40.com/news/headlines/ktxl-news-fireplace,0,2703336.story


Led By China, Carbon Pollution Up Despite Economy. Despite a
global economic slump, worldwide carbon dioxide pollution jumped
2 percent last year, most of it from China, new figures show.
Scientists were surprised because typically during a recession,
pollution declines. Posted.
http://www.modbee.com/2032/story/937141.html#ixzz0X8yComVA

BLOGS

On Climate Change Efforts, China Is Key. It is time to accept
that the choices of China and India, not the United States, will
determine the world’s future carbon emissions. America’s
environmental actions will achieve their biggest returns if they
influence the future carbon emissions of the billion-plus-person
polities of Asia. During my children’s lifetimes, if not my own,
China, and probably India, will surpass the United States in
economic importance. Posted.
http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/17/on-climate-change-efforts-china-is-key/?pagemode=print