What's New List Serve Post Display

California Air Resources Board News Clips for February 12-15,
2010. 
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.

Unilever Fined for Polluting California Air With Deodorant
Spray. Sacramento, California, February 15, 2010 (ENS) - A
fragrant personal care spray designed to make men appear to be
free of unpleasant body odor has polluted California air to the
degree that the state has fined the brandowner's corporate parent
more than $1 million. The California Air Resources Board
announced Wednesday that it has penalized Conopco Inc. d/b/a
Unilever $1.3 million for illegal consumer sales of AXE Deodorant
Bodyspray for Men. Posted.
http://www.ecofactory.com/news/unilever-fined-polluting-california-air-deodorant-spray-021510

The Continuing Climate Meltdown. It has been a bad—make that
dreadful—few weeks for what used to be called the "settled
science" of global warming, and especially for the U.N.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that is supposed to be
its gold standard.  First it turns out that the Himalayan
glaciers are not going to melt anytime soon, notwithstanding dire
U.N. predictions. Next came news that an IPCC claim that global
warming could destroy 40% of the Amazon was based on a report by
an environmental pressure group. Other IPCC sources of scholarly
note have included a mountaineering magazine and a student paper.
Posted.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB20001424052748703630404575053781465774008.html

Lawsuits Roll In As EPA 'Endangerment' Deadline Looms. Critics
of U.S. EPA's climate regulations are lining up to launch legal
battles against the agency's "endangerment" finding amid a
looming deadline for court challenges. The U.S. Chamber of
Commerce on Friday petitioned a federal appeals court to
reconsider EPA's determination that greenhouse gases threaten
public health and welfare, a finding that paves the way for broad
regulations of the heat-trapping emissions. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/print/2010/02/15/1
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jA2dG4270cgZ7r66PGn-u11l2Z8wD9DTDFSG0

Lack of Direction on Climate Change Hobbles Carbon Trading.
London — Touted by its supporters as the best and cheapest way to
fight global warming, carbon trading is losing momentum amid the
uncertainty created by the failure of the Copenhagen summit
meeting and President Barack Obama’s political troubles in the
United States. Investors are steering clear of energy-saving
projects meant to generate carbon credits, and traders in Europe
are hunkering down through a period of consolidation that is
disappointing to those who had hoped carbon markets would grow
quickly into a $2 trillion-a-year business. Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/15/business/energy-environment/15rentrade.html?sq=environment&st=cse&scp=2&pagewanted=print

Conoco, BP, Caterpillar Leave Climate Coalition. ConocoPhillips,
Caterpillar Inc. and BP America have left the U.S. Climate Action
Partnership, a coalition of more than two-dozen companies and
environmental groups lobbying Congress to pass greenhouse gas
emissions cap-and-trade legislation. BP America, a unit of
London-Based BP PLC, Notified Fellow U.S. CAP Members Of Its
Decision By Letter Today. Houston-Based Conocophillips Broke The
News In A Press Release. Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2010/02/16/16greenwire-conoco-bp-caterpillar-leave-climate-coalition-73582.html?pagewanted=print

Opinion: Congress Should Postpone Climate Change Legislation,
Seek Real Science First. The Climategate scandal is a textbook
case of professional malfeasance that should give Congress reason
to pause before agreeing to a binding international agreement
that would hamstring the world economy in order to prevent the
climate from changing. Posted.
http://www.modbee.com/opinion/national/story/1047978.html

Climate Change Facts: To the Editor: Re “U.N. Climate Panel and
Its Chief Face a Siege on Their Credibility” (front page, Feb.
9): That fossil fuel industry-financed forces are continuing
their campaign to undermine the United Nations’ Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change and its chief scientists should not
distract us from what we know about our climate. Two physical
findings stand out. In the last 50 years the world ocean has
accumulated 22 times as much heat as has the atmosphere (data
provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
of the Department of Commerce). Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/14/opinion/l14climate.html?sq=climate%20change&st=cse&scp=6&pagewanted=print

Study Finds Traffic Pollution Can Speed Hardening Of Arteries.
People living within 328 feet of an L.A. freeway were found to
have twice the average progression of atherosclerosis --
thickening of artery walls that can lead to heart disease and
stroke. Los Angeles residents living near freeways experience a
hardening of the arteries that leads to heart disease and strokes
at twice the rate of those who live farther away, a study has
found. Posted.
http://articles.latimes.com/2010/feb/14/local/la-me-freeway-pollution14-2010feb14

New Leader Looks To Fire Up Sierra Club. Alameda – You could say
that Michael Brune graduated to the big time in environmental
politics when he learned the magical powers of the pound sign
(#)and the numerals 8 and 0. When he punched those numbers into a
telephone inside a Home Depot store in Atlanta in 1999, Brune
suddenly found himself in full control of the building's intercom
system. From atop this electronic bully pulpit, Brune's voice
rolled across the cavernous store, reminding shoppers that Home
Depot was, at the time, buying wood products from companies
harvesting trees from rare and endangered old-growth rain
forests. Posted.
http://www.sacbee.com/capitolandcalifornia/v-print/story/2535897.html

Does the Huge China-Australia Coal Deal Square With the
Copenhagen Accord?Environmental activists are attacking a $60
billion deal that will keep Chinese power stations supplied with
Australian coal for at least the next two decades.
Under the agreement announced last week, the Australian coal and
iron ore mining company Resourcehouse will build a new mining
complex to give China Power International Development 30 million
tonnes of coal annually for the next two decades. Resourcehouse
Chairman Clive Palmer called it the "biggest-ever export
contract" for Australia, which is the world's leading exporter of
coal. Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2010/02/16/16climatewire-does-the-huge-china-australia-coal-deal-squa-78639.html?pagewanted=print

Economics Improve For First Commercial Cellulosic Ethanol
Plants. Many cellulosic fuel producers are working with enzymes
to break down tough, inedible plant parts, such as corncobs or
switch grass, into simpler sugars that can be fermented to
ethanol. Now enzyme companies say they are near to breaking down
another tough obstacle: the cost of enzymes that will make the
next generation of low-carbon fuels. The progress may help put
cellulosic ethanol on course to compete commercially when the
first large plants open next year. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2010/02/16/2

Success & Service — UC Merced Professor Receives Grant For Ag
Land, Biofuel Study. Elliott Campbell, a professor in the School
of Engineering at the University of California at Merced, has
received a $407,588, five-year grant from the National Science
Foundation to study production of biofuels on abandoned
agricultural lands. Posted.
http://www.modbee.com/local/story/1047957.html

Valley Dairies Will Try New Methane Process. State support of a
new methane digesting project could help three Central Valley
dairy farms treat their waste more efficiently. Officials from
the California Department of Food and Agriculture, the Merced
Irrigation District and a West Sacramento-based environmental
engineering company as well as representatives of three dairies
met at the World Ag Expo in Tulare this week to sign an agreement
to pursue digester pilot projects at each of the dairies. Posted.
http://www.modbee.com/ag/story/1046766.html

Gauging Growth With Diesel Data. A survey that measures how much
diesel fuel truck drivers are buying and where they're buying it
is expected to offer insights about the strength of the economic
recovery. The first look at the study released last week by UCLA
economists shows no teeth in the economic recovery. In contrast,
strong gross domestic product readings for the fourth quarter of
2009 suggested to some the national economy was moving forward.
Posted. http://www.modbee.com/business/story/1049838.html

A Variety Of Solutions Can Add Up To Benefit Farmers. On Jan.
28, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) met to consider
amending the regulations concerning diesel engines used in water
well drilling rigs. The CARB hearing was the culmination of work
by me, the Assembly Agriculture Committee, the California
Groundwater Association (CGA), and the results of the amendments
to my AB 1416. Posted.
http://www.modbee.com/opinion/community/story/1049901.html

Cities Prepare for Life With the Electric Car. San Francisco —
If electric cars have any future in the United States, this may
be the city where they arrive first. The San Francisco building
code will soon be revised to require that new structures be wired
for car chargers. Across the street from City Hall, some drivers
are already plugging converted hybrids into a row of charging
stations. In nearby Silicon Valley, companies are ordering
workplace charging stations in the belief that their employees
will be first in line when electric cars begin arriving in
showrooms. Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/15/business/15electric.html?th=&emc=th&pagewanted=print

Uranga Loses Re-Election For AQMD Board Seat. Long Beach - City
Councilwoman Tonia Reyes Uranga has lost her re-election bid for
the South Coast Air Quality Management District board. The vote
last week by 40 of the 51 cities that are in the AQMD's Los
Angeles County Western Region became official Wednesday. Rolling
Hills Estates City Councilwoman Judy Mitchell got 31 votes, while
nine cities, including Long Beach, voted for Uranga, AQMD
officials said. Posted.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/california/ci_14384919

Burn-Ban Deadline Worries Vintners. Fresno — A long-awaited
deadline for a ban on open-field burning in the San Joaquin
Valley is coming June 1. But many vineyard owners say they can't
afford to follow the rule. Alternatives in use on many types of
valley farms, such as burning waste at a biomass energy plant,
may not work on vineyards, where plant waste often is tangled in
wires and wooden stakes. Posted.
http://www.modbee.com/ag/story/1046763.html

Your Turn: Bonfire Of The Inanities. First there was Tax Freedom
Day, now there's Fireplace Freedom Day! This winter the mandatory
fireplace burning restrictions established by the Bay Area Air
Quality Management District (BAAQMD) caused quite a kerfuffle.
Over the past several months these pages have been flooded with
public complaints about enforcement of the new mandatory burning
rules, adopted to comply with state and federal air quality
regulations. Posted.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/opinion/ci_14390539

Anne Marie Fuller: Think Twice Before You Light Up The
Fireplace. AS I write this column, New York and others states
back east are getting pounded by yet another harsh blizzard —
making most of us thankful we live in Northern California. But
even here, on these chilly winter days, it's often nice to stay
warm by curling up and enjoying a soft, glowing fire in your own
fireplace. Posted.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/columns/ci_14397189

Council's Vote Official On Footprint Recycling Loan. Footprint
Recycling will be able to apply for the loan the Arcata City
Council approved Wednesday after some speculation they would need
to reconvene to make it official. The city council approved a
loan of $20,000 with a 3 percent interest rate to aid biodiesel
producer Footprint Recycling in recovering from an oil spill last
month, according to a city staff report. The recycling facility
was put under a cease and desist order after the spill and has
not been allowed to continue its normal operations. Posted.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/california/ci_14388311

Green Entrepreneur Eyes Shut-Down Davenport Cement Plant.
Davenport - The life of the century-old Davenport cement plant
may not be over just yet. The entrepreneur behind Moss Landing's
green cement business Calera Inc. says he'd consider expanding
his operation to the shuttered facility in Davenport should the
for-sale sign come up. Posted.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/california/ci_14392101

Energy Audit Sheds Light On Costly Appliances, Electronics. PG&E
brought my family an unwelcome gift in mid-November: a
SmartMeter. Since the Bay Area rollout last fall, these remotely
read meters have come under fire. Consumers have complained that
they do not accurately measure electricity usage, resulting in
significantly higher utility bills. Posted.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/home-garden/ci_14359509

BLOGS

Samsung Enters Solar Deal in California. European Pressphoto
Agency Samsung’s first commercial solar plant in South Korea. The
company’s American arm is expected to provide panels for plants
in California. Samsung, the Japanese South Korean conglomerate
best known to Americans for its televisions and cellphones, is
jumping into the American solar business. Posted.
http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/16/samsung-enters-solar-deal-in-california/?pagemode=print

San Francisco’s Electric Cars Proliferate. Jim Wilson/The New
York Times The San Francisco Bay area is already a center of the
nascent battery-charged economy. In Monday’s New York Times,
Clifford Krauss and I wrote about the ways cities are preparing
for the rollout of electric cars later year. West Coast cities
like Portland, Ore.; Los Angeles; and San Diego are vying to
become electric car capitals. Posted.
http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/16/san-franciscos-electric-cars-proliferate/?pagemode=print

Global Warming and Weather Psychology. How does extreme weather
affect the public’s understanding or misunderstanding of global
climate change? Australian heat wave and dust storms last year,
advocates of action on global warming were quick to link the
weather to the longer term climate changes. But when there’s a
cold snap or snowstorm, the skeptics have a field day, even if
the climate scientists protest that it’s all part of the extreme
weather patterns of global warming. Posted.
http://roomfordebate.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/11/global-warming-and-weather-psychology/?pagemode=print