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California Air Resources Board News Clips for February 24, 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.


Proposed Rules Could Make Smog Check Less Expensive And
Time-Consuming For Most Motorists. Millions of California
motorists could soon be saying so long to the iconic tailpipe
test. Quicker and cheaper smog checks are being considered under
a proposal unveiled Tuesday by state regulators. Hoping to take
advantage of newer technology and to correct shortcomings — even
fraud — that are letting a significant number of polluting cars
remain on the street, the California Air Resources Board and the
state Bureau of Automotive Repair want to make the most
far-reaching changes to the smog check program in at least a
decade. Posted.
http://www.mercurynews.com/california/ci_14457612?source=rss&nclick_check=1
http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100224/A_BIZ/2240309/-1/a_news05
http://www.inlandnewstoday.com/story.php?s=13104
http://www.kget.com/news/local/story/Smog-program-facing-possible-fraud/uzuFnJmFXU--7cH3zDvlqg.cspx

Power Plant On The Path To Approval. A plan to turn a part-time
power plant into one that runs most of the time has a preliminary
OK from state regulators, and air pollution officials say the
plant’s owner long ago worked to cut emissions to offset the fact
that the converted plant could put as much as 53 times more smog
over the skies of Tracy. Posted.
http://www.tracypress.com/pages/full_story/push?article-Power+plant+on+the+path+to+approval%20&id=6446677


Carbon Pricing Sticks Out as Senate Climate Bill's Main
Obstacle. Senate advocates of comprehensive global warming and
energy legislation are stuck on a fundamental question: How
should they structure the first-ever price on greenhouse gas
emissions? Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2010/02/24/24climatewire-carbon-pricing-sticks-out-as-senate-climate-17764.html


We Can't Afford To Suspend AB32. A proposed ballot initiative
would suspend the California Global Warming Solutions Act, AB 32.
This pro-pollution measure is extremely short-sighted and would
harm California's economy and atmosphere. If global warming
continues unchecked, jobs will vanish as our winter snow pack
shrinks drastically, levees fail, flooding increases; storm
damage and water shortages will reduce energy supply while air
conditioning demand soars. Posted.
http://www.theunion.com/article/20100224/OPINION_LETTERS/100229926/1025


Inland Solar Plant Project Gets Loan Boost From Feds. Plans to
build California's first-large-scale commercial solar thermal
power plant in nearly two decades overcame a major hurdle this
week when the federal government conditionally committed $1.37
billion in loans for the project located in San Bernardino County
near the Nevada border. Posted.
http://www.pe.com/business/local/stories/pe_biz_w_brightsource24.3c89718.html


CHESSER: World Cools Toward Warmists. The global-warming
industry is getting several bailouts, none of which it wants.
Last week, three major corporations - Conoco/Phillips, BP and
Caterpillar - bailed out on the U.S. Climate Action Partnership
lobbyist collaboration. Arizona bailed on the Western Climate
Initiative (WCI) cap-and-trade plan. Posted.
http://washingtontimes.com/news/2010/feb/24/world-cools-toward-warmists/?feat=home_headlines


Required Recycling Decision Speeds Up. The San Carlos City
Council could consider as early as April an ordinance requiring
commercial businesses to recycle — a move favored by the Chamber
of Commerce and touted by proponents as a way to get ahead of
possibly stiffer state requirements. The council voted 4-1, with
Councilman Matt Grocott in the minority, to direct city staff to
craft an ordinance for its consideration. The language is
expected back in April and, if accepted by the council, the new
requirements could kick in 30 days later. Posted.
http://www.smdailyjournal.com/article_preview.php?id=125672

EPA Chief Says New Auto Efficiency Standards Could Die. A widely
supported deal to ramp up nationwide fuel economy standards and
provide certainty for the flailing auto industry is at risk of
falling apart, nine states and the U.S. EPA head warned
yesterday. Should Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) succeed in her
bid to end U.S. EPA's climate regulatory authority, a joint EPA
and Transportation Department proposal to increase fuel economy
standards to 35.5 miles per gallon by 2016 and set the nation's
first-ever greenhouse gas standards would stall, they said.
Posted. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2010/02/24/3

Chevron, Environmentalists Must Wait For Ruling On Richmond
Refinery Project. San Francisco — Chevron and their
environmentalist critics on Tuesday finally got their day in
state appellate court, duking it out over whether the oil
company's plan to replace old equipment at its Richmond refinery
could increase pollution and harm public health. The wait for a
ruling could be as long as three months. "By talking in
generalities, they misled the public," Will Rostov, the attorney
representing a trio of environmental groups, argued in the state
Court of Appeal in San Francisco. Posted.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/top-stories/ci_14455710

UN Weather Meeting Agrees To Refine Climate Data. Geneva—World
weather agencies have agreed to collect more precise temperature
data to improve climate change science, officials said Wednesday,
as U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged environment ministers
to reject efforts by skeptics to derail a global climate deal.
Posted. http://www.contracostatimes.com/environment/ci_14460767
http://www.contracostatimes.com/environment/ci_14460767

Blogs

Green Energy Firm Must Deal With 'Million Dollar Tortoises'.
Oakland’s BrightSource Energy is a green tech startup backed by
energy industry heavyweights and has a modest political operation
of its own. So far, the company has obtained an enormous $1.37
billion loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Energy to
build giant solar power plants in the Mojave desert. But before
the electricity can begin pulsing, BrightSource must stay on the
right side of both an endangered desert tortoise – and Sen.
Dianne Feinstein. Posted.
http://californiawatch.org/watchblog/green-energy-firm-must-deal-million-dollar-tortoises

A Maker of Fuel Cells Blooms in California. Our colleague Todd
Woody on the Green Inc. blog has an interesting blog post about
Bloom Energy, a secretive fuel-cell start-up that was also the
subject of an article Wednesday in The New York Times. loom’s
energy servers, which cost as much as $800,000, have been quietly
purchased by such companies like Google, eBay and Wal-Mart
Stores, which are looking to reduce their greenhouse gas
emissions. Posted.
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/24/a-maker-of-fuel-cells-blooms-in-california/


Back to Basics on Climate and Energy. It’s time to get back to
basics (as in the North Carolina State University chemistry class
from the 1920’s pictured above). Once in a while I try to “review
the bidding,” as my former editor Cornelia Dean liked to say when
some big breaking story was threatening to overwhelm the
newsroom. In this case, it’s not breaking news but a flood of
allegations and attacks on 100 years of research pointing to a
growing human influence on the earth’s climate. Posted.
http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/23/back-to-basics-on-climate-and-energy/