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newsclips -- Newsclips for May 7-10, 2010.
Posted: 10 May 2010 11:44:40
California Air Resources Board News Clips for May 7-10, 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. Editorial: Up In The Air. Ways to obtain more accurate data can and should be put in place to police greenhouse-gas emissions. It is hardly surprising that climate discussions tend to gloss over uncertainties in data on greenhouse-gas emissions. Governments are struggling towards an international agreement to reduce those emissions, and their focus is necessarily on coming up with specific, enforceable targets. But the fact is that scientists’ ability to measure emissions and verify that countries are following through on their commitments is far from adequate. Posted. http://www.nature.com/news/2010/100505/pdf/465018a.pdf On Climate: Congress Restarts, California Threatens. On climate & energy policy this Spring, California and Washington, DC, are both running hot. The last two weeks in Congress have seen optimism, retreat, and now some limited movement forward as Sen. John Kerry has said he will introduce his long-awaited climate bill on May 12. Meanwhile, in California a threat by political ideologues and oil companies to overturn the state's climate laws has become real as a November 2010 statewide ballot proposition will ask the state's voters to overturn AB32, the landmark 2006 emissions legislation. Posted. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/donnie-fowler/on-climate-congress-resta_b_569651.html?view=print Energy Interests Spend Millions for Their Seat at the Climate Table. Businesses with significant stakes in the outcome of climate and energy legislation ramped up lobbying spending earlier this year as they worked to shape the Senate bill scheduled to be unveiled this week. Electric utilities and the coal, chemical and natural gas industries in particular boosted influence efforts and appear poised to receive key parts of what they sought in new climate policies. Posted. http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2010/05/10/10climatewire-energy-interests-spend-millions-for-their-se-61132.html When Clean Energy Grants Run Out, Will A 'Green Bank' Take Over? When energy consultant Matthew Rogers moved to the Energy Department over a year ago, he had $36.7 billion in grants and loan guarantee authority from the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to get out the door. Today, all but about $300 million has been committed to 5,000 winners in the awards competition. "My popularity continues to decline," Rogers said this week. After frustrating delays, the flow of the Recovery Act energy dollars is finally entering the economy. Spending by grant recipients reached $3.5 billion in April, double the total at the end of 2009. Posted. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2010/05/10/1 Federal CSI Investigates Climate. Heavy snows, cold snaps and heat waves may not exactly be crimes, but CSI is ready to track down the culprits anyway. They're not on television ---- yet ---- but the government's Climate Scene Investigators are on the job. Recall the blizzardy winter along the East Coast this year? Inquiring minds wanted to know how that could happen in an era of global warming. Posted. http://www.nctimes.com/news/science/article_4d1eae0c-9ad8-5fd3-b61a-24dcc140ea5b.html Business Leaders Split On Bid To Delay AB32. California's business leaders are divided over a ballot initiative that would delay implementation of AB32, the landmark legislation to combat global warming, in part by raising the cost of carbon-based fuel. One coalition, including California's manufacturing lobby, supports an initiative bankrolled by Texas oil companies. If certified for the November ballot, it would delay AB32's mandates until California's jobless rate, now 12.6 percent, falls below 5.5 percent for four consecutive quarters - like the low levels that prevailed when Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the bill in 2006. Posted. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/05/10/BU751DAIGA.DTL&type=printable Redlands Will Support Measure To Suspend State's Climate Bill. The Redlands City Council voted to endorse a November ballot initiative that would stall California's efforts to cut carbon emissions until the economy recovers. The city will follow the temporary lifting of requirements under the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, also known as A.B. 32, should voters approve the initiative in November. Mayor Pat Gilbreath said that the current economic conditions made it more important to let businesses recover and stay in California than to force them to cut emissions. Posted. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2010/05/10/6 Vote Likely To Come On State Climate Law. More than 800,000 petition signatures have been submitted to qualify for the November ballot a measure to freeze California's Draconian global warming law. Almost twice the number required signatures were collected, so it looks as if voters will have the opportunity to at least postpone the economy-damaging effects of Assembly Bill 32, the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006. Posted. http://www.desertdispatch.com/opinion/state-8448-measure-draconian.html Political Blotter: Lee Touts Green Jobs; Garamendi Gets A New Seat. Rep. Barbara Lee and an Obama Administration official praised an East Bay green-jobs training program this morning as a hotbed of California's future economy. Posted. http://www.insidebayarea.com/oaklandtribune/localnews/ci_15043882 Luffing Climate Policy Jeopardizes U.S. Economic Position. If the United States doesn't establish a clear climate policy soon, and match it with powerful incentives for clean energy technology, we may fall permanently behind China in one of the most powerful sectors of the global economy. That is the conclusion of a recent study from the Pew Charitable Trusts. In 2009, China overtook the United States' investments in clean energy, and it's poised to do the same for installed renewable energy capacity this year. Posted. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/green/detail?&entry_id=62901#ixzz0nXk5GVPU Oil Spill Spurs New Protections In Climate Bill. Sponsors of Senate carbon legislation are trying to achieve a delicate balance over the oil spill as it threatens to disrupt support of key lawmakers days before the anticipated bill is released. Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) are amending offshore drilling provisions within the sprawling carbon pricing measure to address concerns among senators alarmed at the growing oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico. Posted. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2010/05/10/3 Authors To Roll Out Climate Bill Amid Obstacles. Washington - Even without their top Republican partner - and with an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico darkening prospects for success - the chief architects of a climate change and energy bill plan to reveal their measure Wednesday. The bill, by Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass., and Joe Lieberman, independent-Conn., intends to cut greenhouse gas emissions nationwide 20 percent by the year 2020 and 83 percent by 2050, while spurring nuclear power and investing in clean coal technology designed to trap carbon dioxide spewed by power plants. Posted. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/05/08/MNT21DB6H4.DTL&type=printable The Path Of The Planet's Climate. Talk of climate change invariably evokes images of starving polar bears in Alaska, melting glaciers in Greenland and collapsing ice sheets in Antarctica, if not deadly dull yet contentious political debates in cavernous halls in Copenhagen. At a unique event last week, the talk centered on the Bay checkerspot butterfly and the yellow warbler. Witnessing the effects of climate change didn't require travel to a frozen-but-thawing place thousands of miles away. Posted. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/05/08/EDPR1DB4IT.DTL&type=printable Readers' Forum: Climate Bill Could Ignite California's Economy. I RECENTLY joined a number of economic experts to testify before the California Air Resources Board (CARB) about the economic impacts of the state's landmark global warming pollution bill (AB 32). The majority opinion is that California's economy will continue to grow at a healthy rate, with relatively little impact from the clean-energy policies in this bill, but I must differ with this opinion. Posted. http://www.contracostatimes.com/opinion/ci_15039686 Opinion: Valero Trying To Kill California's Green Bill. Valero gas, a Texas-based energy company and one of the top polluters in the country, is trying to mess with California's clean energy jobs and air pollution law, AB 32. The law, California's Global Warming Solutions Act, is a great tool for us to rebuild our economy, cleanup dirty air and reduce greenhouse gases. Posted. http://www.thecalifornian.com/article/20100510/OPINION03/5100308 Readers' Forum: Bay Area Air Quality And Health Closely Related. WE ARE just finishing Air Quality Awareness Week, but many Bay Area residents are focused on the pollen in the air rather than pollutants. A wet winter and spring followed several historically dry years to create the highest pollen counts in the Bay Area in a decade. Posted. http://www.contracostatimes.com/opinion/ci_15039751 EPA, Shanghai Launch Real-Time Air Quality Monitor. The United States' Environmental Protection Agency has teamed up with a Chinese environmental bureau to provide real-time air quality monitoring from the site of the World Expo in Shanghai. EPA officials said Monday the move will help the city as it works with other areas in the region to clear its often thick blanket of smog. The online system, dubbed AIRNow International, links technology developed by the EPA with the existing air quality monitoring network in Shanghai, a city of about 20 million. Posted. http://www.modbee.com/2010/05/10/1160644/epa-shanghai-launch-real-time.html http://www.contracostatimes.com/science/ci_15053813 Air District Offers Rebates for Electric Ag Vehicles. Farmers and other agricultural workers can now be compensated for purchasing electric utility terrain vehicles through rebates offered by the California Air Resources Board (CARB). Nearly $1 million is being allotted by CARB as part of its Agricultural UTV Rebate Project to encourage clean air through zero-emission ATVs and UTVs, where up to $2,500, or 15 percent of the price per vehicle, may be returned. Posted. http://www.thebusinessjournal.com/agriculture/4763-air-district-offers-rebates-for-electric-ag-vehicles Where Fuel Cells Stand. Despite the recent buzz, they still have a couple of big obstacles. The recent media blitz around Silicon Valley-based Bloom Energy Corp. has raised the buzz level about fuel cells. But despite some encouraging signs, many observers remain skeptical about any imminent breakthrough. Fuel cells—battery-like devices that convert natural gas, hydrogen or other gases into electricity—have long been seen as a promising technology. But also a flawed one. They're expensive to make, tend to degrade over time and lack the kind of infrastructure to effectively replace gasoline in vehicles. Posted. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703876404575199790515340032.html?mod=WSJ_auto_IndustryCollection#printMode Oil And Auto Industries Collide With Ethanol Producers Over 15% Blend. Today's car owners could soon have more choice about how to power their vehicles, both at and away from the corner gas station. Advocates differ on whether that's a good thing. On ever-controversial ethanol issues, U.S. EPA is facing growing pressure over its intention to decide by late summer whether to approve higher blends for sale at the pump. In a November letter to Growth Energy, EPA indicated it could by then endorse a waiver for E15 fuel, a 15-percent-ethanol and gasoline mix, for use in cars made in 2001 or later. Posted. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2010/05/10/4 DOE Lab To Explore A Synthetic Enzyme For Use In Carbon Capture. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory announced Friday that it is receiving $3.6 million in Energy Department funding to find a cheaper, more effective way to capture and store carbon dioxide from power plants. The researchers will try a process that replicates what happens with human breathing. Its new cash is the latest example of the department's attempt to spur technology innovation using a year-old agency that aims to do for energy what an arm of the Defense Department has done for advanced weapons and communications systems for the military. Posted. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2010/05/10/5 Brazil and US Ethanol Spar Over California Standard. In a court brief filed last week, the Brazilian Sugarcane Industry Association (UNICA), Brazil’s ethanol trade association, defended California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) against lawsuits filed by the petroleum, trucking and ethanol industries of the United States. “With about one in every ten U.S. cars driven in California, the largest state in the country with one of the highest carbon intensities in the world is seeking to do its share to fight climate change,” said Joel Velasco, UNICA’s Chief Representative in North America. Posted. http://domesticfuel.com/2010/05/10/brazil-and-us-ethanol-spar-over-california-standard/ Sensible Solar. California will never reach its clean energy goals if state regulators throw needless roadblocks in the path of progress. Demanding that a proposed solar power plant replace abandoned farmland sets bizarre policy. The California Energy Commission needs to drop that senseless requirement. Abengoa Solar Inc. wants to build a 250-megawatt solar power plant on more than 1,700 acres in the San Bernardino County desert west of Barstow. Posted. http://www.pe.com/localnews/opinion/editorials/stories/PE_OpEd_Opinion_W_op_10_ed_solarland.38046dd.html Tech Test Drive: Energy-Efficient Large Monitors. Low-power consumption in a 19-inch computer monitor is one thing, but achieving a low-carbon footprint at 23 inches — and a resolution (another power factor) of 1920x1080 pixels — is another thing entirely. Check out the top energy savers measuring 23 inches and larger. Posted. http://www.contracostatimes.com/business/ci_15024211 Blogs Campbell, Devore And Fiorina: Out-Conservating Each Other On Global Warming. On the issue of global warming, nearly uniform opposition to government’s proposed “solutions.” Fiorina says California’s AB32 and cap and trade will be “disastrous.” They are job killers. Campbell “the evidence is not as conclusive” as the UN claimed. Is there a change caused by humans that can be corrected? Those facts, he says, are not yet known. He’s opposed cap and trade and “intrusive” monitoring. Posted. http://orangepunch.freedomblogging.com/2010/05/09/campbell-devore-and-fiorina-out-conservating-each-other-on-global-warming/25759/ Global warming: Why isn't 10% decline in US CO2 emissions bigger news? Here in the US, CO2 has declined--7% last year and 3% the year before. Only one third of the decline is due to the recession--the rest is down to greater use of natural gas and increased efficiencies--with a little thrown in on the top for increased use of wind and solar. That's really a lot of CO2, and I cannot imagine why it isn't making bigger headlines. Well, okay--I can easily imagine why. Good news doesn't make anybody in this fight happy. Posted. http://www.examiner.com/x-9111-Environmental-Policy-Examiner~y2010m5d9-Global-warming-Why-isnt-10-decline-in-US-CO2-emissions-bigger-news