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California Air Resources Board News Clips for May 28, 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.
 
AG RULE

Calif Officials Postpone Ban on Burning Ag Waste. Farmers can
keep burning some agricultural waste after California air
authorities voted Thursday to postpone a full ban on the
polluting practice for two years. The California Air Resources
Board's decision pushed back a June 1 deadline initially set by
pollution-control legislation targeting air quality problems in
the San Joaquin Valley and other rural areas.  The move allows
the burning of prunings, clippings and rice field stubble that
would be too expensive to dispose of in any other way, board
spokesman Stanley Young said. Posted.
http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_15176000?nclick_check=1
http://www.pe.com/ap_news/California/CA_Burn_Ban_500998C.shtml
http://newstalk1290.wordpress.com/2010/05/28/carb-postpones-ban-on-ag-waste-burning/

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/05/28/MNSC1DLRTS.DTL
http://www.modbee.com/2010/05/27/1184524/calif-officials-postpone-ban-on.html
http://www.vcstar.com/news/2010/may/28/calif-officials-postpone-ban-on-burning-ag-waste/
http://www.nctimes.com/news/state-and-regional/article_34961d4f-983d-5f3c-b565-41f7ce9f51b8.html

http://www.nctimes.com/news/state-and-regional/article_0daa57e1-3dc7-5f9a-9374-f872f4769ae2.html

http://www.fresnobee.com/2010/05/27/1949304/air-board-oks-burn-ban-exemptions.html


AB 32

Global Warming Law Suspension Doesn't Get Butte Air Quality
Board's Support. In a series of split votes, the local air
quality board Thursday turned aside a member's request to call
for suspension of California's global warming law until the
economy improves. Biggs City Councilor Angela Thompson wanted the
Butte County Air Quality Management District to write a letter to
the California Air Resources Board seeking the suspension of
AB32, and also pass a resolution backing a November ballot
initiative that would do the same thing. Posted.
http://www.orovillemr.com/news/ci_15180975
http://www.orovillemr.com/news/ci_15180649 

Butte County Air Quality Board Won't Write Anti-AB32 Letter. A
bid to have the Butte County Air Quality Management District go
on the record seeking suspension of California's global warming
law, failed today on a series of split votes. Board member and
Biggs City Councilor Angela Thompson had asked the board to write
a letter asking the California Air Resources Board to suspend
implementation of AB32 until the economy approved. Posted.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/california/ci_15176036?nclick_check=1


Could California’s Climate Law Send You a Check in the Mail?
What if California could tap into billions of dollars yearly to
reduce state deficits and pump money into education and social
services? Imagine if every resident of the state were to get a
check in the mail every year for hundreds of dollars. At a time
of economic hardship, such ideas sound like fantasies. But they
aren’t. Scenarios like these are being considered by state policy
makers who must decide what to do with the billions of dollars
projected to be generated by California’s landmark climate change
law, AB 32. Posted. http://www.filipinasmag.com/?p=506

Report: Texas Oil Company Valero (VLO) Bankrolling Effort to
Kill AB 32, Also Has Long Anti-Union History. As if Valero
Energy's disastrous environmental record wasn't bad enough
(including being ranked the 12th most toxic polluter in the U.S.
in a study by the University of Massachusetts), it turns out the
company also has a long history of opposing organized labor.
Posted.
http://www.camajorityreport.com/index.php?module=articles&func=display&aid=4328&ptid=9

Why California Should Reject Emission Auctions. Under the
auspices of California’s landmark Global Warming Solutions Act of
2006, otherwise known as AB 32, the California Air Resources
Board (CARB) is currently in the process of formulating new
regulations to implement a cap-and-trade program to reduce
emissions of greenhouse gasses in California to 1990 levels by
2020. Posted.
http://www.brighterenergy.org/10963/opinion/viewpoint/why-california-should-reject-emission-auctions/

CLIMATE CHANGE

Obama's Tough Stand on Drilling Clouds Climate Effort, Says a
Key Senator. The president's temporary restrictions on deepwater
oil drilling could complicate efforts to attract a handful of key
senators to support a landmark climate bill, making the difficult
climb toward 60 votes even "steeper," according to the measure's
Republican author. Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2010/05/28/28climatewire-obamas-tough-stand-on-drilling-clouds-climat-35262.html?scp=5&sq=carbon%20emissions&st=cse


Scientists Decry Attacks by Skeptics Of Climate Change. A few
years ago, Ben Santer, a climate scientist with Lawrence
Livermore Laboratory, answered a 10 p.m. doorbell ring at his
home. After opening the door, he found a dead rat on his doorstep
and a man in yellow Hummer speeding away while "shouting curses
at me." Santer shared this story last week before a congressional
committee examining the increasing harassment of climate
scientists, and the state of climate science. Posted.
http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_15176317?source=rss

World Warms, Public Cools to Climate Action. This year is on
track to be the warmest worldwide since records began in the 19th
century yet voters seem to be cooling to strong action to combat
climate change. Their doubts may be quietly sapping the will of
governments and companies to cut greenhouse gas emissions after
the Copenhagen summit in December failed to agree a treaty meant
to slow more droughts, floods and rising seas, analysts say.
Posted. http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE64Q1HW20100527

U.S. Climate Bill Seen Unlikelyin 2010. U.S. Senators John Kerry
and Joseph Lieberman unveiled a climate bill earlier this month.
Congressional elections are less than six months away and with
Democrats facing losses, June or July could be the last chance to
pass a bill this year, before the political atmosphere gets too
heated. Posted.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE64R1T420100528

Meet the Bay Area's Worst Global Warmers. It’s tough to heed the
environmental mantra "think global, act local" when you live next
door to a refinery. Even when that polluter bankrolls a lot of
bike racks. Like dozens of Bay Area communities, from Los Altos
Hills to Healdsburg, Benicia has adopted its own greenhouse-gas
reduction goals to try to roll back local emissions over the next
decade. Posted.
http://www.baycitizen.org/environment/story/valero-local-climate/

What If Carbon Dioxide Were As Black As Oil? What if carbon
dioxide were as black as oil? When your house is on fire, you may
not be in the mood to hear about an impending cancer epidemic
that threatens your neighborhood, so I hesitate to bring up this
topic. I have spent my scientific career studying oil spills,
including the ongoing disaster in the Gulf of Mexico that killed
11 people in the initial rig blast and is causing epic
environmental damage, havoc to lives and livelihoods, political
tumult, huge economic losses and an incessant media drumbeat.
Posted.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/05/28/reddy.oil.carbon/index.html?hpt=C2


AIR POLLUTION

California's Real-Time Air Quality Readings Online for Smoggy
Summertime. For many Californians, summertime is synonymous with
sunshine, sunscreen and smog. Yes, smog, the low-hanging air
pollution created partly by vehicle emissions and that's more
visible and hazardous when temperatures spike. While air quality
levels can easily be dismissed on clear, sunny days, they're of
legitimate concern for many Californians whose daily activities
are affected. Just like checking the weather before going to
work, those who care for children or the elderly, those who work
outdoors and those who are just curious can check their region's
air quality levels before stepping outside. Posted.
http://www.govtech.com/gt/articles/764586 

PORTS

LA Port Getting No Return on Its Truck Bucks. Nearly 12 months
into a program that paid dozens of trucking companies $44 million
to upgrade vehicles serving the Port of Los Angeles, the vast
majority of subsidized trucks have not made the minimum number of
trips to the port. In fact, port officials said this month, more
than 390 of them have not visited even once.  And the biggest
recipient – Swift Transportation Corp. of Phoenix – and two other
Arizona trucking companies now face a boycott started by the city
of Los Angeles that theoretically could excuse them from their
obligations entirely. That would mean more than 16 million public
dollars would be lost. Posted.
http://citywatchla.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3558&Itemid=75

ENERGY/GREEN

Where's the Beef in Clean Tech? Look Around. Last week's
announcement that automaker Tesla Motors plans to put more than
1,000 California workers back on the assembly lines at the NUMMI
plant is yet another indicator that the clean tech industry will
be a driving force in California's economic recovery. Posted.
http://www.camajorityreport.com/index.php?module=articles&func=display&aid=4327&ptid=9


One of the Nation's Largest Energy Users Has Ambitious Plans to
Cut Back. As the Air Force seeks to realize both its own and
federally mandated energy efficiency goals, its top energy
official is pressing for better ways to measure progress.
Complying with the goals set forth by the government and striving
to meet the goals the service sets for itself are something to be
proud of, said Erin Conaton, the undersecretary of the Air Force.
But measuring the pace of improvement needs more work. Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2010/05/28/28climatewire-one-of-the-nations-largest-energy-users-has-45840.html?scp=7&sq=greenhouse%20gas&st=cse


Zero Energy Homes Catch On In USA. Homes are increasingly being
built in the United States to use little or no energy, a trend
that could help reduce U.S. dependence on oil and gas, according
to a new book. "Zero energy homes are becoming the new green,"
says David Johnston, one of the nation's leading experts on green
building and co-author of Toward A Zero Energy Home: A Complete
Guide to Energy Self-Sufficiency at Home  (Taunton Press.) Posted

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/greenhouse/post/2010/05/zero-energy-homes-catch-on-in-the-usa/1