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California Air Resources Board News Clips for June 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.

CLIMATE CHANGE/GHG

Stanford Survey Finds More Doubt Global Warming. Although the
vast majority of Americans believe the Earth is gradually warming
because of greenhouse gases and want the government to regulate
them, a small but growing number of people doubt that global
warming is real, according to a new poll. The Stanford University
survey, released on Wednesday, found that 74 percent of those
polled believe the world's temperature has been gradually rising
over the past century, compared with 85 percent who believed it
in 2006.  Posted.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/06/10/BAJG1DSL4V.DTL&type=printable

Climate Bubbles Below The Surface Of Primary Wins. From Maine to
California, Tuesday's primaries launched the campaigns of
incoming governors and U.S. senators who will set the climate and
energy agendas of the country for years to come. In Senate races,
several candidates on both sides of the aisle stood firmly
against establishing a mandatory cap on greenhouse gas emissions.
The tone on climate change was often more muted in gubernatorial
contests, but the stakes are no less pivotal for energy and
climate agendas of states considering everything from
cap-and-trade programs to wind farm development. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2010/06/10/1
http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2010/06/10/10climatewire-climate-bubbles-below-the-surface-of-primary-8084.html?scp=5&sq=environment&st=cse

E.U. To Certify Emissions Reductions From Biodiesel, Ethanol.
The European Commission will announce a new quality-certification
process for biodiesel and ethanol today in an effort to prove
that the fuels lead to greenhouse gas emissions reductions,
officials said. Europe is depending on biofuels to "do most of
the work" on emissions reductions from cars and trucks, the
commission said in a statement Monday. Reducing transportation
emissions is "particularly hard to achieve and reliance on
imported oil is particularly high," it said. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2010/06/10/6
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ibaM6LapP11whRS_8nl9JQvhqtVAD9G8GA7G0
http://www.contracostatimes.com/environment/ci_15267437?nclick_check=1

Senate Challenge to EPA Climate Change Authority. For several
months now, the Environmental Protection Agency has been making
steady progress writing rules to regulate greenhouse gas
emissions. But Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, a Republican, wants to
hit the brakes. This Thursday, she's scheduled a vote in the
Senate on a resolution that would essentially strip the EPA of
its authority to regulate carbon dioxide and other gases linked
to climate change. Posted.
http://www.usnews.com/articles/news/2010/06/10/senate-challenge-to-epa-climate-change-authority-.html

Senate To Vote On Disapproval Of EPA's CO2 Endangerment Finding.
In one of the most important votes you’ll see this year, the US
Senate is expected to vote today on Alaska Senator Lisa
Murkowski’s Joint Resolution of Disapproval of the EPA’s
Endangerment Rule relating to carbon dioxide (S.J. Res 26). In
effect, if the resolution passes it would still need to pass the
House and will almost certainly be vetoed by President Obama if
it gets that far, as the White House signaled on Tuesday. Posted.
http://www.examiner.com/x-39383-Capitalist-Examiner~y2010m6d10-Senate-to-vote-on-disapproval-of-EPAs-CO2-endangerment-finding

FUELS

OECD Pushes End To Fuel Subsidies -- For Some. When Group of 20
leaders meet in Toronto this month to discuss energy policy, they
will have to work with a controversial number: 37. Last year, the
G-20 pledged to phase out subsidies for fossil fuels, which
critics call economically wasteful and damaging to climate.
International agencies set out to measure the problem, but so
far, they've only come up with figures for 37 countries. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2010/06/10/3

Carbon Market Leader Warns Of Dark Days Ahead. New York -- The
carbon markets are fast becoming too risky and uncertain for
investors, and entrepreneurs of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions
trading would be wise to direct their money elsewhere, a
prominent carbon finance broker and expert warned yesterday. Jack
Cogen, president and CEO of Natsource, the New York-based
environmental finance firm highly regarded as an early pioneer of
U.S. emissions trading, said he sees little space for investing
in carbon as a commodity post-2012. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2010/06/10/4

SECOND HAND SMOKE

Could Second Hand Smoke Cause A Mental Breakdown? That could be
implied from a study conducted by researchers from the Department
of Epidemiology and Public Health at University College London.
In a report published in the June 7, 2010 Archives of General
Psychiatry, lead researcher Mark Harmer said, "Exposure to
passive smoke was associated with higher levels of psychological
distress and greater risk of future psychiatric illness," During
the six year observational study, 14.5 percent of the 8,100
subjects (5,500 non-smokers and 2,600 smokers) were found to
suffer from some type of psychological distress.  Posted.
http://www.examiner.com/x-53218-Sacramento-Health-News-Examiner~y2010m6d9-Could-second-hand-smoke-cause-a-mental-breakdown

DIESELS

California's Diesel Regulations Are Hot Air. If you were
strapped for cash and lived in North Dakota, would you spend
money on hurricane insurance? That would be no dumber than the
regulations of the California Air Resources Board, designed to
reduce the form of "air pollution" known as diesel particulate
matter. The scientific rationale for these enormously expensive
regulations and the process by which they were enacted are
dubious, and their costs impose a huge economic burden on the
state. And since California is often regarded as a bellwether of
environmental regulation, these rules could presage a disturbing
national trend. Posted.
http://www.forbes.com/2010/06/08/california-diesel-regulation-pollution-opinions-columnists-henry-i-miller-james-e-enstrom_print.html

MOTORCYCLES

POLL Why Motorcycles Don’t Make FGCU, Other Priority Parking
Lists. Estero — FGCU participates in one international program
that recognizes green building standards and rewards priority
parking to low-emission vehicles — but not motorcycles. The LEED
Green Building Certification System provides its approval to
ecologically friendly construction, and is administered through
the nonprofit U.S. Green Building Council. One requirement of the
LEED certification is that preferred parking be designated at
those buildings for environmentally friendly vehicles. Posted.
http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2010/jun/09/poll-why-motorcycles-dont-make-fgcu-other-priority/?print=1

BLOGS

California Air Resources Board Spends $800,000 to Bolster Latest
Pet Initiative. California’s Air Resources Board (CARB)—long
considered a foe of conservatives nationwide— has shelled out
close to $800,000 to bolster its latest pet “green” initiative,
Capitol Confidential has learned. A study released last month,
which draws positive conclusions regarding CARB’s favored
“feebates” program, cost a whopping $796,641 according to a
document found at CARB’s own site.  Posted.
http://biggovernment.com/capitolconfidential/2010/06/09/california-air-resources-board-spends-800000-to-bolster-latest-pet-initiative/

Lindsey Graham's Calculated Nonsense. If you want to feel really
pessimistic about the politics of climate change, head over to
Kate Sheppard's place, where you can read Lindsey Graham trying
to find a rhetorical bridge between questioning global warming
and supporting efforts to reduce carbon emissions. What he comes
up with sounds a lot like nonsense. But then, that's as good an
approach as any when you're reasoning with an irrational
position. Posted.
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2010/06/lindsey_grahams_calculated_non.html

Small California Town To Be 85% Powered By Solar. In a town of
just 38 people, it doesn’t take much power to keep the lights on.
Which is why many smaller towns, with their vast swaths of land,
are turning to renewable energy. There’s Rock Port, Mo., a
community of about 1,400 people that has all of the roughly 13
million kilowatts it uses a year generated by wind turbines. And
10 turbines will power all the homes and more in Greensburg,
Kan., after a tornado demolished 95% of the town in 2007. Posted.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/greenspace/2010/06/small-california-town-to-be-80-powered-by-solar.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+GreenspaceEnvironmentBlog+%28Greenspace%29

OPINION: Newsom’s Electric Car Vision Sees ‘Kick Start’. Mayor
Gavin Newsom has long advocated for increasing electric vehicle
usage and the infrastructure to support it. On Wednesday, the
Board of Supervisors Budget and Finance Committee approved the
spending of a $1 federal million grant – to be matched with other
revenue sources – to pay for electric vehicle infrastructure.
“This is a very exciting project for us. It really is going to
kick start the electric vehicle infrastructure system for San
Francisco and by extension the Bay Area,” said David Assmann,
Department of Environment’s acting director. Posted.
http://www.sfexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/under-the-dome/newsoms-electric-car-vision-sees-kick-start-96001699.html