What's New List Serve Post Display
Below is the List Serve Post you selected to display.
newsclips -- Newsclips for August 4, 2010.
Posted: 04 Aug 2010 15:38:02
California Air Resources Board News Clips for August 4, 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. AB 32 Poll: Most Oppose Halting Calif. Emissions Law. Most readers in a recent poll opposed a fall ballot question that would freeze California's emissions rules until the unemployment rate dropped to 5.5 percent. Prop. 23 was opposed by 50 percent of those who responded to the Business Pulse survey and supported by 42 percent. The unscientific online survey was conducted by the Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal between July 27 and Aug. 3. Posted. http://sanjose.bizjournals.com/sanjose/stories/2010/08/02/daily56.html Editorial: Rebuke of Jerry Brown good news for Prop. 23. Attorney General Jerry Brown used misleading and prejudicial language in drafting the description of Proposition 23, the ballot measure to temporarily suspend implementation of California's Global Warming Solutions Act, a judge ruled Tuesday. This is good news for several reasons, and bad news for at least one reason. Posted. http://www.ocregister.com/opinion/brown-260575-news-law.html Judge Rules Proposition 23 Ballot Language Must Be Reworded. A state judge Tuesday ordered the ballot language of Proposition 23 -- a November measure that would suspend California's landmark global warming law -- to be rewritten, handing a victory to supporters of the measure who said Attorney General Jerry Brown wrote misleading and biased wording. Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Timothy Frawley ruled in favor of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, which filed the lawsuit last week. Posted. http://www.mercurynews.com/elections/ci_15670531 http://www.sacbee.com/2010/08/04/2934769/prop-23-ruling.html http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/08/03/1759588/judge-sides-with-supporters-of.html Gov Candidate Whitman Claims Environmental Label. Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman labeled herself an environmentalist during a visit to a green-tech firm Tuesday, but said support for the environment needs to be tempered with a reduction in regulations for California businesses. "I am an environmentalist. Everyone probably in this room is an environmentalist," she said to a crowd of about 40 people at SynapSense, in the Sacramento suburb of Folsom. "But the truth is we've got to bring back some balance between the environment and the needs of jobs and people. So whether it is the farmers, whether it is, you know, your business, the permitting, the regulation is strangling businesses." Posted. http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_15669340?nclick_check=1 Minorities Drive California Environmental Movement. Ethnic Californians are at the forefront of support for environmental policies in the state, according to a new poll released last week by the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC). The poll, which asks state residents their perspectives on a wide range of environmental issues, found that ethnic Californians were more likely than whites to perceive air pollution and climate change as a serious threats, and favor a role for government in fixing the problems. The survey was conducted in English, Spanish, Chinese (Mandarin and Cantonese), Vietnamese and Korean. Posted. http://newamericamedia.org/2010/08/minorities-drive-california-environmental-movement.php Carly Fiorina: A Global Warming Denier. On July 27, California Watch reported that Senator Wannabe Carly Fiorina accepted $25,000 in donations from Murray Energy Corporation of Cleveland, a major coal producer, whose CEO Robert Murray called global warming "hysterical global goofiness." Murray has an economic interest in the global warming debate because global warming legislation will probably restrict the burning of coal and thus, effect his economic interests. Posted. http://www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2010-08-03/article/35994?headline=Carly-Fiorina-A-Global-Warming-Denier CLIMATE CHANGE Climate Change: It's Time to Talk, and Act, Tough. Try to fit these facts together: According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the planet has just come through the warmest decade, the warmest 12 months, the warmest six months and the warmest April, May and June on record. A "staggering" new study from Canadian researchers has shown that warmer seawater has reduced phytoplankton, the base of the marine food chain, by 40% since 1950. Posted. http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-mckibben-climate-20100804,0,251896,print.story EPA Left to Pick Up Climate Change Where Congress Dropped The Debate. The Obama administration told Congress to find a way to regulate greenhouse gases -- or else. Last month, Congress refused: Democratic leaders in the Senate declined to take up climate legislation before their August break, which means it looks effectively dead for this session. Now the White House is stuck with "or else." The Environmental Protection Agency will soon begin regulating greenhouse gases factory by factory, power plant by power plant. That could be unwieldy, expensive and unpopular -- even President Obama has said it's not his preferred solution. Posted. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/03/AR2010080306366.html Greens Turn To Small-Scale Issues. Climate change wasn’t the only environmental issue on Congress’s agenda over the past three years — it just seemed that way. With the cap-and-trade bill dead in the Senate, lawmakers and environmental groups are looking to shine the spotlight on a slew of problems that received almost no attention in recent years, such as acid rain, overfishing, polluted drinking water and toxic chemicals in consumer products. Posted. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0810/40607.html#ixzz0vepxT1mv Climate Bill Years Away After Senate Surrenders. No one expected a bang, but the idea of a cap on America’s carbon emissions died with barely the bathos of a whimper. Despite months of legislative fiddle piled on procedural faddle, no one ever drafted a bill with a carbon cap, and the sort of trading system necessary for industry to meet its demands, that stood a chance on the Senate floor. So the majority leader, Harry Reid, finally decided the whole issue should be quietly flushed away. With the midterm elections sure to swing heavily away from Reid’s Democrats, there is now no possibility of comprehensive climate-change legislation in America for years. Posted. http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20100804/OPINION/100809892/1042?Title=Climate-bill-years-away-after-Senate-surrenders Breakaway Clean Energy Coalition Splits US Chamber of Commerce. A new split over climate policy is brewing within the ranks of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce as a breakaway group of local chambers is getting ready to publicly split with the business lobby's hardline stance against climate legislation. The new climate coalition, known as the Chambers for Innovation and Clean Energy (CICE), will press Congress to take stronger action on climate and energy issues. It has already signed up about a dozen chambers and will officially launch later this year. Posted. http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/aug/04/clean-energy-coalition-chamber-commerce GHG Energy Reform Needs a Voice. The following editorial appeared in the Detroit Free Press on Monday, August 2. It is tragic that Congress has run out of gas, so to speak, on energy reform that would include tackling the greenhouse gas emissions that warm the planet. At best, that means the issue could make good fodder for the campaign debates that will take place this fall. But Americans live in an at-worst economy, and the environment will surely take a back seat to concerns about jobs, taxes and other aspects of everyone's financial security. Posted. http://www.modbee.com/2010/08/04/1279726/energy-reform-needs-a-voice.html http://www.sacbee.com/2010/08/04/2935632/energy-reform-needs-a-voice.html Nationwide Low-Carbon Fuel Standard Would Increase Global Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Study Finds. The implementation of a nationwide low-carbon fuel standard (LCFS) in the United States would increase global greenhouse gas emissions by up to 19 million metric tons each year – contradicting the claim of LCFS advocates that the standard would reduce such emissions – according to a study issued today. Posted. http://www.sacbee.com/2010/08/03/2933669/nationwide-low-carbon-fuel-standard.html Refiners Say Low-Carbon Laws Worse Than Cap-and-Trade. Plans to reduce the carbon content of U.S. transportation fuels are likely to boost oil imports from the Middle East and lead to more pollution from diesel-fueled tankers, according to a report commissioned by the National Petrochemical and Refiners Association. A low-carbon standard is “even worse” than the “terrible” cap-and-trade legislation for carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that recently collapsed in the U.S. Senate, said Charles Drevna, president of the refining industry group. The association estimated that plan would have cost the industry more than $20 billion a year. Posted. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2010/08/03/bloomberg1376-L6L0D30D9L3501-7KJHNKQHQUV1LV0VUG89V422KB.DTL http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-08-03/refiners-say-low-carbon-laws-worse-than-cap-and-trade.html AIR POLLUTION Deal To Reduce Pollution On Mesa OK’d. County supervisors on Tuesday gave final approval to an agreement to reduce the amount of dust blowing onto the Nipomo Mesa from Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area amid concerns that the deal lacks teeth and meaningful deadlines. “This is an incomplete agreement, to say the least,” Supervisor Bruce Gibson said. Posted. http://www.sanluisobispo.com/2010/08/03/1238406/deal-to-reduce-pollution-on-mesa.html#ixzz0veViyQ00 San Diego Having Least Smoggy Year on Record. San Diego County is having its cleanest year on record for ozone. Ozone, better known as smog, is an air pollutant that stings the eyes and can damage the lungs, and San Diego county has yet to record a day this year in which its air quality has exceeded federal standards for ozone. Posted. http://www.kpbs.org/news/2010/aug/04/san-diego-having-least-smoggy-year-record/ EPA Undertakes Overdue Review On Oil, Gas Rules. The Environmental Protection Agency is reviewing four air emission rules for oil and natural gas operations, albeit many years later than it should have done so. The EPA is supposed to review the standards every eight years under the Clean Air Act, but some of the regulations in question haven't been updated since 1985, while others were last fully reviewed in 1999. Posted. http://www.sacbee.com/2010/08/03/2934533/epa-undertakes-overdue-review.html VEHICLES 'Smogtruck' Charts Big Rig Fumes. UC Riverside researchers took their science to the streets this week -- in the back of a tractor-trailer rig equipped to test emissions from diesel trucks under real-world conditions. The rolling laboratory zipped past homes and businesses in Redlands and chugged up hills outside Cherry Valley for two full days. Inside the 53-foot trailer, computers and gauges analyzed microscopic particles spewed by the trucks. Green spikes on a computer graph showed the increased output of dangerous diesel soot and aerosols when the rig accelerated uphill. Posted. http://www.pe.com/localnews/stories/PE_News_Local_D_smogtruck04.326f784.html On The Money: Drydock Boats. A State agency purchased more than two dozen power boats that are now collecting dust on a government auction lot in Davis. The California Air Resources Board is now planning to sell the vehicles after using them for only a year. Following a tip from a CBS 13 viewer, On The Money discovered eight of the vehicles hidden behind a government gate in Davis. Posted. http://cbs13.com/onthemoney/drydock.boats.money.2.1841269.html Leaf Beats Volt in Race for State Rebate Cash. Buy Nissan's new electric car, the Leaf, in California, and you may qualify for a $5,000 rebate from the state. Buy the Leaf's closest competitor, the Chevrolet Volt, and the state will give you nothing. The Leaf and the Volt represent the next wave of plug-in cars, both of them hitting the market in California later this year. Nissan and General Motors are already taking reservations. Posted. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/08/03/BUG31EOCH9.DTL ENERGY BP Collecting Millions in Government Stimulus Funds for California Power Plant. The federal government is giving a joint venture involving oil giant BP millions of dollars in stimulus money to build a power plant on farmland near the tiny Kern County town of Tupman, even as the company faces heavy government pressure and a criminal probe into the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. BP is benefiting from a $308 million federal grant over several years for the cutting-edge power plant on cotton and alfalfa fields seven miles from the western edge of Bakersfield. More than half of the money, $175 million, is coming from stimulus funds. The rest is coming from another federal program. Posted. http://californiawatch.org/environment/325-bp-collecting-millions-9-government-stimulus-funds-california-power-plant U.S. Needs Clean Tech Investment. Innovative technological ideas that originate from small American manufacturing companies often go unrewarded. Why? Because often those companies don't have the ability to take their innovations to the world through an aggressive exporting program. Although the United States is the unequivocal leader in energy innovation, we lose out to countries like China and Germany when it comes to manufacturing equipment for solar energy, biofuels, fuel cells, water remediation and renewable power generation. Posted. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/08/03/ED5Q1ELGDS.DTL#ixzz0veuhpRGM BP Project Pockets Stimulus Funds. The federal government is giving a joint venture involving oil giant BP millions of dollars in stimulus money to build a power plant on farmland near the tiny Kern County town of Tupman, even as the company faces heavy government pressure and a criminal probe into the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Posted. http://www.sacbee.com/2010/08/04/2935019/bp-project-pockets-stimulus-funds.html Senate Dems Delay Vote On Oil Spill, Energy Bill. WASHINGTON -- The worst oil spill in U.S. history and a year on track to be the hottest on record were not enough to push an energy bill through the Senate this summer. Posted. http://www.sacbee.com/2010/08/03/2933923/senate-dems-delay-vote-on-oil.html BLOGS Why 2 Million (Promised) Green Jobs Couldn't Sell a Climate Bill. From the early days of the Obama administration, environmentalists believed that they had found the message to carry them to victory in what promised to be a grueling debate over energy and climate policy. It was this: At a time of soaring unemployment, a climate bill would create thousands or millions of new “clean energy” jobs. Climate activists spent 18 months and millions of dollars pushing that message, contending that legislation to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions blamed for climate change would spur investments and create jobs in solar, wind and other alternatives to fossil fuels. Posted. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/greenspace/2010/08/why-2-million-promised-green-jobs-couldnt-secure-a-climate-bill.html Global Warming: Judge Softens Proposition 23 Ballot Language. A Sacramento judge Tuesday softened the ballot description of Proposition 23, a November initiative to suspend the state’s sweeping global warming law. Proponents of the initiative called the ruling “a tremendous victory,” but initiative opponents dismissed it as “cosmetic.” Language drafted by Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown referred to “major polluters,” which the judge changed to “sources of emissions.” The judge also narrowed the wording of the title from “suspends air pollution control laws” to “suspends implementation of air pollution control law (AB 32).” Posted. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/greenspace/2010/08/global-warming-prop-23-ab-23-california-climate-change.html Pessimism Clouds Climate Meeting. This time last summer, there was considerable optimism that the world’s nations just might be able to approve a pact to limit a global increase in greenhouse gases at a United Nations climate conference in Copenhagen last December. That meeting, overseen by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, ended with a weak agreement known as the Copenhagen Accord. Posted. http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/04/pessimism-reigns-at-climate-powwow/ The Broken Senate and the Energy and Climate Challenge. The riven Senate, with the decision today not to close out a modest package of energy initiatives focused on oil drilling, is basically saying the following: Don’t look for the vital 21st-century energy quest, let alone a reality-based approach to global warming, to begin within the borders of the United States. George Packer’s latest piece in The New Yorker can fill you in on the Senate’s broken machinery and norms. David Roberts at Grist has been pointing to the 60-vote impediment to sane energy policy for a long time. Posted. http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/03/the-broken-senate-and-the-energy-and-climate-challenge/