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California Air Resources Board News Clips for August 25, 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’S

Local Governments Commit To Reducing Greenhouse Gases. Salinas -
Government leaders from across the Monterey Bay region committed
this week to reducing per-capita greenhouse gas emissions of
passenger vehicles by 5 percent over the next 25 years. The
commitment by the Association of Monterey Bay Area Governments,
expected to be fulfilled through responsible transportation and
growth policies, comes as state regulators seek to implement
California's ambitious greenhouse gas regulations. Posted.
http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_15882875

New Yorkers Begin To See How Much They Have To Lose From Climate
Change. New York -Lowering the energy consumption of the Empire
State Building may seem bold and significant -- and it is. But
the real challenge lies among the city's lesser-known buildings
that extend into the horizon, to the north and south and in
adjacent boroughs. Unless New York can lower its $15 billion
annual energy bill and show the world that there are successful
ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, it could find itself
teetering on the edge of disaster indefinitely. Posted. 
http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2010/08/25/25climatewire-new-yorkers-begin-to-see-how-much-they-have-51507.html?pagewanted=print
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2010/08/25/1

U.S. Pushes China, India To Cut Emissions By Tapping Into Natural
Gas Boom. The U.S. State Department is pitching natural gas to
China and India as a strong alternative to using coal for power
generation, boosting the prospects of a global gas rush and tying
it closely to global climate change solutions. "If gas is cheap,
plentiful and available to countries like China and India -- they
have a choice versus coal -- it's competitive on a cost basis,
and the climate implications are huge," said David Goldwyn,
State's coordinator for international energy affairs. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2010/08/25/3

Prop 23: Compromising the Environment to Create Jobs. In 2006,
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into law the
Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (AB 32) – one of the first
and most comprehensive climate change laws passed in America. But
today, a new measure to appear on California’s ballot in November
seeks to remove the protections put in place four years ago.
Posted.
http://www.energyboom.com/policy/prop-23-killing-environment-create-jobs


HELMER: Global Warmists Abandoned Fact for Fancy. Around the
world, the fight against "cli- mate change" and carbon dioxide e
emissions is costing literally hundreds of billions of dollars -
and this at a time when the Western world is ravaged by
recession. We can ill afford these sums. Many scientists think
CO2 emissions have a trivial effect on climate, but even those
who support the theory of anthropogenic global warming (AGW)
generally agree that the efforts we are making will result in
changes so small that they cannot even be measured. Posted.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/aug/24/around-the-world-the-fight-against-cli-mate-change/

Obama Admin Urges Supreme Court To Vacate 'Nuisance' Ruling. The
Obama administration has urged the Supreme Court to toss out an
appeals court decision that would allow lawsuits against major
emitters for their contributions to global warming, stunning
environmentalists who see the case as a powerful prod on climate
change. In the case, AEP v. Connecticut, the 2nd U.S. Circuit
Court of Appeals sided with a coalition of states, environmental
groups and New York City. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/print/2010/08/25/1

How Influential Are The Koch Brothers? New Yorker investigates.
The Koch brothers are leaving their mark everywhere. On Aug. 19,
Progressive Media reported that the Kansas-based Koch Industries
is the lead funder of a “grassroots” group organizing support for
Proposition 23, the ballot initiative that would kill
California’s energy climate change law. Posted.
http://californiawatch.org/watchblog/new-yorker-investigates-koch-brothers-4261

Are Conservatives Waking Up to Global Warming? Conservatives who
acknowledge global warming is a critical issue of our time are
calling out their colleagues to wake up to the issue, and some of
them seem to be listening. Is global warming denial finally on
its way out? A handful of recent events make me feel like a big
row of conservative dominoes might have started falling on the
issue of global warming. Posted.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUS210083623920100825

GAS NOZZLES

Fire Marshall Orders Removal of Defective Gas  Nozzle Latches.
Video: KTVU
http://www.ktvu.com/video/24751899/index.html

POWER PLANTS

L.A. Officials Launch Campaign To Roll Back State Environmental
Rule. A bill in the Legislature would delay new regulations that
require the DWP to overhaul three coastal power plants to reduce
the amount of seawater used for cooling. The city of Los Angeles
has launched an aggressive lobbying campaign to roll back tough
new state regulations meant to limit the environmental damage
that power plants inflict on the oceans. Posted.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-water-20100825,0,3758556,print.story

DIESELS

Costly Rules To Hit Truckers. New California regulations coming
in January will hit the wallets of Oregon truckers. The rules are
meant to significantly reduce greenhouse gas and particulate
matter emissions by 2014, according to the California Air
Resources Board (CARB). The regulations have a combined national
economic impact of $17 billion. More than 800,000 trucks crossed
the Oregon-California border in 2009, according to the Oregon
Department of Transportation. Posted.
http://www.oregonbusiness.com/articles/90-september-2010/4009-california-regulations-affect-wallets-oregon-truckers

Natural Gas-Diesel Hybrid Fuel Cuts Emissions, Boosts Efficiency.
A Nevada refiner has received alternative fuel status for a
cleaner, more efficient diesel that mixes low-sulfur diesel with
natural gas. Produced by Reno-based Advanced Refining Concepts,
GDiesel is the first "alternative" fuel to be certified by state
regulators as reducing emissions of one or more pollutants
compared to conventional gasoline. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2010/08/25/8

VEHICLES

California Amends Copper Bill Following Negotiations. California
has amended a bill that restricts the amount of copper in brake
friction material sold in the state, following negotiations
between the Motor Equipment Manufacturers Association,
environmentalists and automakers. Under the change, motor vehicle
manufacturers, distributors, wholesalers or retailers of
replacement brake friction materials can deplete their inventory
of non-compliant materials until Dec. 31, 2023. Posted.
http://www.truckinginfo.com/news/news-print.asp?news_id=71464

Hyperefficient Student-Built EV Defies Odds. The coolest thing
about this electric car isn’t the Lola racing car chassis, or the
clear plastic bodywork or even the fact it gets the equivalent of
300 mpg. The coolest thing about this car is the kids who built
it. The car was a class project at the Automotive Design Studio
at the DeLaSalle Education Center, an alternative high school in
Kansas City, Missouri. Posted.
http://www.wired.com/autopia/2010/08/student-built-ev-defies-the-odds-may-break-a-record/#ixzz0xdcnzIx4

Brother, Can You Spare Some Volts? Bay Area Officials Push To
Build Chargers for Electric Cars. The Bay Area is expected to
soon become one of America's hottest markets for the first
mass-produced electric cars, the Nissan Leaf and the Chevy Volt.
But in the rush to drive electric, one thing is missing -- places
to charge up. Posted.
http://www.mercurynews.com/bay-area-living/ci_15884227 
PROP 1B

Boxer Touts Stimulus Money For Buses. Sen. Barbara Boxer on
Tuesday visited the Fresno Unified School District’s
transportation yard, where she touted the use of federal stimulus
money to replace aging diesel buses with ones powered by
compressed natural gas. The district replaced 30 of the old
diesel-powered buses, which were built in 1977. Posted.
http://www.fresnobee.com/2010/08/24/v-print/2052303/boxer-touts-stimulus-money-for.html

ENERGY/GREEN ENERGY

Marin County Certifies 21 'Green Businesses'.  Twenty-one more
Marin enterprises were saluted as "green businesses" by county
supervisors this week, bringing the number of local organizations
certified in the program to 406. The Marin green business
program, part of a Bay Area regional project now involving 2,200
businesses, agencies and organizations, was launched in 2002 to
encourage recycling, energy efficiency, conservation and related
opportunities to boost both economic and environmental resources.
Posted.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/news/ci_15880784?nclick_check=1

Calaveras to Apply For State Grant. Calaveras County's battle
over sustainability continued Tuesday, with the Board of
Supervisors narrowly approving a plan to join Tuolumne County in
applying for a $1.6 million state grant to plan for a future in
which residents are less dependent on cars, towns are more
compact and officials have regional data on greenhouse gas
emissions. Posted.
http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100825/A_NEWS/8250323/-1/NEWSMAP

EMISSIONS

Air District To Fund Charbroiler Emission Controls. The San
Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District is offering help
for businesses with charbroilers to cut down on their emissions.
Launching today, the Char Broiler Incentive Program (CHIP) will
make $500,000 in funding available for the purpose of
retrofitting commercial char broilers, which can spew both
harmful particulate matter and volatile organic compounds (VOC).
Posted.
http://www.thebusinessjournal.com/environment/6056-air-district-to-fund-charbroiler-emission-controls

Two Central Valley Neighborhoods Cited For Sustainability. The
California Department of Housing and Community Development says
two Central Valley communities have been named “Catalyst
Projects” as part of the Catalyst Projects for California
Sustainable Strategies Pilot Program. Funded by Proposition 1C,
the program embodies the goals of SB 375, the state law that
requires regional planning and promotes denser and “greener”
urban growth. Posted.
http://www.centralvalleybusinesstimes.com/stories/001/?ID=16097

FUELS

Report Offers Roadmap to Cleaner Biofuels from Non-Food Sources.
Almost 200 corn ethanol refineries across the country, but still
not a single cellulosic ethanol plant. Cellulosic biofuel was
once widely heralded as the key to cutting United States'
dependence on foreign oil, without the adverse environmental
effects of corn ethanol. Posted.
http://solveclimate.com/blog/20100825/report-offers-roadmap-cleaner-biofuels-non-food-sources

MISCELLANEOUS

UCLA Scientist Who Doubts CARB Science May Lose Job. Truckers who
violate a CARB diesel rule can face thousands of dollars in
fines. Speak out against the science behind these air rules? If
you’re a researcher, it might cost you a faculty job at UCLA. A
longtime academic researcher at UCLA may lose his job for
speaking out against the California Air Resources Board and that
agency’s claims about the dangers of diesel exhaust. Posted.
http://www.landlinemag.com/Special_Reports/2010/Aug/082410-exclusive.htm

Send Bills To Governor. Some bills by local state senators are
close to being passed by the Legislature and sent to the
governor's desk. One of them, Senate Bill 1402 by Sen. Bob
Dutton, R-Rancho Cucamonga, would require that the California Air
Resources Board to explain to any business that it fines the
reason for the violation, the specific code section violated and
how the penalty was determined.  Posted.
http://www.sbsun.com/editorial/ci_15883551

Global Warming Deniers Aren't "Experts" At All: It's Time for a
New View of Science. Imagine a gigantic banquet. Hundreds of
millions of people come to eat. They eat and drink to their
hearts’ content— eating food that is better and more abundant
than at the finest tables in ancient Athens or Rome, or even in
the palaces of medieval Eu rope. Then, one day, a man arrives,
wearing a white dinner jacket. He says he is holding the bill.
Posted.
http://www.alternet.org/books/147668/global_warming_deniers_aren't_%22experts%22_at_all%3A_it's_time_for_a_new_view_of_science/

Rules Will Halt Ship Wastewater Dumping. The Environmental
Protection Agency today will declare California's coastline, bays
and estuaries - including the Delta - as a no-dumping zone for
large commercial cruise and cargo ships. The rule will include
oceangoing ships at the Port of Stockton, the EPA said. In 2009,
the port hosted 115 ships and barges. Posted.
http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100825/A_BIZ/8250309/-1/a_news14

BLOGS

Safety Order Issued For Gas Pumps. Filling up your gas tank may
take a little more work. The state fire marshal on Monday sent a
letter to about 3,000 gas stations — one-third of all stations in
the state — ordering them to remove the latches on gas nozzles
that let drivers lock the nozzle in place to keep pumping gas
while they clean their windows, check the oil and such, according
to reports by the Associated Press and Sacramento Bee. Posted.
http://roadwarrior.blogs.pressdemocrat.com/10771/pumping-gas-to-take-a-little-more-work/