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California Air Resources Board News Clips for September 14, 2010.

 

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AB 32

The Political Fate Of Climate Change Legislation In California.
For years, the debate over climate change centered almost
exclusively on science: Is global warming occurring, and if so,
are humans causing it? But with the economy still struggling, the
argument has shifted to one of dollars and cents. As complex as
the scientific debate has been, the fiscal reality of fighting
climate change is even more politically charged — and confusing.
Posted.
http://www.comstocksmag.com/Articles/0910_SR_Day-on-the-Green.aspx

CLIMATE CHANGE/GHG’S

Megacities To Be Epicenter Of Climate Solutions. Nothing else
used to compare to the hustle and bustle of Tokyo and New York
City. They were the world's megacities. Today, city names such as
Shenzhen, Dubai and Dhaka are just as alluring for some, as the
number of "megacities" increases. By 2025, nearly 30 cities are
expected to be home to more than 10 million people. Researchers
at the London-based World Energy Council said yesterday in a
report that policies to curb and adapt to global warming will
focus on megacities in poor countries. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2010/09/14/3

Warming Climate Makes Reaching U.N. Hunger Reduction Target
Harder. Having failed to pay the decade-old price tag of $24
billion to halve world hunger by 2015, nations will now have to
spend more than three times that much to curb starvation by the
U.N. deadline, a new Oxfam report finds. The study calls on
governments to invest $75 billion in agriculture, rural
development, food security, nutrition programs and other
assistance to reach the U.N. Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of
halving hunger by 2015. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2010/09/14/6

Santa Barbara Proposes Air Pollution Increase; School Board
Likely to Approve Budget Report. Santa Barbara County Association
of Governments. This Tuesday, local government leaders are
hosting the first of two public workshops to determine whether
Santa Barbara County should try to reduce its greenhouse gas
emissions by the years 2020 and 2030 to ensure there's no net per
capita increase. The workshops will also determine whether the
public supports plans to allow Santa Barbara to actually increase
such emissions by 6 and 4 percent respectively. Posted.
http://www.independent.com/news/2010/sep/13/watching-agendas-week-september-14/?print

Thursday Shaping Up as a Senate Showdown Over EPA's Greenhouse
Gas Regs. Two Senate Democrats yesterday said they may support an
amendment to block U.S. EPA climate rules, increasing the odds of
its success when the Senate Appropriations Committee votes
Thursday on EPA's budget. The potential supporters of an
appropriations rider are Sens. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) and Byron
Dorgan (D-N.D.), both of whom are co-sponsors of a bill from Sen.
Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) that would freeze EPA's ability to
regulate emissions from stationary sources for two years. Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2010/09/14/14greenwire-thursday-shaping-up-as-a-senate-showdown-over-e-2565.html?pagewanted=print

ENERGY

State Energy Law Can Save Average Home $670. Enviro groups tout
law's ability to blunt impact of oil and gas spikes. California’s
clean energy laws could help blunt the impact of gas and oil
price spikes, according to a new study released today by
economists from three environmental groups. After it's fully
implemented in 2020, California's Global Warming Energy Act, or
Assembly Bill 32, … Posted.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/sep/13/energy-law-can-save-average-home-670-dollars/

Mayor Villaraigosa Signs Green Power Agreements. In what
officials are calling a major milestone in the city's effort to
develop more green-power sources, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on
Monday signed agreements with firms in the San Fernando Valley
and China. The city-owned Department of Water and Power will work
with Quallion LLC of Sylmar, and BYD Inc., based in Shenzhen, on
a project to be located at Pine Tree Wind Farm in the Tehachapi
Mountains. Posted.
http://www.dailynews.com/breakingnews/ci_16066742

Desert Energy Projects Should Tread Lightly. Eight large solar
developments proposed in the California desert would cover 59
square miles of public land untouched by plows or bulldozers --
the type of land a panel of science advisers says should be
preserved -- as the nation rushes to reduce greenhouse gases and
become less reliant on oil imports. In a report to federal and
state agencies, the scientists said undisturbed open spaces and
important wildlife habitat should not be permanently sacrificed
when other alternatives exist. Posted.
http://www.pe.com/localnews/stories/PE_News_Local_D_tortoise14.2ad1291.html

Los Angeles Teams With Chinese Company To Store Wind Power. The
city of Los Angeles is teaming up with a prominent Chinese
manufacturer to develop batteries that can store wind-generated
electricity and then release it to the power grid as needed. BYD
Co. Ltd. will work with the Los Angeles Department of Water and
Power to design an electric storage facility that can store five
to 10 megawatts of power generated by a wind farm in the
Tehachapi Mountains. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/print/2010/09/14/12

Clean Power A 'Tough Sell' In Economic Slowdown – Expert. San
Francisco -- Renewable energy in the United States will continue
to face significant push back at the state and local levels if
the recession continues and unemployment stays high, said an
economic consultant who has advised the Energy Department on
federal investments in alternative energy. James Heidell, a vice
president at NERA Economic Consulting, presented evidence
yesterday of a national slowdown or push back in renewable energy
development during a Law Seminars International conference here
on energy in California. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/print/2010/09/14/19

Amid Trade Tensions, U.S. Creates More Clean Tech Research
Partnerships With China. The number of clean energy partnerships
between the United States and China reached a new peak when the
U.S. Energy Department announced two new consortia aimed at
tackling clean vehicles and 'clean' coal technology earlier this
month. Along with a substantial funding pool totaling $100
million, split evenly among the two countries, the new consortia
have put universities arm-in-arm with car companies, national
laboratories, electric utilities and think tanks. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2010/09/14/1

A Far-Flung Partnership Wins Federal Energy Efficiency Funds. An
unlikely foursome of states has received federal funds to
retrofit homes, and the federal government hopes their experience
will lead to retrofitting millions more. In a joint application,
Alabama, Massachusetts, Virginia and Washington got about $11
million from the Department of Energy last week. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2010/09/14/4

FUELS

EPA Chief Expects Data For 15% Ethanol Blend Tests On Time. U.S.
EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson yesterday said her agency is on
track to make its decision on whether to approve a proposal to
boost the amount of ethanol blended into gasoline. The Energy
Department expects to complete its battery of 19 tests examining
how the fuel blend affects new cars by the end of the month,
Jackson told ethanol industry members. With those data, EPA will
decide if it will allow the amount of ethanol in gasoline to be
ramped up to 15 percent in cars made in the last several years.
Posted. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2010/09/14/5

U.S. Utility Companies Switch To Natural Gas. Even in the absence
of federal regulation taxing carbon emissions, U.S. utility
companies are switching to natural gas as they foresee future
emissions restrictions. Many companies across the country are
closing or replacing old and smaller coal plants as the price of
natural gas falls, making gas a more attractive option for power
generation. Natural gas is expected to rise to 82 percent of new
power capacity in 2013, according to the U.S. Energy Information
Administration. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2010/09/14/7/

Biofuels From Trash Could Replace Half of EU Gasoline by 2020,
Study Says. Biofuels made from plant waste and municipal trash
rather than food crops could replace more than half of gasoline
used in the European Union by 2020, industry analyst Bloomberg
New Energy Finance said today. The 27-nation bloc could make 90
billion liters (24 billion gallons) of so-called next-generation
ethanol in 2020, about 65 percent of predicted fossil gasoline
use, the London-based group said in a study. Posted.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2010-09-14/biofuels-from-trash-could-replace-half-of-eu-gasoline-by-2020-study-says.html

Biotech Company to Patent Fuel-Secreting Bacterium. A biotech
company plans to announce Tuesday that it has won a patent on a
genetically altered bacterium that converts sunlight and carbon
dioxide into ingredients of diesel fuel, a step that could
provide a new pathway for making ethanol or a diesel replacement
that skips several cumbersome and expensive steps in existing
methods. Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/14/science/earth/14fuel.html?_r=1&dbk=&pagewanted=print

Amyris Plans $101million IPO That Might Trade Around $19 A Share.
Amyris Biotechnologies, which uses "living factories" to produce
biofuels, plans to sell stock through an initial public offering
at about $19 a share, the East Bay biotech company said Monday.
Emeryville-based Amyris said its IPO could raise $101 million,
according to a regulatory filing. The filing, the most specific
indicator so far about the 
company's IPO plans, also said the shares could begin trading
about Sept. 27. Posted.
http://www.mercurynews.com/business-headlines/ci_16063278?nclick_check=1

AIR POLLUTION

On The Waterfront: Ports Distributing Grants To Combat Pollution.
Port authorities have begun distributing nearly $5 million to
schools, daycare programs and youth centers to alleviate
dangerous pollutants caused by harbor industry. The grants are
part of a citywide effort to mitigate impacts from a growing port
complex, which has been tackling air pollution in recent years
through a mixture of regulations, penalties, financial incentives
and grants. Posted.
http://www.presstelegram.com/news/ci_16064853

NATURAL GAS

Calif. Regulator Unsatisfied With PG&E's Post-Explosion
Concessions. San Francisco -- California energy regulators
ratcheted up sanctions against utility Pacific Gas & Electric Co.
yesterday after its deadly natural gas pipeline explosion last
week. The rupture and ensuing fireball in the San Francisco
suburb of San Bruno leveled 40 houses and killed at least four
people. State and federal authorities are still looking for the
cause. In response to PG&E's promise to reduce gas volumes by 10
percent on the affected line, the California Public Utilities
Commission ordered a 20 percent reduction. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/print/2010/09/14/13

VEHICLES

Toyota To Produce 2 Electric Cars, 6 New Hybrids By 2012. Toyota
plans to release two new electric vehicles in the United States
and six hybrid cars globally by the end of 2012. Toyota Executive
Vice President Takeshi Uchiyamada said the automaker would also
debut a plug-in version of the Prius hybrid by the spring of 2012
and a hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle by 2015. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/print/2010/09/14/10

A123 Opens Continent's Largest Auto Battery Plant. In a surprise
phone call, President Obama congratulated A123 Systems Inc. for
opening North America's largest lithium-ion automotive battery
manufacturing plant. "This is about the birth of an entire new
industry in America, an industry that's going to be central to
the next generation of cars," Obama said, calling the plant's
opening a "tremendous milestone." Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/print/2010/09/14/11

OPINIONS

OPINION: AB 32: Far Too Costly. No, I do not agree with columnist
Karen Nolan that the warming bill will produce anything
beneficial to the great majority of us ("Warming bill is good for
us," Sept. 8). However, it is likely that it will have a downward
impact on jobs and it will result in a sharp spike in fuel
prices. I would be pretty sure that the California Air Resources
Board had a hand in writing the original AB 32, the California
climate bill, back in 2006 and 2007. The bill mandates, among
other things, replacement of thousands of diesel engines. Posted.
http://www.thereporter.com/opinion/ci_16070195