What's New List Serve Post Display

California Air Resources Board News Clips for October 7, 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

Green Tech, AB 32 A Major Economic Driver For State. Green
technology is a major driver of economic development in
California,  according to a new study by Next 10, a non-partisan
research organization created by Silicon Valley venture
capitalist F. Noel Perry. The new study, called the 2010 Green
Innovation Index, also found that the AB 32 global warming law is
a major component of that economic engine. Posted.
http://www.capitolweekly.net/article.php?xid=z6njvpuvoglqjw#

California Ballot Question Would Suspend GHG Emissions Rule. One
issue on next month’s statewide ballot in California is a
question to decide whether to suspend implementation of a much
ballyhooed greenhouse gas law. Leadership of the Owner-Operator
Independent Drivers Association supports passage of the question.
Approved in 2006, the law allows the California Air Resources
Board to create many new regulations. Specific to trucking, CARB
was given the authority to formulate several trucking regulations
aimed at curbing greenhouse gas emissions, including the state’s
drayage rule, and truck retrofit rule. Posted.
http://www.landlinemag.com/todays_news/Daily/2010/Oct10/100410/100610-01.htm

Airing Out Prop. 23. Some say it would save jobs, others say it
would lead to more wheezing and global warming.  Three weeks ago
Dan Ihara of the Center for Environmental Economic Development in
Arcata held a house party for opponents to Proposition 23 —
called the “California Jobs Initiative” by its proponents and the
“Dirty Energy Proposition” by those against it, like Ihara.
Posted.
http://www.northcoastjournal.com/news/2010/10/07/airing-out-prop-23/

Whitman's Global Warming Positions Leave Her Stand Unclear.
Gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman is playing both sides of the
fence on the issue of global warming, belatedly opposing Prop. 23
– the measure that would suspend AB 32, California's long-term
plan for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and promoting clean
technology – but promising to delay implementation of AB 32 for a
year anyway. Posted.
http://www.sfbg.com/print/politics/2010/10/06/whitmans-global-warming-positions-leave-her-stand-unclear

OPINION: Warner & Kateley: Prop. 23: Suspending AB32 Could Kill
It. The brightest economic news California has seen in years is
the impressive rise of green technology industries that are
bringing the state new jobs and promise to build a 21st century
clean energy economy that can lead the world. Such an economy,
built on renewable energy and clean air and water is a direct
threat to the industry whose product is gasoline, whose byproduct
is dirty air and damaged health and whose simple equation is the
more gasoline they sell in California, the greater their profits.
Posted.
http://www.ocregister.com/opinion/clean-269925-california-energy.html

OPINION: Coupal & Royalty: Prop. 23: We Should Not Implement
AB32, Right Now. Ask any California family or small business if
they've had to make adjustments in their spending habits over the
last few years, and the answer is sure to be "of course." The
prolonged recession has forced people, businesses and local
governments to cut back on expenses and be much more careful with
their finances. Unfortunately, Sacramento just doesn't get it.
Posted.
http://www.ocregister.com/opinion/california-269924-warming-global.html

CLIMATE CHANGE/GHG’S

The Importance of Transferring Risk in Climate Adaptation. Global
efforts to address climate change have been in disarray following
the failed talks in Copenhagen. But even if all carbon emissions
were stopped at once, climate trends would continue to expose
local populations to the mounting challenges -- and costs -- of
protecting greater property values against weather-related risks.
Posted. http://www.reuters.com/article/idUS170494107920101007

Sun May Not Warm Planet As Much As Previously Thought – Study.
The sun warms the planet most when at its dimmest rather than its
brightest, unlike previously thought, meaning that previous
calculations of the Earth's temperatures gave the sun too much
credit for warming up our planet. When the sun's 11-year solar
cycle is at its lowest, as it was in December 2009, it warms the
Earth the most, according to a study published in the journal
Nature. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2010/10/07/7

Wrong Climate For Piecemeal Strategy. Exhausted Democrats may
like President Barack Obama’s suggestion of tackling energy and
climate change “in chunks” over the next two years after failing
to get a comprehensive package across the finish line. But they
probably know better. Schooled veterans of past energy
legislative debates are quick to point out that the regional
lines are just as entrenched as the partisan ones, leaving few
rifle-shot solutions on the front burner. Posted.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1010/43248.html

Study Claims Quick Abatement Strategies Won't Resolve Greenhouse
Gas Issues. A new study out today urges governments to go slow
when doling out "fast start" climate change dollars. E3G, a
London-based environmental nonprofit, says the $30 billion that
wealthy countries pledged to allocate by 2012 to help developing
nations reduce emissions and cope with climate change impacts
must be spent thoughtfully. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2010/10/07/5

CEQ Releases Guidance on Measuring Agencies' Greenhouse Gas
Emissions. White House officials announced the completion of
guidelines today outlining how federal agencies should measure
and report greenhouse gas emissions as part of a broad initiative
to decrease the government's carbon footprint. Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2010/10/06/06greenwire-ceq-releases-guidance-on-measuring-agencies-gr-73992.html

OPINION: It's Worth The Fight Against Oil Interests. The
Terminator, a.k.a. the Governator, is not happy. And you
shouldn't be, either. What has Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
incensed is the fact that two Texas oil companies with two
refineries each in California are financing a campaign to roll
back California's landmark laws to slow global warming and
promote clean-energy innovation, because it would require the
refiners to install new emission-control tools. Posted.
http://www.sacbee.com/2010/10/07/3085797/its-worth-the-fight-against-oil.html

N.M. Set To Enact Climate Rules And Join Regional Trading,
Industry Says. New Mexico is set to act next month on two
proposals to cap greenhouse gases, one of which would make it the
second state to start trading with the Western Climate Initiative
in 2012. Hearings concluded this week; the state Environmental
Improvement Board will begin deliberations Nov. 2. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2010/10/07/6

Behind The Meltdown Of The Climate-Change Bill. President Obama
killed the climate change bill. That's the brunt of the article,
"As the World Burns, How the Senate and White House missed their
best chance to deal with climate change" by Ryan Lizza in the New
Yorker. Lizza tells the tale of how Washington's erstwhile "Three
Amigos" - also known as K.G.L., for Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass.,
and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., Joe Lieberman, I-Conn.- cobbled
together a cap-and-trade climate-change bill that had "the
support both of the major green groups and the biggest polluters"
- until the deal fell apart. Posted.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/10/07/ED4T1FOIH4.DTL&type=green

New Research Debunks Iron Seeding Theory. New research is
challenging the idea that seeding the ocean with iron will
increase phytoplankton production and thus carbon dioxide
absorption, which has been floated as a possible method to combat
global warming. The phytoplankton population in the North Pacific
Ocean exploded in 2008 following a series of volcanic eruptions
in the Alaskan Aleutian Islands, which sent a large amount of
iron-rich material into the ocean. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2010/10/07/8

ENERGY/GREEN ENERGY

2010 California Green Innovation Index. The 2010 California Green
Innovation Index is a brand new report produced by Next 10 and
prepared by Collaborative Economics. The Index tracks
California’s history of policy and technology innovation, and
resulting economic and environmental gains or losses. Research
included in this 2010 California Green Innovation Index details:
* California’s global leadership in green innovation continues to
grow, attracting billions in investment dollars. * California’s
green manufacturing jobs are growing while conventional
manufacturing jobs are in decline. Posted.
http://www.next10.org/environment/greenInnovation10.html

Green Jobs Rise In State, Study Finds. Despite the decline in
manufacturing employment in California, one key industrial sector
is seeing robust job growth: the green economy. In a study
released Wednesday, Palo Alto-based nonprofit Next 10 and
Collaborative Economics Inc. of Mountain View found that
manufacturing jobs in the state's green sector grew by 19 percent
between 1995 and 2008. The increase came at the same time that
overall manufacturing jobs in California tumbled 9 percent. 
Posted.
http://www.sacbee.com/2010/10/07/3085807/green-jobs-rise-in-state-study.html

California Leads Nation In Green Tech. California stands on the
forefront of green technology and has gained an economic edge by
cutting carbon usage, according to a report to be released today.
"California is unique as a leader in green innovation for the
United States and the world," said F. Noel Perry, a businessman
who founded Next 10, a nonpartisan public policy group that
produced the report in conjunction with research firm
Collaborative Economics. Posted.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/10/07/BUGN1FOSV8.DTL&type=green

California's Clean-Tech Industry Is Booming But Threatened. More
money is being invested in alternative energy start-ups here than
anywhere else in the world. But the state's dominant position is
threatened by Proposition 23 and competition from China. The
clean-tech industry is booming in California, with more money
being invested in solar and other alternative energy start-ups
than anywhere else in the world. Posted.
http://www.latimes.com/news/science/environment/la-fi-cleantech-20101007,0,2192800,print.story

Zeta Communities To Build Green School Buildings. A company that
builds ultra-energy efficient modular housing in a former
aircraft hangar at McClellan Park has expanded into school
facilities. Zeta Communities assembled a $1 million,
three-building addition to the Davis Waldorf School in just four
weeks. The 4,200-square-foot, state-of-the-art addition, which
includes energy-efficient roofs, skylights and lighting fixtures,
was installed on site last month – just in time for the Waldorf
School's first day of classes. Posted.
http://www.sacbee.com/2010/10/07/3085805/zeta-communities-to-build-green.html

U.S. To Join Iceland In Geothermal Technology Research. Iceland
and the United States have become partners in developing and
deploying advanced geothermal energy technologies, announced the
U.S. Energy Department's Office of Energy Efficiency and
Renewable Energy (EERE) in a press release yesterday. The
bilateral agreement came during a series of meetings about
geothermal energy being held in Reykjavik, Iceland, this week.
Posted. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2010/10/07/4

U.S. Warns China On Trade But Pushes Tighter Energy Ties. With
the Obama administration urging greater U.S.-China coordination
on clean energy projects, a top U.S. official yesterday pressed
China to comply with international obligations and suggested
China's trade policies undermine U.S.-China cooperation on
energy. "We have an international trading regime," Commerce
Secretary Gary Locke said at the Woodrow Wilson International
Center for Scholars. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2010/10/07/2

AIR POLLUTION

San Francisco Port Starts Plugging Cruise Ships Into Grid. San
Francisco -- The Port of San Francisco began connecting cruise
ships yesterday to the municipal power grid in an effort to
reduce air pollution from onboard diesel generators. Princess
Cruises' 2,000-passenger Island Princess became the first ship to
plug into the grid via a bundle of cables that supply electricity
and synchronize power frequency and voltage with the shipboard
computer. The device will eventually supply power to as many as
70 cruise ships per year. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/print/2010/10/07/20

Harbor Group Delays Clean Air Vote. Harbor commissioners from Los
Angeles and Long Beach on Oct. 6 postponed a vote on an update to
the San Pedro Bay Ports Clean Air Action Plan to allow the public
more time to review the proposal. The 2010 CAAP Update is
expected to be back for consideration at a joint commission
meeting in November. Posted.
http://www.etrucker.com/apps/news/article.asp?id=85884

Onshore Energy for Ships To Reduce Port Pollution. The Port of
San Francisco this week became the first in California -- and
just the fourth port in the world -- to hook up a cruise ship to
onshore electricity to reduce air pollution, officials said. The
$5.2 million project unveiled Wednesday is expected to remove
more than a ton of deadly particulates from the air each year,
and that figure is expected to more than double as more ships are
outfitted to use the onshore power supplied by the city. Posted.
http://www.insidebayarea.com/news/ci_16273714 

PGE Denies Clean Air Act Violations at Boardman Plant. Portland
General Electric is denying charges that its Boardman coal-fired
power plant is operating in violation of the Clean Air Act. The
Environmental Protection Agency thinks otherwise, however, and
laid out the charges in a notice of violation sent to the
Portland-based utility on Sept. 28. The violation centers on
modifications made to the boiler at PGE’s (NYSE: POR) Boardman
facility in 1998 and 2004. Posted.
http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2010/10/04/daily25.html

SBCAG Board Does The Right Thing. Our Santa Barbara County
Association of Government’s board recently voted 7-6 along
North/South County lines to do the right thing in the face of
persistent environmental advocates who continue to dominate any
regional community planning conversation. The vote involved the
proposed emission-reduction targets identified in a California
Air Resource Board staff report regarding regional greenhouse gas
emissions reduction targets pursuant to Senate Bill 375. Posted.
http://www.santamariatimes.com/news/opinion/editorial/commentary/article_6e9b6e04-d1d0-11df-bffe-001cc4c002e0.html?print=1
TRANSPORTATION

Tax On Vehicle Miles Traveled Gains Support, But Raises Orwellian
Questions. To some, it's the tax that could rescue the country's
transportation budget. To others, it smacks of Big Brother.
Whatever its fate, the tax on vehicle miles traveled, or VMT tax,
will first face the fears of a public that's increasingly
suspicious of government power. Meanwhile, those familiar with
the technology will try to convince the public that if properly
designed, it can assess the tax correctly even as it protects
drivers' privacy. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2010/10/07/1

Tesla Reveals More Details About Electric Model S Sedan.
Welcoming reporters to its California headquarters for the first
time, electric carmaker Tesla Motors Inc. revealed that its Model
S sedan will store a battery pack in a large flat area below the
vehicle to support the body and increase aerodynamics. Tesla will
produce about 20,000 of the $57,000 sedans a year at a former
Toyota factory. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/print/2010/10/07/9

Honda Tops List Of Greenest Automakers; Big Three Finish Last.
Honda is once again the Union of Concern Scientists' greenest
automaker, thanks to its fleetwide improvements in fuel
efficiency and emphasis on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The
eight largest automakers all improved their smog and global
warming emissions in UCS's fifth automaker rankings. Both Toyota
and Hyundai placed second in what UCS called a "photo finish,"
nearly besting Honda for the top spot, which it has held in all
five rankings. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/print/2010/10/07/17

DIESELS

CARB Rethinks Reefer Retrofit Rule. Sacramento, Calif. – The
California Air Resources Board is proposing relaxing its
Transport Refrigeration Unit rule by lowering the requirement of
85 percent particulate control to 50 percent. The retrofit rule,
which take effect on December 31, 2010, affects TRUs operating in
California with 2003 or older model year engines. The engines
would still have to comply with the 85 percent requirement by
2017. Posted.
http://www.todaystrucking.com/news.cfm?intDocID=24777

BLOGS

Federal Government to Add 100 Electric Cars. Last October,
President Obama issued an executive order calling on government
agencies to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. Low-hanging
fruit for carbon reduction is in the transportation fleet,
particularly zero-emission, battery-electric cars, but there
aren’t many on the market, and very few federal agencies have
acquired them. Posted.
http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/06/federal-government-to-add-100-electric-cars/