What's New List Serve Post Display

California Air Resources Board News Clips for November 5, 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.

AIR POLLUTION

Protect Your Family From 'The Silent Killer'. California's fourth
annual Carbon Monoxide (CO) Awareness Week begins November 7, and
the California Safe Homes Coalition is urging families to help
protect themselves from this deadly gas.  Odorless, colorless and
tasteless, carbon monoxide is called the "Silent Killer," and is
the leading cause of accidental poisoning deaths in America,
according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Posted.
http://www.sacbee.com/2010/11/04/v-print/3160422/protect-your-family-from-the-silent.html

INLAND REGION: Check Air Quality before Lighting Fireplaces.
Inland residents are being asked to check the region's air
quality before lighting their wood-burning fireplaces this
winter. Starting a year from now, wood-burning bans will be
mandatory when air quality reaches unhealthful levels, according
to the South Coast Air Quality Management District in Diamond
Bar. For now, compliance is voluntary. Posted.
http://www.pe.com/localnews/stories/PE_News_Local_D_burn05.488e09d.html

CLIMATE CHANGE

Prop. 23 Celebrations Turn To Fears Over Prop. 26. Has the
popping of Champagne corks been premature?  We're referring to
the defeat of Proposition 23, which has been hailed as the
game-winning home run for California's climate change law.  But
celebrations have turned to fears about the impact of what some
have called its "evil twin" - Prop. 26, which passed Tuesday.
Posted.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/11/04/BU1O1G76RL.DTL#ixzz14QRNy9To

Obama Shifting Climate Strategy after GOP Gains. Can the
administration fight climate change without stressing climate
change?  The new Congress will usher in an unprecedented number
of lawmakers who question the link between human activity and
global warming. As a result, the Obama administration is
abandoning its two-year quest to convince the public and
lawmakers that global warming is a matter of scientific urgency.
Posted.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/04/AR2010110407204.html

California Voters Say Yes to Clean Energy and to Ending Budget
Gridlock. In back-to-back hits to Texas, one day after the San
Francisco Giants beat the Rangers; California voters delivered a
second great triumph, voting to safeguard the state’s booming
clean energy economy by defeating Proposition 23 and saying no to
dirty Texas oil. There were nine measures on the statewide
November ballot and NRDC took positions on four of them: we
supported Propositions 21 and 25, and opposed Propositions 23 and
26. Posted.
http://www.californiaprogressreport.com/site/?q=node/8352

U.N. Panel Calls For Carbon Levies On Air Travel, Shipping.
United Nations - International taxes or carbon tariffs on air and
ocean transport are feasible despite opposition in both developed
and developing countries, a U.N. advisory group said today in its
report on climate change financing. U.N. Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon said generating $100 billion in annual payments to poor
countries to help them cope with global warming is a moral
imperative. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/print/2010/11/05/10

China Could Trade Carbon Credits By 2013. China might have a
carbon trading market in place as early as 2013, said Richard
Sandor, a pioneer of the carbon credit market, during a climate
change forum in Hong Kong yesterday. "Irony of ironies, there's a
better understanding of cap and trade in Beijing than in
Washington," Sandor said. "In a communist economy, the need to do
it is very, very high." China is the world's leading energy
consumer and polluter. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2010/11/05/10

Attempts to Postpone AB 32 Fail. Attempts to postpone air
pollution controls in California failed this week as voters chose
to retain the state's Global Warming Solutions Act, also known at
AB 32. An estimated 61% of California’s voters on Tuesday said no
to proposition 23, which would have frozen the provisions of AB
32 until California's unemployment rate drops to 5.5% or below
for four consecutive quarters. Posted.
http://www.portworld.com/news/i97740/Attempts_to_postpone_AB_32_fail

Will Prop 26 Scuttle California Climate Regulations? California
voters handily defeated Proposition 23 on Election Day, ensuring
that state regulators can move forward on implementation of AB
32, the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006. Just last week, the
California Air Resources Board (CARB) issued a Proposed
Regulation Order establishing a statewide cap-and-trade system,
which is subject to final approval on Dec. 16, 2010; having
cleared the Prop. 23 hurdle, that regulatory process will now
continue apace, unhindered for the time being by other political
roadblocks. Posted.
http://www.grist.org/article/2010-11-04-will-prop-26-scuttle-california-climate-regulations

Prop 23 Is Dead: Long Live California's Green Guinea Pig! “When
policies advantageous to moneyed interests confront policies
focused on emissions reduction, it is the moneyed interests that
will win out every time.” source California's Prop 23 was thumped
last night in a 61% to 39% defeat. This suggests that this quote
is wrong or isn't nuanced enough. Does this California vote to
unilaterally battle climate change make any sense to political
economy scholars? Posted.
http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/Green-Economics/2010/1104/Prop-23-is-dead-Long-live-California-s-green-guinea-pig

Elias: Defeat Of Proposition 23 Seals State's Status As A Green
Leader. A lot of the folks who supported Proposition 23, the
soundly defeated plan to suspend California’s climate-change law,
insisted they were doing so at least in part to preserve the
state’s stature as a leader in a variety of industries, from
computer chips to gasoline refining. Not to worry. Computer chip
and software companies will continue to be a large presence in
places like the Silicon Valley, Orange County, the Conejo Valley
corridor along Highway 101 in Ventura County and in San Diego
County. And there will be no end to refining gasoline in places
like Carson and Richmond. Posted.
http://www.vcstar.com/news/2010/nov/04/defeat-of-proposition-23-seals-states-status-as/#ixzz14QSJtRXm


Valero, Benicia Wait, Watch After Prop. 23 Loses. It's too soon
to say how Tuesday's election result for Valero will affect the
company's Benicia refinery, a "disappointed" company official
said Thursday. Voters overwhelmingly rejected Proposition 23,
which would have suspended California's greenhouse gas reduction
law. The campaign to pass the measure was funded primarily by two
Texas oil companies, Valero and Tesoro. Proponents poured more
than $10.5 million into the fight, arguing that implementing
AB32, the 2006 climate change law, would cost private-sector
jobs. Posted. http://www.timesheraldonline.com/news/ci_16530639

VEHICLES

California Awards Job-Creating Grants for Electric Vehicle,
Biofuel Projects. The California Energy Commission has approved
eight grants for energy projects that will combine about $9.6
million in state funding with nearly $12 million in private
funds. The projects receiving financing will reduce petroleum
use, cut pollution and provide jobs by advancing the manufacture
of electric vehicles and vehicle batteries and encouraging the
use of biofuels, the commission said in a news release. Posted.
http://solarhbj.com/news/california-awards-job-creating-grants-for-ev-biofuel-projects-01087

California's First High-Speed Rail Segment May Run Through The
Central Valley. A federal rail agency wants the first $2.5
billion of the project directed to a single segment either
between Fresno and Merced or Fresno and Bakersfield. This portion
would be the backbone of a line linking San Francisco and
Anaheim. The first segment of California's proposed $43-billion
high-speed rail system may not be built in the highly populated
coastal areas of the state, but in the Central Valley, officials
said Thursday. Posted.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-high-speed-route-20101105,0,2462904,print.story

Going Green with Fleets in Challenging Times. These are
challenging times for companies that haul and distribute
refrigerated goods. A long recession and slow recovery have put
financial pressure on every link in the cold chain. Fuel costs
are up 13% this year, and the Energy Information Administration
sees even higher prices ahead. Refrigerated truck and reefer
trailer operators are finding it difficult—if not impossible—to
pass their higher operating costs on to customers, putting
pressure on margins that were already razor-thin. Posted.
http://refrigeratedtrans.com/carriers-shippers/going_green_with_fleets_in_challenging_times_1105/

New Car Economy Labels Could Reach Showrooms By 2012. If things
go as planned, new car buyers will soon see a change to the fuel
economy labels on window stickers in dealer showrooms. These
changes are being called the most dramatic overhaul in the
30-year history of the fuel economy label. The new labels are
being proposed to keep pace with the new fuel- efficient cars and
trucks coming to market. Posted.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/business/ci_16513155?nclick_check=1

Roadshow: Chevy Volt May Not Qualify For Carpool Stickers Until
2013 Model. Will solo drivers of the Chevy Volt be able to use
the carpool lanes and if so, will it begin for the 2011 or 2012
model year? My dealer called me recently saying that General
Motors is ready to begin production on my Volt, but I told him to
hold off until I got more information on this. Posted.
http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_16524869?source=rss&nclick_check=1

Volvo Revs Up Climate Goals with WWF Partnership. The company,
whose brands include Mack Trucks, Volvo Trucks, Renault Trucks
and UD Trucks, has become the world's first vehicle manufacturer
to join the WWF Climate Leaders program. The public-private
partnership consists of roughly two dozen of the world's largest
companies that have committed to reducing their sizable carbon
footprints, including Diversey, Johnson and Johnson, IBM, HP,
Sony and Nike. Posted.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUS4508260520101105

GREEN ENERGY

California Vote: Hope for Clean Energy. The fossil-fuel industry
might continue to have a tight grip on US politics, but its hold
isn’t complete, as this week’s defeat of California Proposition
23 proves. And that should give clean-energy advocates reason for
hope, even in the face of what’s likely to be two years of future
gridlock in the nation’s capital. Frustration over high
unemployment and a stagnant economy inspired many US voters — in
particular, anti-government Tea Party supporters — to oust a
number of Democratic incumbents at the state and national level
in this week’s mid-term elections. Posted.
http://www.greenbang.com/california-vote-shows-hope-for-clean-energy_15520.html

D.C. Greenlights Solar Energy Site. The federal government gave
final approval Thursday to a solar energy plant outside Blythe
that is expected to bring more than 1,000 construction jobs to
the Riverside County. The Genesis Solar Project, which will be on
nearly 1,950 acres of public land about 25 miles west of Blythe,
is expected to produce enough energy to power 75,000 to 187,500
homes, according to the U.S. Department of the Interior. Posted.
http://www.mydesert.com/article/20101105/NEWS07/11050324/D.C.+greenlights+solar+energy+site

OPINION

Tuesday's Environmental Impact. The Republican takeover of the
House puts an end to hopes for a federal bill. But headway will
still be made at the state level. From an environmental
standpoint, it's hard to figure out whether to celebrate or mourn
the results of Tuesday's election. The failure of Proposition 23,
which would have suspended California's efforts to cut greenhouse
gas emissions, sends a powerful message that tough economic times
haven't blinded Golden State voters to the urgent threat posed by
climate change. Posted.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-climate-20101105,0,2466423,print.story

The Sneaky Threat That Could Cripple California's Climate Law.
California voters batted down an oil-industry-backed evisceration
of their state's climate program on Tuesday, giving environmental
groups one of their biggest victories this year. But in the midst
of all the celebration of the defeat of Proposition 23, few are
talking about the fact that Californians also passed a
proposition that could quietly undo the very law they voted to
protect. Proposition 26 has been called Prop. 23's "sneaky,
environmentally unfriendly stepsister."  Posted.
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2010/11/the-sneaky-threat-that-could-cripple-californias-climate-law/66137/

BLOGS

Should Democrats Blame Waxman and Markey? Bloomberg News
Representatives Edward J. Markey, left, and Henry A. Waxman
during a markup session last year. Environmental advocates and
backers of the House climate change measure have been scrambling
this week to dodge the blame for the drubbing that Democrats took
in the midterm elections. They have produced various spreadsheets
and analyses showing that House members who voted for the 2009
climate bill sponsored by Henry A. Waxman of California and
Edward J. Markey of Massachusetts were just as likely to keep
their seats as those who voted against it. Posted.
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/05/should-democrats-blame-waxman-and-markey/?pagemode=print

Southern California Freeway Pollution: Is Monitoring Adequate? A
federal appeals court was asked Thursday to decide what the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency should do about noxious air
pollution along some of Southern California's busiest highways.
The case brought against the EPA by the Natural Resources Defense
Council has been knocking around the courts for years, with the
federal government's stance fluctuating with the politics of
successive administrations. Posted.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/greenspace/2010/11/southern-californial-air-pollution-goods-movement.html

Obama Faces Tricky Decision On Polar Bear, Climate Change. Just
as President Obama faces a Congress that promises to be more
skeptical of climate-related environmental regulation, a federal
court has tossed a controversial case back in his lap: the polar
bear. The bear was the first species to be listed as threatened
due to climate change, setting off a furor among the Alaska
delegation -- Lisa Murkowski, among the critics, appears to be a
winner in her write-in campaign. Murkowski, Alaska's senior
senator has tried to undermine the endangered-species finding. 
Posted.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/greenspace/2010/11/obama-administration-faces-tricky-decision-on-polar-bear-climate-change.html

Why Prop. 23 Failed. I'm not totally surprised that Proposition
23 failed. Californians --- liberal Californians especially --
like their environment. But I am surprised by the margin and by
the utter failure of the argument that now -- in this economy --
is not the time to forge ahead in fighting global warming. But
this map from the secretary of state's office, I think, really
says it all about why 23 never had a chance. Posted.
http://blogs.redding.com/bross/archives/2010/11/why-prop-23-fai.html

Go Green Auto Rally is a Different Kind of Event for the Home of
the Grand Prix. Long Beach is home to an annual grand prix that
has high-performance race cars zooming through city streets. But
this weekend, a different kind of racing event starts in the LBC
and follows a 100-mile course that ends in Malibu, one that does
not necessarily reward its drivers for speed. The Go Green Auto
Rally intends to entertain and inform enthusiasts by having up to
200 drivers Saturday and Sunday compete to find out who is the
best "eco-driver." Posted.
http://blogs.ocweekly.com/navelgazing/2010/11/go_green_auto_rally_long_beach.php