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California Air Resources Board News Clips for November 8, 2010. 

 
This is a service of the California Air Resources Board’s Office
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individual websites to view some of the following news articles.


CLIMATE CHANGE

California's Global Warming Law 'Full Speed Ahead' -- But Faces
Long Road. California is pushing ahead with efforts to cut
greenhouse gas emissions after voters overwhelmingly rejected a
proposition to suspend the state's global warming law. The 61
percent-to-39 percent vote Tuesday against Proposition 23
re-energized the California Air Resources Board and other
agencies charged with implementing the state's climate change
agenda. "It's full speed ahead," Air Resources Board Chairwoman
Mary Nichols said in a conference call with reporters on
Wednesday. Posted.
http://www.sacbee.com/2010/11/06/v-print/3163723/californias-global-warming-law.html

Climate Scientists Plan Campaign Against Global Warming Skeptics.
The American Geophysical Union plans to announce that 700
researchers have agreed to speak out on the issue. Other
scientists plan a pushback against congressional conservatives
who have vowed to kill regulations on greenhouse gas emissions.
Faced with rising political attacks, hundreds of climate
scientists are joining a broad campaign to push back against
congressional conservatives who have threatened prominent
researchers with investigations and vowed to kill regulations to
rein in man-made greenhouse gas emissions. Posted.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-climate-scientists-20101108,0,5458004,print.story

In Climate Politics, Texas Aims To Be The Anti-California. The
state has filed seven lawsuits against the EPA, and its members
of Congress want to check the EPA's efforts to curb greenhouse
gases. 'At times they're their own country,' one observer says.
For decades, California has set the pace for the country on air
pollution and climate change, adopting ever-higher standards for
controlling auto emissions and, more recently, greenhouse gases
that scientists say have led to global warming. Posted.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-texas-climate-20101107,0,2673301,print.story

Europe's Military Leaders Differ With U.S. Republicans Over
Urgency of Global Warming Problems. Halifax, Nova Scotia --
Cap-and-trade legislation is "dead for the foreseeable future,"
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said this weekend as military
leaders cited climate change as one of the world's top security
challenges. Speaking to ClimateWire at the Halifax International
Security Forum this weekend, Graham -- once a Republican
co-sponsor of major climate change legislation, said the idea of
a sweeping bill "just doesn't play with the public anymore." He
sidestepped the question of whether rising global temperatures
indeed pose a security risk, as did another onetime climate bill
champion, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).  Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2010/11/08/08climatewire-europes-military-leaders-differ-with-us-repu-37563.html?pagewanted=print

Concern Over the Environment Rises in Asia. Hong Kong — Perhaps
it is because most Asian economies are booming. Or perhaps it is
because a series of recent weather-linked catastrophes and
headline-grabbing pollution issues have hammered home the point.
Either way, climate change and environmental issues have moved up
Asia’s list of worries, often topping any concerns about the
global economy, according to opinion polls released over the past
two weeks. Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/08/business/energy-environment/08green.html?ref=energy-environment&pagewanted=print

Taking Reins Of Climate Change Coalition, NY Mayor Bloomberg Vows
To Promote Electric Taxis. City authorities are often better
placed than national governments to combat climate change, New
York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Saturday, vowing to
promote the use of electric taxis as he takes over the leadership
of a global coalition of major cities. The billionaire mayor
urged delegates at the C40 conference in Hong Kong to wield the
power of its large collective population, which accounts for
about 1 in 12 people in the world. C40 is a coalition of 40
cities. It was founded in 2005 with the aim of reducing carbon
emissions. Posted.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/wire/sns-ap-as-hong-kong-mayors-climate-conference,0,2919091,print.story
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ia4AT2Eyupenf1YIPSe7HuTseryw?docId=eff5ca3068cd47d08d18f73bee02e55e
http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2010/11/08/bloomberg-to-america-lay-off-the-chinese/

Climate Panel Offers Ways to Raise Cash to Cope. United Nations —
After grappling with a fundamental deadlock between rich and poor
nations over climate change, a high-level United Nations panel on
Friday proposed a smorgasbord of ways to raise $100 billion
annually to help developing countries cope with global warming.
The standoff over who should pay the bill for environmental
degradation has bedeviled efforts to forge an international
agreement to address climate change. Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/06/world/06nations.html?_r=1&src=twrhp&pagewanted=print

Pioneering Cap-and-Trade Program to Fade into the Sunset. A tough
political atmosphere in which Congress backed away from
comprehensive clean energy and climate change legislation may
have been the nail in the coffin for one of the voluntary carbon
market's early pioneers. The Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX) will
discontinue its voluntary greenhouse gas cap-and-trade program
next month, according to Intercontinental Exchange Inc., its
parent company. Posted.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUS83245215220101108

New Shipping Lanes in Melting Arctic Will Accelerate Global
Warming. But current technology can reduce ship pollution 90%,
and a House committee is weighing law to reduce black carbon
emissions. In the next few decades, a warming Arctic will open up
shorter shipping routes, potentially reducing the amount of fuel
needed to travel between ports. But the increased amount of soot
in the atmosphere could further accelerate the region's climate
change, and the shorter distances won't generate enough fuel
savings to offset the impact. Posted.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUS22256888320101108

Air Board Seeks Public Comment On Cap-And-Trade. With four years
of refining and retooling behind it, the California Air Resources
Board has released the details of the long-awaited greenhouse gas
emissions cap-and-trade regulation proposal. The release of the
proposal ushers in a public comment period that began Monday. On
Dec. 16, the Board will hold a hearing in Sacramento to consider
the adopting the proposed program.. Posted.
http://www.turlockjournal.com/news/article/6451/

Global Dimming’s Dark Days. Dear EarthTalk: I've heard of global
warming, of course, but what on Earth is "global dimming?" Max S.
Seattle, Wash. Global dimming is a less well-known but real
phenomenon resulting from atmospheric pollution. The burning of
fossil fuels by industry and internal combustion engines, in
addition to releasing the carbon dioxide that collects and traps
the sun's heat within our atmosphere, causes the emission of
so-called particulate pollution — composed primarily of sulphur
dioxide, soot and ash. Posted.
http://www.smdp.com/Articles-c-2010-11-08-70695.113116-Global-dimmings-dark-days.html#print

U.S. To Weigh 'Different Approaches' To Curbing Ghgs – Clinton.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said yesterday that the
White House would look at "some different approaches" to limiting
greenhouse gas emissions that could gain traction with Congress
in the wake of lawmakers' failure to pass cap-and-trade climate
legislation. In an interview with the Australian Broadcasting
Co., Clinton sought to assure the South Pacific nation that the
demise of a cap-and-trade plan for curbing emissions would not
spell the end of U.S. action on climate change. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/print/2010/11/08/3

The U.S. Takes A More Detailed Look At Earth's Emissions. The
federal government said Friday it will create two new satellite
programs to map and monitor the world's land cover. One program,
Silva Carbon, seeks to improve knowledge of how much carbon is
stored in Earth's forests. The second, the Global Land-Cover Data
Initiative, aims to create a more detailed database of satellite
images that show how Earth's land cover is changing. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2010/11/08/7

DIESEL EMISSIONS

Fresno Trucker Hurt By Complying With Air Regulations. David
Chidester last year leased $5.5 million worth of new diesel
trucks to meet new air standards by Jan. 1 this year. He was
trying to play by the rules. But that decision may kill his
business. His Fresno-based freight-hauling company is caught
between the recession and 2008 diesel rules requiring billions of
dollars worth of new California trucks over the next several
years. Posted.
http://www.fresnobee.com/2010/11/08/v-print/2150889/fresno-trucker-hurt-by-complying.html
http://www.fresnobee.com/2010/11/07/v-print/2150849/truckers-air-cleanup-hits-snag.html
http://www.sacbee.com/2010/11/08/3167311/fresno-trucker-hurt-by-complying.html

VEHICLES

Automakers Change Course In Fuel Economy Debate. After two years
of positive interaction, automakers and dealers are vowing to
fight an Obama administration proposal to raise fuel economy
standards to as much as 62 mpg by 2025. The automakers, buoyed by
rising profits and a business-friendly Congress, accused U.S. EPA
and the Department of Transportation of understating the cost of
fuel-efficient technology by billions of dollars and suggested
the industry might go to court. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/print/2010/11/08/13

Oak Ridge Engineers Step Into The Realm Of Wireless Battery
Charging. While the automobile industry is pouring money into
advanced plug-in electric vehicles, researchers at Oak Ridge
National Laboratory are seeking to pull the plug on charging. For
the last two years, engineers with the lab's Power Electronics
and Electrical Power Systems Research Center have been working on
a way to charge vehicles wirelessly through electromagnetic
induction, a phenomenon known to scientists for almost two
hundred years. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2010/11/08/5

GREEN ENERGY

Cogenra Solar's System Includes Practical Twist. A gleaming array
of mirrors tucked behind a Sonoma County winery promises a new
wrinkle in renewable energy - solar power without all the waste.
Solar panels convert into electricity just a fraction of the
energy the sun throws at them, typically 15 to 20 percent. The
rest is wasted as heat. But the solar array nestled next to the
Sonoma Wine Co. captures the heat as well. The winery gets
electricity for its lights and bottling machinery as well as hot
water - up to 165 degrees - for cleaning barrels. Posted.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/11/08/BU9R1G7Q9L.DTL&type=printable

Cost of Green Power Makes Projects Tougher Sell. Michael Polsky’s
wind farm company was doing so well in 2008 that banks were happy
to lend millions for his effort to light up America with clean
electricity. But two years later, Mr. Polsky has a product he is
hard-pressed to sell. His company, Invenergy, had a contract to
sell power to a utility in Virginia, but state regulators
rejected the deal, citing the recession and the lower prices of
natural gas and other fossil fuels. Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/08/science/earth/08fossil.html?_r=1&ref=energy-environment&pagewanted=print

Facebook Under Pressure To Be Greener. Paris — Facebook, the
giant social networking site, is under fire from Greenpeace
International, the environmental campaigner, over its
construction of a data center in Prineville, Oregon, that will be
powered by PacifiCorp, a company that gets 58 percent of its
energy from burning coal.  Storing and transmitting messages,
pictures and other information through Facebook uses a vast and
rapidly increasing amount of energy, as the network continues to
expand. Its membership passed the 500 million mark in July this
year.  Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/04/business/energy-environment/04iht-rbogface.html?ref=energy-environment&pagewanted=print

The Great Transmission Heist. The latest scheme to subsidize
solar and wind power to the detriment of rate payers. How would
you like to pay higher utility bills to finance expensive
electricity from solar and wind power, which you would never use?
That's the issue now before the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission (FERC), and it deserves more public and political
scrutiny before it becomes a reality. FERC has a draft rule that
could effectively socialize the costs of paying for multi-billion
dollar transmission lines to connect remote wind and solar
projects to the nation's electric power grid. Posted.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304772804575558400606672006.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

New Energy: Climate Change And Sustainability Shape A New Era.  A
new energy revolution – similar to shifts from wood to coal to
oil – is inevitable as climate change and oil scarcity drive a
global search for sustainability in power production. But even
the promise of renewable energy holds drawbacks. San Francisco —
"Tonight I want to have an unpleasant talk with you," a somber
President Jimmy Carter said gravely into a television camera on
an April night in 1977. A series of oil embargoes and OPEC price
hikes had hit the nation hard. Gasoline prices had tripled.
Posted.
http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/2010/1108/New-energy-climate-change-and-sustainability-shape-a-new-era

Industry Could Face Less Funding Without Climate Bill. With
climate change skeptics filling many seats of those who had been
advocates for national legislation to address the issue, the
clean-tech industry could receive less in incentives and tax
credits for solar, wind and other alternative energy projects.
Congress is more likely to focus on balancing the budget and
cutting taxes instead, according to analysts and industry
executives. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/print/2010/11/08/14

OPINION

Renewable Energy Projects. To the Editor: You correctly note in
your Oct. 28 editorial “Remember Renewable Energy?” that the
process of approving renewable energy development must move
faster. But adverse effects of industrial-scale solar and wind
projects on water, wildlife and fragile ecosystems should not be
ignored in the rush to approval.  Interior Secretary Ken Salazar
has promised to harness the lessons learned from the first
generation of renewable energy projects to improve the process —
Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/08/opinion/lweb08energy.html?src=twrhp&pagewanted=print

Ballot Measures Guarantee Job Losses, Stagnation. Winners may
celebrate but two ballot decisions will have serious,
long-lasting consequences for the California economy. The first
is the rejection of Proposition 23, which intended to suspend AB
32, the state’s carbon emission law, until the unemployment rate
declines to 5.5 percent for four consecutive quarters. Analyses
by the Legislative Analyst’s Office, PRI, and the Small Business
Roundtable all agreed that AB 32 would reduce jobs in the state.
Posted.
http://www.sfexaminer.com/opinion/columns/oped_contributors/Ballot-measures-guarantee-job-losses-stagnation-106856188.html

Sensenbrenner: Keep Climate Panel Alive So I Can Investigate EPA.
One of the top climate skeptics in the House is asking GOP
leadership to keep the Democrats’ global warming committee alive
to investigate the Obama administration’s environmental policies.
Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.), ranking member of the Select
Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, is making
good on his promise to pitch Republicans to revamp the committee
to focus on the costs of Environmental Protection Agency
regulations. Posted.
http://www.politico.com/blogs/glennthrush/1110/Sensenbrenner_Keep_climate_panel_alive_so_I_can_investigate_EPA.html

The EV Edge. Honda is Finally on Board with Plug-ins. Many people
new to the EV world may not understand the importance of Honda’s
announcement about the inevitability of EVs. Honda’s new CEO,
Takanobu Ito, stated in an interview with Reuters, “It’s starting
to look like there will be a market for electric vehicles. We
can’t keep shooting down their potential, and we can’t say
there’s no business case for it.” Posted.
http://www.thecuttingedgenews.com/index.php?article=21765

BLOGS

On Our Radar: Texas Battles Climate Regulation. Texas officials
step up their efforts to strip the Environmental Protection
Agency of its authority to regulate the state’s carbon dioxide
emissions, the highest in the nation. The attorney general, Greg
Abbott, has filed seven lawsuits against the agency in the last
nine months related to climate rules and other environmental
controls. [The Los Angeles Times] The Texas governor, Rick Perry,
recently re-elected to his third term, continues to take a hard
line against the E.P.A. and federal regulation in general.
Posted.
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/08/on-our-radar-texas-battles-climate-regulation/?pagemode=print

New Exhibit Helps Celebrity Scientist Teach Climate Change. The
Chabot Space and Science Center will take on climate change in a
big way this month when it opens a new exhibit with the help of a
little scientific star power. Science educator Bill Nye,
popularly known as "Bill Nye the Science Guy," came to Chabot on
Friday to introduce the new "Bill Nye's Climate Lab," which opens
to the public on November 20. Nye, wearing his signature blue lab
coat and bow tie, addressed a group of reporters on Friday as
part of a sneak preview of the new exhibit. Posted.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/inoakland/detail?entry_id=76554#ixzz14iV0gWYv

Legal Experts Disagree On Prop 26's Effect On AB 32. Will Prop 26
make it difficult to enforce regulations under AB 32? That’s been
the fear of many environmentalists since the initiative passed on
Tuesday. After all, AB 32 — California’s landmark global warming
law — will require tough new regulations to enforce, while Prop
26 — a successful initiative that will requires a two-thirds
majority to impose fees that address “health, environmental, or
other societal or economic concerns” — makes passing new
regulations tough, to say the least.
http://www.scpr.org/blogs/environment/2010/11/05/legal-experts-disagree-whether-prop-26-will-affect/