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California Air Resources Board News Clips for December 6, 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

San Diego Landfill Cited For High Methane Levels. High methane
levels at San Diego's Miramar Landfill led to more than two dozen
environmental violations in the past two years and the state
declared the dump doesn't meet basic operating standards. The
city was cited 14 times for elevated gas levels underground, and
an onsite contractor, Fortistar Methane Group, received 12
violations for air pollution and related problems, the San Diego
Union Tribune reported Saturday. The recurring problems at
Miramar could lead to increased fines, technical assistance and
harsher measures for Fortistar, said John Adams, compliance
director with the San Diego Air Pollution Control District.
Posted.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/12/05/state/n124250S88.DTL#ixzz17J0PIRfH
http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_16784243?nclick_check=1

Hong Kong Air Pollution Hits `Very High' Levels at Three Roadside
Stations. Hong Kong’s Environmental Protection Department
reported “very high” air pollution at the city’s three roadside
monitoring stations. The Air Pollution Index was 115 in Central,
144 in Causeway Bay and 128 in Mong Kok as of 6 a.m., the
department said on its website. Readings above 100 are classified
“very high” and trigger a government warning for people with
heart or respiratory ailments to avoid prolonged stays in heavy
traffic areas.  Posted.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-12-05/hong-kong-air-pollution-hits-very-high-levels-at-three-roadside-stations.html

Draft Air Pollution Rules for Boilers Were Too Strict, EPA Air
Chief Says. Having taken comment on controversial new regulations
for industrial boilers, U.S. EPA now believes that some pollution
limits in the draft rules "were simply too tight to be able to be
achievable," the agency's air chief said today, signaling that
the agency is readying final regulations that won't be as tough
on businesses. When EPA issued the proposal in April, the agency
was scrambling to meet a court deadline, said Gina McCarthy, the
agency's assistant administrator for air and radiation, on the
sidelines of an event in Washington, D.C. Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2010/12/02/02greenwire-draft-air-pollution-rules-for-boilers-were-too-79802.html

CLIMATE CHANGE

As California Prepares To Implement Low Carbon Standards Under
A.B. 32, Fears Of Energy Price Spikes Mount. California continues
to lead the nation in an effort to reduce carbon emissions, but
at what cost? According to a report compiled by free market
proponent Calwatchdog.org, the potential cost per household
ranges from $570 to $6,500 annually, and the price of gasoline
would increase 61 cents per gallon by January. However, some
economists argue that the studies cited in the report are flawed
and politically motivated. Posted.
http://www.whittierdailynews.com/news/ci_16783685#ixzz17IpGHQcE
http://www.sgvtribune.com/news/ci_16783685?source=rss

At Climate Summit, They're Feeling Like Deserted Islands. Members
of the Alliance of Small Island States, already suffering the ill
effects of global warming, are furious that the large nations
that are the big emitters of greenhouse gases aren't doing more
to ensure their survival. Reporting from Cancun, Mexico — In the
scrum of 9,000 negotiators gathered in Cancun to wrangle over a
global climate treaty Ronny Jumeau has no patience for diplomatic
niceties. "I won't shut up," said the pugnacious chief of the
three-member delegation from Seychelles, an Indian Ocean
archipelago. Posted.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-climate-islands-20101204,0,3114721.story

Usual Frenzy Is Gone From Climate Talks, but Results Still Seem
Distant. Cancun, Mexico -- Hysteria seems to have taken a holiday
from the U.N. climate change treaty talks. Maybe it's the sun, or
the calming turquoise waters that greet negotiators each morning.
Or maybe it's that expectations for this year's annual global
warming summit already are set at the lowest rung. But the
anxiety and frenzy that marked last year's conference in
Copenhagen, Denmark, are largely absent from this Yucatan
peninsula resort town. Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2010/12/06/06climatewire-usual-frenzy-is-gone-from-climate-talks-but-21843.html

High Court Will Review Climate Change Lawsuit. Washington (AP) -
In a new case about climate change, the Supreme Court will hear
an appeal from electric utilities that are trying to
short-circuit an effort by states to force cuts in power plant
emissions. The court agreed Monday to consider ending a federal
lawsuit by eight states, New York City and others that accuse the
power companies of being among the largest emitters of carbon
dioxide in the world. The suit asks a federal judge to order
reductions in the emissions in plants in 20 states. Posted.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gjltf4fzGxonC9Qo6ccy5uqqpYzA?docId=b3259cd971154ceabd31c84ecbdff7c7

Mexico Assures Climate Delegates: No Secret Talks. Cancun, Mexico
(AP) – Mexico's foreign secretary is telling the global climate
conference in Cancun there will be no secret negotiations in the
meeting's final days, assuring delegates they will not see a
repeat of the last hours of 2009's Copenhagen climate summit.
Foreign Secretary Patricia Espinosa says the Mexico hosts will
work with full transparency in the coming days in the difficult,
slow-moving annual talks to find ways to combat climate change.
Posted. 
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101205/ap_on_re_us/climate

Obama Made ‘Big Mistake’ on Climate Bill, Turner Says. U.S.
President Barack Obama made a “big mistake” in pushing
health-care legislation before climate change, billionaire Ted
Turner said today. “We would have an energy climate change bill
in the United States if President Obama had made that his top
priority and brought that to the American people and Congress
first rather than the health-care bill,” Turner, founder of Time
Warner Inc.’s CNN, said today at a conference in Cancun, Mexico.
“But he didn’t, and I think it was a big mistake.” Posted.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-12-05/obama-made-big-mistake-on-climate-bill-turner-says-update1-.html

Climate Groups Retool Argument For Global Warming. The number of
Americans who believe that global warming is a scientific fact
has been dropping, and environmental groups and climate
scientists who say the evidence for warming is clear are
scratching their heads over this reversal and scrambling to find
a new strategy. Three years ago, former Vice President Al Gore
won a Nobel Prize for publicizing the threat of climate change
with his book and documentary film, An Inconvenient Truth.
Posted.
http://www.npr.org/2010/12/05/131780926/climate-groups-retool-argument-for-global-warming

Action On Greenhouse Gases A 2011 Priority For Senate EPW Panel –
Boxer. The political collapse of cap-and-trade climate
legislation won't dislodge greenhouse gas emissions reductions
from the top of the Senate Environment and Public Works
Committee's agenda next year, Chairwoman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.)
vowed today. Briefing reporters on her priorities for the
international climate talks proceeding in Mexico (see related
story), Boxer framed her hard-fought re-election victory last
month -- as well as Californians' rejection of a bid to delay the
landmark state global warming law -- as a sign of public support
for cutting carbon emissions without a comprehensive climate
bill. Posted. http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/print/2010/12/06/2

FUELS

What's The Price Of Unsubsidized Ethanol? Depends On Whom You
Ask. Ethanol boosters and bashers have conflicting predictions
for how fuel pump prices could change if tax credits and other
industry supports are allowed to expire at the end of this year,
with some predicting a price drop, while others see it going up.
Last week, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) declared in floor
testimony, "A lapse in the ethanol tax incentive is a gas tax
increase of over 5 cents a gallon at the pump." Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/print/2010/12/06/3

GREEN ENERGY

DWP Quietly Scales Back Villaraigosa's Ambitious Renewable Energy
Goal. Leadership upheaval at the agency has resulted in shifting
priorities. Under First Deputy Mayor Austin Beutner, the agency
is revising plans to generate 40% of its power from renewable
sources by 2020. As Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa
prepares to pick the next general manager of the Department of
Water and Power — his sixth in three and a half years — the
massive utility is quietly backing away from his ambitious goal
of generating 40% of its power from renewable sources by 2020.
Posted.
http://www.latimes.com/news/science/environment/la-me-dwp-dysfunction-20101206,0,5400566.story?track=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+latimes%2Fnews%2Fscience%2Fenvironment+%28L.A.+Times+-+Environment%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

Home Wind Power Faces Roadblocks In San Francisco. San Francisco
may encourage wind and solar energy use equally, but the number
of solar panel installations has doubled to more than 2,000 since
a citywide incentive was drawn up 2 1/2 years ago. Meanwhile, the
number of wind turbines remains in the single digits. "Wind
turbines are less common right now in San Francisco because
they're a little more unpredictable," said Tyrone Jue, spokesman
for the city's Public Utilities Commission. Posted.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/12/05/BAOR1GLP1M.DTL#ixzz17LoX4KvK

MURRIETA: Schools' Energy Savings Lauded. The Murrieta Valley
Unified School District has been selected as one of six Green
Schools Leadership Awards recipients by the Green California
Schools Summit. The awards will be presented in Pasadena on
Thursday during the fourth annual summit, a statewide conference
and trade show focused on building, running and teaching in high
performance schools. The only other Inland school district to be
honored this year is San Bernardino City Unified, which will
receive a "green building" award for its use of green building
standards, summit officials said in a news release. Posted.
http://www.pe.com/localnews/stories/PE_News_Local_D_sgreen05.24bdacc.html

Branson Says Oil May Hit $200 a Barrel Without New Clean-Energy
Policies. Oil prices may soar to $200 a barrel if the world
doesn’t move more rapidly to a clean-energy economy, Richard
Branson, founder of Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd., said in an
interview. “It’s certainly conceivable unless we can start to
conserve energy quickly and come up with alternative fuels,”
Branson said yesterday in Cancun, Mexico, where countries are
meeting to negotiate a new accord to combat climate change.
Posted.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-12-05/branson-says-oil-may-hit-200-a-barrel-without-new-clean-energy-policies.html

Green Energy Faces Stiff GOP Headwinds On Hill. The Obama
administration lavished billions of stimulus dollars on
wind-power producers and other renewable-energy interests, but
the whirl of the turbines may slow dramatically as budget-cutting
Republicans take their seats in the next Congress. The climate -
at least on Capitol Hill - has changed dramatically for the
wind-power industry, which is dealing with President Obama's
stalled green-energy agenda as well as the loss of old friends in
Washington and the nation's statehouses and the rise to power of
"tea party"-backed Republicans who are skeptical of government
supports for the industry. Posted.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/dec/5/green-energy-faces-stiff-gop-headwinds-on-hill/

The $200 Billion Global Clean Technology Market May Be Headed For
A Fall – Analysts. United Nations -- Investment in clean tech has
recovered nicely in 2010 but may fall off a cliff again if
governments don't continue their generous support, market
analysts warned government officials in Mexico late last week.
Private investments in alternative energy projects, advanced
battery storage, energy-efficient technologies and other
clean-tech industries grew 12 percent in the third quarter this
year. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2010/12/06/3

VEHICLES

Green Energy: Why Hybrids Still Need Government Motors. U.S.
sales of hybrids are projected to decline for the third year in
2010. More than half were Toyota Priuses and Uncle Sam bought
almost a fourth of the GM and Ford hybrids. If more than a dozen
years of uninspiring hybrid car sales are any predictor, a new
generation of even more expensive plug-in electric models now
coming on the market, such as General Motors' (GM) Chevy Volt and
Nissan's Leaf, will be a tough sell with consumers. 
Posted.
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/10_50/b4207037558297.htm

Auto Execs Say Car Of The Future Won't Be Cheap. Los Angeles — It
all sounds so easy: Impose higher average gas mileage standards
on the auto industry. Motorists will not only save money, but
America will wean itself off oil. Just one problem. In meeting
the new regulations, cars could cost thousands more than buyers
would ever save on fuel costs, industry leaders and experts warn.
"The American public should start getting used to paying more,"
says Joel Ewanick, General Motors' new marketing chief. High-tech
cars built for big increases in gas mileage and lower carbon
emissions a decade from now "are not going to be cheap."  Posted.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2010-12-06-autoroundtable06_CV_N.htm

Long Life For Electric Vehicles. Oil prices have reached roughly
$90 a barrel, the highest since October 2008 when the financial
crisis hit and global economies stomped on the brakes. Next year
oil could reach $100, but nearly $50 less than the peak in July
two years ago. The price of oil should continue to rise as long
as economies do. The next time oil skyrockets the world’s auto
companies will have protection against the disastrous
consequences: electric vehicles (EVs). Posted.
http://www.green-energy-news.com/arch/nrgs2010/20100079.html

OPINION

Dan Morain: Lights, Camera – But Not Enough Action.  Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger, the body builder-action hero, is exiting office
much like he entered it, heavy on flourish and style, light on
substance. He will try one last time to balance California's
books, unveiling a final package of concepts Monday as he urges
the Legislature to cut another $6 billion from the budget. It
will be little more than a feint. There is no magic outside
Hollywood. For all his swagger and hubris, Schwarzenegger is
bequeathing a worse budget mess to Jerry Brown than the one he
inherited from the man he recalled, Gov. Gray Davis. Posted.
http://www.sacbee.com/2010/12/05/3231845/lights-camera-but-not-enough-action.html

Ethanol on the Run.  A left-right coalition is emerging against
this energy boondoggle. The political class inevitably invokes
the moon shot or Manhattan Project as a model for every
unrealistic energy goal, but for once maybe that hyperbole is
apt: A left-right coalition is emerging to end ethanol subsidies.
Last week, no fewer than 17 Senators signed a letter calling
ethanol "fiscally indefensible" and "environmentally unwise." Led
by Democrat Dianne Feinstein and Republican Jon Kyl, the group
said Congress shouldn't extend certain subsidies that expire at
the end of the year, including the 45-cent-per-gallon tax credit
for blending ethanol into gasoline and tariffs on cheaper
imports. Posted.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704679204575646860280389400.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

The Queen Of The Road: Clean Air Sticker Renewal, Unsafe Exits
And Going Halfsies On A Fastrak Tag. COMMUTER: I have enjoyed
having a (Clean Air) sticker on my Prius for the past five years.
This was set to expire at the end of this year, but earlier in
the year there was a bill being discussed that would extend the
stickers to the end of June. I never heard whether it was finally
passed and signed into law, so right now I don't know if I have
to stop using the carpool lanes Jan. 1, or if I have until the
end of June. Do you know what the situation is on this? Posted.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/news/ci_16762290

Letter: Corn Refiners Object. The Nov. 14, 2010, editorial "A
To-Do List for the Lame-Duck Congress," may mislead consumers
about high fructose corn syrup. Contrary to misperceptions, high
fructose corn syrup is not a protected commodity; rather, it is
subject to all of the highs and lows of marketplace supply and
demand. According to an October 2009 assessment of U.S. farm
programs and the corn refining industry by Promar International,
"The net effect of federal programs for agriculture and renewable
fuels has been an increase in the price that corn refiners pay
for corn. Posted.
http://www.appeal-democrat.com/articles/corn-101832-high-syrup.html

Defying The Will Of The People, Obama Governs By Regulation.
Sitting presidents whose agendas are soundly rejected by voters
in midterm congressional elections have two options: They can
either accommodate the new political reality, as President
Clinton did after 1994; or they can use bureaucratic edicts to
advance their unpopular programs, as President Obama is clearly
doing now. Given the historic drubbing his party just suffered at
the polls, Obama's defiant strategy may prevent a second term for
the man who began his first buoyed by an outpouring of good will.
Posted.
http://washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/editorials/2010/12/examiner-editorial-defying-will-people-obama-governs-regulation#ixzz17JD9K9K1

Perspective: Plug In, Turn Off, Go Clean, When It Comes To
Greening the Supply Chain, Never Say Never. Shortly after I
joined the staff at the Port of Long Beach more than 20 years
ago, I spoke with a colleague about what was then referred to as
"cold ironing." I remember that person saying, "It will never
happen." The logic was persuasive. At the time, cargo ships were
built at shipyards throughout the world, and retrofitting them
for one standard of electrical power would be difficult, my
colleague asserted. Posted.
http://www.cunninghamreport.com/news_item.php?id=1387

BLOGS

A ‘Shared Vision’ on Climate, With a Glitch.  [Dec. 5, 10:35 a.m.
| Updated Rajendra K. Pachauri, the chairman of the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has confirmed the small
error in the draft described below. On Sunday morning, he told me
he was contacting relevant officials about "the need for
correcting the wording that the statement uses."] Cancún, Mexico
— The United Nations office managing negotiations toward a new
international climate pact on Saturday issued several draft
documents for consideration by senior government emissaries in
this, the final week of the treaty conference. Posted.
http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/05/a-draft-shared-vision-on-climate-with-a-glitch/?scp=2&sq=climate%20change&st=cse