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California Air Resources Board News Clips for December 31, 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.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

AIR POLLUTION

California Clean Air Fund Gets $1 Million. • Settlements benefit
education and air quality research• Some money also goes to help
community colleges. The California Air Resources Board is
distributing $1 million to a state clean air fund as a result of
settlements with over 58 companies that violated clean air laws,
CARB says. The settlements also provide a small amount of money
that will be used by community colleges. California law requires
that companies doing business in the state meet clean air
standards and routinely check to make sure their equipment
complies with CARB rules. Posted.
http://www.centralvalleybusinesstimes.com/templates/print.cfm?ID=17252

Texas Spared EPA Takeover of Carbon-Emission Rules as Court
Weighs Move. A federal appeals court temporarily blocked the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency from taking control of Texas’s
carbon-emission rules while it considers the state’s bid to fend
off federal intervention. Texas filed a petition with the U.S.
Court of Appeals in Washington yesterday, saying the EPA didn’t
give adequate notice or allow for comments on a proposed federal
takeover of the state’s air permitting program on Jan. 2. Posted.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2010-12-31/texas-spared-epa-takeover-of-carbon-emission-rules-as-court-weighs-move.html

CLIMATE CHANGE

A Snow-Filled Glimpse Of America's Future. "Welcome to the New
Normal." Those words should be displayed at New York's airports
as a welcome to bedraggled travelers during the Northeast's
latest "snowpocalypse." Why? Because the Big Apple's
much-lamented paralysis this week is a critical cautionary tale
for everyone. The episode warns us about the kind of thing that's
likely coming to the rest of America as we now willfully mix
three toxic problems. The first of those is global climate
change. Posted.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/12/31/EDDO1H1SI3.DTL&type=politics

E.P.A. Limit on Gases to Pose Risk to Obama and Congress. With
the federal government set to regulate climate-altering gases
from factories and power plants for the first time, the Obama
administration and the new Congress are headed for a clash that
carries substantial risks for both sides. While only the first
phase of regulation takes effect on Sunday, the administration is
on notice that if it moves too far and too fast in trying to
curtail the ubiquitous gases that are heating the planet it risks
a Congressional backlash that could set back the effort for
years. Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/31/science/earth/31epa.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

EU Carbon Advances for First Year in Three as Economy Recovers.
European Union carbon permits snapped two consecutive years of
decline amid signs the region’s economy is recovering from
recession. Allowances for December 2011 delivery in the world’s
biggest cap-and-trade program gained 8.3 percent this year after
falling 23 percent last year and 29 percent in 2008. They traded
at 14.24 euros a metric ton today on London’s ICE Futures Europe
exchange. Posted.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2010-12-31/eu-carbon-advances-for-first-year-in-three-as-economy-recovers.html

DIESEL EMISSIONS

CARB Takes Another Bite Out of Emissions. The California Air
Resources Board (CARB) has passed two amendments to previous
diesel engine emissions-control measures that will mandate
particulate matter [PM] reductions from current levels by an
additional 50% by 2014 and 70% by 2020. The new amendments exempt
about 150,000 lighter diesel-powered trucks from diesel
particulate filters [DPF] rules while delaying initial compliance
date for the retrofitting of heavier trucks – allowing them to
operate another eight years before being required to use a truck
that meets 2010 emissions standards. Posted.
http://trailer-bodybuilders.com/truck-trailer/carb-takes-bite-out-emissions-1230/

GREEN ENERGY

Rose Parade Moving At A Crawl Toward Being Green. The annual New
Year's Day tradition is far behind other major public events in
the trend to offset environmental impact. It was September, and
the Tournament of Roses was proud of its newly signed sponsor,
American Honda Motor Co. The automaker, promoters said, not only
was the first-ever presenting sponsor, it was "employing Honda's
innovative environmental technologies to help the Rose Parade
function more efficiently and reduce its carbon footprint."
Posted.
http://www.latimes.com/news/science/environment/la-me-parade-green-20101231,0,1295875,print.story

OPINION

Job-Killing Carbon Deal Benefits Big Businesses. Democrats based
much of their 2010 midterm congressional election campaign on the
risible claim that Republican candidates wanted to “outsource
jobs.” Set aside the fact that this claim was as ineffective as
it was ludicrous. More importantly, President Barack Obama’s
carbon-control scheme, which begins next week, provides
conclusive evidence that it was the Democrats who planned to do
the outsourcing. Carbon-limitation laws will send American
manufacturing jobs overseas. Posted.
http://www.sfexaminer.com/opinion/editorials/2010/12/job-killing-carbon-deal-benefits-big-businesses#ixzz19hzBr9q9

Will His Failures Save The State? Here's the hard truth. Nothing
worked for Schwarzenegger because the system itself doesn't work.
Will we learn the lessons of his defeats ? As he leaves office,
Arnold Schwarzenegger is emphasizing his successes as governor.
But it is his failures that need more public attention, because
they may represent his greatest and most lasting contribution to
California. To understand this governorship, one must recognize a
fundamental dichotomy. On matters in which Schwarzenegger had a
healthy amount of control — orders he could execute with a pen,
legislation that could pass with a simple majority of the
Legislature, even ballot initiatives he could champion and pay
for personally — the governor has much to brag about. Posted.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-mathews-arnold-20110102,0,6881413,print.story

A New Day for CA. Entering 2011 “another year older and deeper in
debt,” quoting a Johnny Cash tune, I’m surprisingly optimistic. I
predict that 2011 will be a new day as California climbs out of
its gigantic financial hole. Estimates of how steep the mountain
“range” from $30 billion-plus short-term to $500 billion-plus
over the long term. As we all know, the first step to solving any
crisis is defining the problem. Amazingly, I do believe the
incoming Governor-elect Brown gets it. Expect the “solutions” as
battle ground for 2011. Posted.
http://www.sanclementetimes.com/view/full_story/10816898/article-A-New-Day-for-CA?instance=guest_opinion

Killing Us To Save The Environment. In my hometown, San Diego,
the Blood Bank fields eight "Bloodmobiles" (diesel-powered motor
homes converted to clinics to accept blood donations from
volunteers) which host more than 1,800 blood drives to benefit
over 150,000 patients in 50 area hospitals every year. A new
Regulation ("The Truck Rule") adopted in 2008 by the California
Air Resources Board (CARB) requires all on-road diesel powered
vehicles (trucks, buses, motor homes, etc.) to meet 2010 emission
standards, either by replacing the engine or the whole vehicle.
Posted. http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=40905

Op-Ed Piece On Warming A 'Bundle' Of Lies. A climatologist and
former NASA scientist says a recent op-ed claiming global warming
is responsible for cold weather isn't true. Dr. Roy Spencer is
disputing Judah Cohen's claim made in his New York Times op-ed,
"Bundle Up, It's Global Warming," that global warming is
responsible for the winters of recent years and for this year's
extreme winter weather experienced by parts of the U.S, Europe,
and AsiaPosted.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=1263156

BLOGS

EPA's CO2 Rules Old-Hat for California. A much-hyped EPA ruling
to regulate greenhouse gases in 2011 doesn't really change much
for California. A lot's being made of the move by the federal
Environmental Protection Agency's move to start regulating
greenhouse gases in the new year, but policy analysts are
greeting it as a relative non-event in states like California
(and Massachusetts), which are already moving ahead with their
own carbon regulation strategies. "It’s really a complement to
what we’re doing with AB 32," said California Air Resources Board
spokeswoman Gennet Paauwe. Posted.
http://blogs.kqed.org/climatewatch/2010/12/30/epas-co2-rules-old-hat-for-california/

Schwarzenegger Names Key Transportation Appointments. Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger announced appointments to key transportation posts
Thursday, including the reappointment of former Anaheim Mayor
Curt Pringle to the California High-Speed Rail Authority board.
Pringle, who currently heads the panel overseeing development of
the state's $43-billion San Francisco-to-Anaheim rail system, was
one of two prominent board members scrutinized this fall by the
state attorney general for serving in multiple offices that could
have clashing financial and other interests. Posted.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/12/schwarzenegger-transportaion-yvonne-burke.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+lanowblog+%28L.A.+Now%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

Schwarzenegger's Environmental Legacy: Green Or 'Olive-Drab'?
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's long effort to cast himself in the
role of a national environmental champion is losing luster in the
waning weeks of his administration, as green groups protest
last-minute deals with polluting businesses. "How green is he?"
asked Bill Magavern, the Sierra Club's California director. "We
came to the conclusion that he's olive-drab." How many
disappointments in the eyes of environmentalists? Let them count
the ways…Posted.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/greenspace/2010/12/arnold-schwarzenegger-environmental-record.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+GreenspaceEnvironmentBlog+%28Greenspace%29

The 2010 Climate B.S.* of the Year Award. Welcome to the 2010
Climate B.S.* of the Year Award. 2010 saw widespread and growing
evidence of rapidly warming global climate and strengthening
scientific understanding of how humans are contributing to
climate change. Yet on the policy front, little happened to stem
the growing emissions of greenhouse gases or to help societies
prepare for increasingly severe negative climate impacts,
including now unavoidable changes in temperature, rainfall
patterns, sea-level rise, snowpack, glacial extent, Arctic sea
ice, and more. Posted.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/gleick/detail?entry_id=80061

Science, People and the Planet in 2010. I’m looking forward to
visiting Ira Flatow and his crew at  Science Friday this
afternoon to discuss notable developments over the past year and
peek ahead. Also on board will be the writer and author Paul
Raeburn, Robin Lloyd of Scientific American and Ron Cowen of
Science News. Managing risk on an increasingly crowded and
human-exploited planet will surely be a prime theme, with the
avoidable Gulf of Mexico oil gusher being a prime example. In
many instances, science increasingly delineates dangers, but
societies choose to ignore the information. Posted.
http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/31/science-people-and-the-planet-in-2010/?partner=rss&emc=rss

Climate PR Effort Heats Up. Hey America! Are you ready to get
wonky on global warming? After a year that started with fallout
from the “Climategate” e-mail release, saw the cap-and-trade bill
die in Congress, and ended with a gang of Republican climate
skeptics winning House and Senate seats, global warming experts
are going back to basics. Environmentalists, scientists and
lawmakers have renewed public relations efforts to put global
warming plainly before Americans' eyes and also rebut opponents
who say nothing is happening. Posted.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1210/46770.html