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California Air Resources Board News Clips for March 4, 2011.  

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

Boiler Room Politics. Fake restraint from the EPA as it issues a
damaging new rule. Amid an Environmental Protection Agency
regulatory spree unprecedented in U.S. history, nothing cleared
the benches last year like the so-called boiler rule. Some 62
Senators, 177 House Members and 21 Governors publicly objected,
business staged a collective revolt, and the EPA itself was
forced to retreat and junk the original rule. No matter how
ruinous a regulation, this almost never happens. Posted.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703408604576164471769032958.html

Foul Odor Sickens Calif Desert Community Of Mecca. Coachella,
Calif. -- It's the Mecca everyone wants to make a pilgrimage away
from. Complaints of foul odors sickening residents of the
California desert community of Mecca have prompted a smog control
agency to step up an air monitoring effort on Thursday. The South
Coast Air Quality Management District said it has concluded that
a waste recycling facility just north of Mecca is the source of
the stinky fumes. Posted.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/03/03/AR2011030306884_pf.html

Daily Routine Poisons Family With Carbon Monoxide. Sacramento, CA
- A buildup of carbon monoxide gas at a South Sacramento house
sent an entire family to the hospital Thursday. A grandmother, a
3-year-old child, and an infant who lived at the house on the
2200 block of Pierre Avenue were taken to the hospital with
severe poisoning after a carbon monoxide detector went off in the
house. The carbon monoxide gas didn't appear to be coming from a
household appliance. Posted.
http://www.news10.net/news/article.aspx?storyid=126271&provider=top&catid=188
http://www.modbee.com/2011/03/03/1583269/carbon-monoxide-in-home-sends.html
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700115356/Carbon-monoxide-leak-sends-3-to-hospital.html

CLIMATE CHANGE

U.K. Should Remove EU CO2 Permits to Fix Overlap, Offsetter Says.
The U.K. should remove European Union carbon permits from its
allocation to factories and power stations to match emission cuts
under its proposed Carbon Reduction Commitment program, said an
offset company. The so-called CRC program may create 90 million
metric tons of reductions in the period from 2011 through 2020,
according to a report by London-based Carbon Retirement Ltd.
Posted.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2011-03-04/u-k-should-remove-eu-co2-permits-to-fix-overlap-offsetter-says.html

New Anti-EPA Bill Aims to 'Rein in' Agency's Climate Rules
Permanently. House Republicans kept up their steady drumbeat
against U.S. EPA's greenhouse gas regulations on stationary
sources yesterday with legislation that would permanently block
the agency from implementing such measures. A bill crafted by
House Energy and Commerce Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) and Sen.
James Inhofe (R-Okla.) was introduced in the House yesterday
after it had been floated in draft form last month. Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2011/03/04/04climatewire-new-anti-epa-bill-aims-to-rein-in-agencys-cl-37816.html?pagewanted=print

Greenpeace Looks Ahead To S. Africa Climate Talks.  Johannesburg
-- The South African who heads Greenpeace's international office
says his homeland will bring moral authority to its role hosting
this year's climate change conference.  Posted. 
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/03/04/AR2011030402070.html

http://www.modbee.com/2011/03/04/1583564/greenpeace-looks-ahead-to-s-africa.html

GOP Budget Could Hobble Obama Environment Policy. The
Environmental Protection Agency and global warming programs
government-wide stand to lose big in the battle over the federal
budget. The House already passed its bill to fund the federal
government for the rest of this year, and it doesn't just cut EPA
programs — it also steamrolls the Obama administration's
environmental policy. I can attest to you that this greenhouse
gas registry will destroy jobs in Kansas. - Rep. Mike Pompeo
(R-KS). The House bill would slash the EPA budget by nearly a
third — more than any other agency. Posted.
http://www.npr.org/2011/03/03/134237203/gop-budget-plans-quash-obama-environment-policy

Environmental Regulation As A 'Job Killer' Does Not Hold True,
Historically. As congressional legislators spar over U.S. EPA's
regulation of greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act, a common
argument arises: It will have a devastating effect on industry
and jobs, especially in the aftermath of the financial crisis.
However, a group of economists are saying that historical
precedents have shown to have little effect on the economy. In
fact, environmental regulation can have a positive impact.
Posted. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2011/03/04/10

Carbon Traders Press Case For CDM Credits For Carbon Capture
Technology. An international business group pushing for the
development of greenhouse gas emissions trading programs is
hoping to reignite U.S. interest in tackling climate change
through the use of global markets. The Geneva-based International
Emissions Trading Association (IETA) also wants the United
Nations to offer credits for carbon capture and storage projects
under the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism (CDM).
Posted. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2011/03/04/8

More Republicans Believe In 'Climate Change' Over 'Global
Warming' Climate change and global warming, two terms often used
interchangeably, provoke different responses from people who
identify as Republicans, research shows. Republicans are far more
skeptical of "global warming" than they are of "climate change,"
according to a research team led by University of Michigan
psychologist Jonathon Schuldt. His team found that 44 percent of
Republicans agreed that "global warming" is real, while 60.3
percent of the same sample believed the same about "climate
change." Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2011/03/04/11

FUELS

Overfertilizing Corn Undermines Ethanol. Researchers find that
when growing corn crops for ethanol, more means less. Rice
University scientists and their colleagues have found that when
growing corn crops for ethanol, more means less. A new paper in
today's online edition of the American Chemical Society’s journal
Environmental Science and Technology shows how farmers can save
money on fertilizer while they improve their production of
feedstock for ethanol and alleviate damage to the environment.
Posted.
http://www.usnews.com/science/articles/2011/03/04/overfertilizing-corn-undermines-ethanol_print.html

USDA Mulls Insurance Program For Biofuel Crop Producers. The U.S.
Department of Agriculture (USDA) will soon explore the
feasibility of offering crop insurance to producers of biofuel
feedstocks ranging from straw to corn stover to woody biomass.
This feasibility evaluation, to be funded by the Risk Management
Agency, builds upon the USDA's ongoing effort to insure growers
of switchgrass, energy cane and camelina. Posted.
http://green.autoblog.com/2011/03/04/usda-mulls-insurance-program-for-biofuel-crop-producers/print/

GREEN ENERGY

The Top 10 Clean-Tech Companies. Companies that make everything
from solar panels to renewable-crude oil continue to be big draws
for funding from the venture-capital community. But a company
that rewards consumers for recycling led The Wall Street
Journal's second-annual ranking of venture-backed clean-tech
companies. Recyclebank, which provides recycling-rewards programs
in 29 states and the U.K., has had a growth spurt since its 2004
launch. Posted.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703559604576176473635179098.html

Genomatica Bags $45M to Bring Green Chemical to Market. Less than
a month after announcing a joint development agreement with Waste
Management, Genomatica said Tuesday it has raised $45 million
from the trash king and other investors. Genomatica plans to use
the funding to complete a demonstration project to prove its
green chemistry technology can work on a commercial-scale. The
company plans to build and start operating a commercial plant by
late 2013. Posted.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/01/idUS2250779620110301

Alcoa Says Contested NC Dams Generated $8M Profit.  Raleigh, N.C.
-- Alcoa Inc. said a series of North Carolina hydroelectric dams
the company is fighting to continue operating generated $8
million in profit from electricity sales last year.  Posted. 
http://www.modbee.com/2011/03/04/1583362/alcoa-says-contested-nc-dams-generated.html


Clean-Tech Companies Face Post-Stimulus Scramble For Cash. Santa
Barbara, Calif. -- Clean-tech companies looking for cash in the
wake of the stimulus will have to go back to their traditional
hunting grounds, according to the former Obama administration
official who tracked stimulus grants to energy projects. Matt
Rogers, who recently stepped down as the Energy Department's
stimulus adviser, said at a Wall Street Journal conference here
yesterday that the next few years would mark a return to
pre-recession funding models for fledgling companies. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/print/2011/03/04/16

U.S. Military Links Alternative Energy Research to Lives--and
Dollars--Saved. Inventing the future of energy may be the key to
improving U.S. national security, economic prosperity and health.
National Harbor, Md.—Flexible solar cells now power
communications equipment used by Marines fighting in
Afghanistan's Helmand Province, enabling them to shed 700 pounds
worth of batteries while on foot patrol. But an F-16 fighter jet
flying over Miramar training base in Calif. burns 28 gallons of
jet fuel a minute with its afterburners engaged while the C-17
cargo consumes 3,000 gallons an hour. Posted.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=alternative-energy-research-saves-lives&print=true

VEHICLES

Surging Oil Prices Alone Unlikely To Give Needed Jolt To EV
Market. The Obama administration has worked hard to drum up
interest in electric vehicles through tax credits, research
investments and frequent shout-outs from the bully pulpit. But
interest in electric cars and other green vehicles may be helped
most by events beyond U.S. control. Violence in Libya and unrest
throughout the oil-rich Middle East have driven oil prices to the
$100-a-barrel range, creating an opportunity for promoters of
electric cars and other forms of green transportation to get
their message across. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/print/2011/03/04/12

MISCELLANEOUS

Sacramento Area Shares In Target Environmental Settlement.
Several counties in the Sacramento region are among those sharing
in a $22.5 million settlement to be paid by Target Corp. for
environmental violations at stores statewide. The district
attorneys of 21 counties announced Thursday that a California
judge has ordered Minnesota-based Target to pay the sum as part
of a civil environmental prosecution settlement. Posted.
http://www.sacbee.com/2011/03/04/v-print/3448206/sacramento-area-shares-in-target.html

OPINION

Latest Congressional Attacks on Clean Air Endanger Our Health and
Our Economy. On Thursday Representative Fred Upton and Senator
Inhofe introduced legislation to block the Environmental
Protection Agency's from limiting emissions of carbon dioxide.
This is the latest attack in the war against standards that
protect Americans from dangerous air pollution. The GOP
leadership in the House of Representatives is also trying to use
the budget process and policy riders to prevent the EPA from
updating safeguards for a list of toxic pollutants. Posted.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/frances-beinecke/latest-congressional-atta_b_831363.html?view=print

BLOGS

Electric Utilities Close To Meeting Renewables Goals. The state's
three biggest investor-owned utilities, led by Southern
California Edison Co., are edging closer to meeting their
mandated goal of producing 20% of their electric power from
renewable energy sources. Edison at the end of 2010 generated
19.4% of its electricity from wind, solar and geothermal sources,
up from 17.4% in 2009, according to a report issued Thursday by
the California Public Utilities Commission. Pacific Gas &
Electric Co., based in San Francisco, produced 17.7% of its
electricity from renewable sources … Posted.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/money_co/2011/03/electric-utilities-close-to-meeting-renewable-goals.html