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newsclips -- Newsclips for May 30 - 31, 2011
Posted: 31 May 2011 10:32:43
California Air Resources Board News Clips for May 30 - 31, 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 EPA exempts Calif. plant from pollution standards. AVENAL, Calif. -- The Environmental Protection Agency has approved a natural gas-fueled power plant in California's agricultural San Joaquin Valley, exempting the facility from current air quality standards. The permit authorizes Avenal Power Center, LLC to build and operate a 600-megawatt plant near the rural communities of Avenal and Kettleman City, about 70 miles south of Fresno. The area already houses the biggest toxic waste dump in the West. The plant won't be held to air pollution requirements adopted in 2009 for nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide emissions. Posted. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2011/05/30/state/n142420D97.DTL http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/2011/05/31/1/ http://www.fresnobee.com/2011/05/30/2408073/epa-exempts-calif-plant-from-pollution.html#storylink=misearch http://www.sacbee.com/2011/05/30/3664443/epa-exempts-calif-plant-from-pollution.html#storylink=misearch http://www.nctimes.com/news/national/article_32f325ab-98f1-5b92-aebd-f5283336d7ad.html http://www.insidebayarea.com/ci_18171263 http://www.contracostatimes.com/ci_18171263 http://www.modbee.com/2011/05/30/1710976/epa-exempts-calif-plant-from-pollution.html CLIMATE CHANGE Global carbon output spikes to record high. Greenhouse gas emissions jumped to a record high last year, resulting in the highest carbon output in history, according to unpublished estimates from the International Energy Agency. Most scientists agree the threshold for potentially "dangerous climate change" is a temperature rise of more than 2 degrees Celsius. But given the IEA's findings, preventing this is likely to remain just "a nice Utopia," said Fatih Birol, chief economist of the IEA. A record 30.6 gigatons of carbon dioxide was emitted into the air last year, mostly from burning fossil fuel. It amounted to a rise of 1.6 gigatons from 2009, according to IEA estimates. Posted. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2011/05/31/7/ Record rise in CO2 output is an 'inconvenient truth,' U.N. climate chief says. The fact that carbon dioxide emissions rose by a record amount last year, according to new estimates from the International Energy Agency, is an "inconvenient truth" the world must face, the United Nations' climate change chief said. The IEA figures, which show that efforts to control greenhouse gas emissions have had little effect, are likely to add pressure to already strained relations between developed and developing countries at this week's climate meetings in Bonn, Germany. Posted. http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/2011/05/31/7/ New York, Portland Tap Efficiency to Beat UN to Climate Fix. May 31 (Bloomberg) -- Cities from Johannesburg to Los Angeles are changing street lights, insulating buildings and promoting bicycling to slash carbon emissions as envoys at United Nations talks bicker about binding greenhouse-gas goals. "While national governments continue their excruciatingly frustrating dialog on climate change, we in the cities are acting," Portland, Oregon Mayor Sam Adams said in an interview. "It's sheer common sense. Becoming more efficient with your city's energy needs means you're also more economically secure." Posted. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2011/05/31/bloomberg1376-LM11776K50Y601-42URRSLS5B3P27EI1EJL5932NS.DTL DIESEL EMISSIONS APL Singapore begins cold-ironing. The technology, being used occasionally at the US ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles, connects the ship to a shore-side electric power source. The port of Oakland received a US$5 million grant from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District in April for its shore-side power programme. Shore power provides grid-based electric power from land to vessels, allowing those vessels to turn off their diesel-fuelled auxiliary engines when they are at dock. http://www.ifw-net.com/freightpubs/ifw/index/apl-singapore-begins-cold-ironing/20017876616.htm In Oakland's port, ships plug in to cut emissions. In a clean-air milestone for the Port of Oakland, the APL Singapore, a 900-foot container ship, plugged into shoreside power Thursday night for its 24-hour stay in port, eliminating the hundreds of pounds of noxious emissions its diesel engines ordinarily would spew into the air. "This is the beginning of a new era on the Oakland waterfront," said Gene Seroka, president of the Americas for APL, a cargo-ship line based in Singapore. Posted. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/05/28/BUIL1JL3OH.DTL http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_18157200?nclick_check=1 GREEN ENERGY Ceramic Fuel Cells Rises Most in Year After Getting Contract. May 31 (Bloomberg) -- Ceramic Fuel Cells Ltd., an Australian developer of low-carbon energy systems, rose the most in more than a year in Sydney trading after getting a contract to supply 25 natural-gas fuel cells. The shares advanced as much as 23 percent on the Australian stock exchange, their biggest gain since March 22, 2010. Posted. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2011/05/30/bloomberg1376-LM1MPF1A74E901-58QSQ80PQOUBO04COVD7OBE6N9.DTL MISCELLANEOUS School programs inspire teens to go green. Not many students plant corn in their spare time. Not many students grow organic kale, broccoli and potatoes. But not many students are Diego Garcia. Garcia, a 15-year-old student at Media Academy in Oakland, is part of his high school garden club, a program aimed at encouraging students to grow organic produce on school grounds. Environmental programs for teens have sprung up around the nation to promote healthy green living. Many teachers have even incorporated the environment into their curriculum -- but do these programs actually change the habits of teens who participate in them? Posted. http://www.mercurynews.com/teens/ci_18149265 OPINION When we will stop denying climate change? Regarding Bill McKibben’s thoughtful May 24 op-ed, “See no climate change”: While Mr. McKibben took a rather witty approach to the linking of weather disasters and climate change, there’s nothing humorous about Americans’ (and especially American lawmakers’) continued insistence that nothing out of the ordinary is going on. Mr. McKibben covered a lot of points, but he could have included more: declines in the number of migrating songbirds, or extinctions of climate-sensitive animals such as amphibians, among other alarming environmental trends. Posted. http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/when-we-will-stop-denying-climate-change/2011/05/25/AGiel0CH_story.html Harassing climate-change researchers. FREEDOM OF information laws are critical tools that allow Americans to see what their leaders do on their behalf. But some global warming skeptics in Virginia are showing that even the best tools can be misused. Lawyers from the Environmental Law Center at the American Tradition Institute (ATI) have asked the University of Virginia to turn over thousands of e-mails and other documents written by Michael E. Mann, a former U-Va. professor and a prominent climate scientist. Another warming skeptic, Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II (R), recently demanded many of the same documents to determine whether Mr. Mann somehow defrauded taxpayers when he obtained research grants to study global temperatures. Posted. http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/harassing-climate-change-researchers/2011/05/27/AG1xJMEH_story.html BLOGS 60 MPG by 2025? It’s Going to be a Big Fight. The EPA and the Department of Transportation dropped the other shoe Friday, announcing a framework for long-range, much tougher fuel economy/greenhouse gas 2017-2025 standards for cars and trucks that build on the 35.5 mpg for 2016 announced just last May. It proposed a range of reductions, from an annual three percent cut in greenhouse gases (translating to 47 mpg by 2025 for the auto fleet) to a six percent cut (62 mpg by then). Auto dealers called the new proposals a rush to judgment prodded by over-ambitious California regulators, but a coalition of environmental groups is already campaigning hard for a holy grail 60-mpg standard. Posted. http://www.bnet.com/blog/electric-cars/60-mpg-by-2025-it-8217s-going-to-be-a-big-fight/2414 Humans Emitted a Record Breaking 30.6 Gigatonnes of Carbon in 2010. According to unpublished estimates from the International Energy Agency (IEA), we humans emitted a historically high level of carbon last year, pushing our output to 30.6 gigatonnes (up 1.6 gigatonnes from 2009). This estimate debunks the rumors flying around that the global recession would aide in the mission to reduce carbon emissions, and has scientists saying that we’ve now only a miniscule chance of turning global climate change around. Posted. http://inhabitat.com/humans-emitted-a-record-breaking-30-6-gigatonnes-of-carbon-in-2010/ Tracking Economy, CO2 Emissions Hit New High. The International Energy Agency has reported that global emissions of carbon dioxide from energy use, tracking the recovering world economy, hit a new high of 30.6 billion metric tons of the gas last year. (Emissions from deforestation and activities like cement manufacturing are not included.) That’s 5 percent above the previous peak, measured in 2008. The agency added that 80 percent of the growth in emissions projected through 2020 is already essentially guaranteed, coming from power plants that have already been built or are being constructed now. Most of the new construction and emissions are in developing countries. Posted. http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/05/30/tracking-economy-co2-emissions-hit-new-high/ IEA estimates energy-related CO2 emissions in 2010 highest in history; 80% of projected 2020 emissions from the power sector are already locked in. Energy-related carbon-dioxide (CO2) emissions in 2010 were the highest in history, according to the latest estimates by the International Energy Agency (IEA). After a dip in 2009 caused by the global financial crisis, emissions are estimated to have climbed to a record 30.6 Gigatonnes (Gt), a 5% jump from the previous record year in 2008, when levels reached 29.3 Gt. In terms of fuels, 44% of the estimated CO2 emissions in 2010 came from coal, 36% from oil, and 20% from natural gas. Posted. http://www.greencarcongress.com/2011/05/iea-20110530.html Record carbon emissions show world has not been listening to a thing we’ve said. Despite a global recession, high oil prices, a growing awareness of the seriousness of carbon emissions, those reusable grocery bags you bought, and constant scolding from Grist et al., the world managed to put out a record amount of greenhouse gases last year. The International Energy Agency estimates that burning fossil fuels added 30 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere in 2010. Posted. http://www.grist.org/list/2011-05-31-record-carbon-emissions-show-world-has-not-been-listening-to-a-t 43 “Green” Companies Called Out for Anti-Environmental Stance. A GreenBiz article asks, “Can a company take on sustainability initiatives — and promote their green credentials — while also lobbying behind the scenes to halt, slow or weaken environmental legislation?” That question is one that the 43 major companies on the board of the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) need to answer. NAM, the largest manufacturing association in the U.S., launched on March 28 what it calls a “multi-state, multi-million dollar initiative” to stop the EPA from regulating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Posted. http://www.triplepundit.com/2011/05/company-promote-green-creds-lobby-against-environmental-legislation/# Buildings that make more energy than they use gain steam. If every building made more energy than it uses, would all the world's power plants pack up and go home? Maybe education would be fully funded and the military would be forced to have a bake sale! But really: There is a building in Bellenberg, Germany that produces more energy than it consumes, mostly by being super energy efficient in the first place. Posted. http://www.grist.org/list/2011-05-31-buildings-that-make-more-energy-than-they-use-gain-steam Germany Ups the E-Car Targets. Match Obama and Up 4 million. President Obama reiterated his goal of making the United States the first country to put 1 million electric vehicles on the road by 2015 in his second State of the Union address. To achieve that he is supporting advanced technology vehicle manufacturing and adoption in the U.S. through new consumer rebates, investments in R&D, and encouragement to communities that invest in advanced technology vehicle infrastructure. Posted. http://www.celsias.com/article/germany-ups-e-car-targets-match-obama-and-4-millio/