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newsclips -- Newsclips for July 26, 2011.

Posted: 26 Jul 2011 11:47:57
California Air Resources Board News Clips for July 26, 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

Tesoro Fined For Violations At Martinez Refinery.  Oil giant
Tesoro Corp. has agreed to pay $500,000 in fines for dozens of
air pollution violations at its refinery in Martinez.  The Bay
Area Air Quality Management District announced the settlement
with the San Antonio-based company on Monday. District officials
say emissions from the Golden Eagle refinery often exceeded
air-quality standards for carbon monoxide, soot and other
pollutants between 2006 and 2009.  Posted. 
http://www.insidebayarea.com/ci_18550846
http://www.contracostatimes.com/ci_18550846

CARB Honors Cleaire President With Haagen-Smit Award.  The
California Air Resources Board (CARB) has awarded Cleaire
Advanced Emission Controls President and Chief Technology Officer
Dr. Brad Edgar with its Haagen-Smit Clean Air Award in the
category of Science and Technology.  Since 2001, CARB has
annually recognized and honored individuals who have made
significant contributions toward improving air quality through
their commitment, Posted. 
http://www.dieselprogress.com/emissionstechnologyforum/index_news_detail.asp?pick=438&fm=N

Ozone Decision Waits As Senators, Businesses Pressure EPA.
Controversial new U.S. EPA standards for smog won't be ready this
week, the agency said today, as business groups and other critics
on Capitol Hill pushed the White House to declaw the rules that
were submitted for final review earlier this month. Administrator
Lisa Jackson is getting ready to finalize new air quality
standards for ozone, the main ingredient in the smog that can
blanket big cities on hot summer days. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/print/2011/07/26/1 BY
SUBSCRIPTION ONLY

CLIMATE CHANGE

Melting Ice Forces Polar Bears To Swim Farther, Study Finds. 
Polar bears are swimming longer distances because of melting sea
ice, according to a new study conducted with satellite tracking
devices.  The research, presented July 19 by U.S. Geological
Survey biologist Anthony Pagano at the International Bear
Association Conference, identified 50 long-distance swims by
adult female polar bears between 2004 and 2009 in the southern
Beaufort and Chukchi seas.  Posted. 
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/melting-ice-forces-polar-bears-to-swim-farther-study-finds/2011/07/19/gIQAq9Q5YI_story.html

Fight Brews Over Offsets in Calif. Climate Law. If a tree falls
in the forest and it was supposed to have canceled out a
company's carbon emissions, who bears responsibility? It's among
many dilemmas California faces as it rolls out its landmark
climate law. The state's Air Resources Board (ARB) soon is
expected to unveil its proposed rules for enforcing A.B. 32, the
law ordering reductions in heat-trapping gases blamed for climate
change. Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2011/07/25/25greenwire-fight-brews-over-offsets-in-calif-climate-law-6837.html?pagewanted=print

Climate Change Could Release Toxins Trapped In Arctic Ice.
Despite a global decrease in the production of certain toxic
chemicals, we may be in for an onslaught. That’s because rising
global temperatures are causing the release of persistent organic
pollutants, such as DDT and PCBs, which have been locked in
arctic ice for more than half a century. Although the chemicals
were created to provide societal benefits, such as killing
mosquitoes and protecting crops…Posted.
http://californiawatch.org/dailyreport/climate-change-could-release-toxins-trapped-arctic-ice-11711

Time Running Out To Change Cap-And-Trade. Time is running out for
businesses to get changes made to the state’s cap-and-trade
program. Rules for California’s cap-and-trade program – part of
the 2006 Global Warming Solutions Act that aims to reduce
pollution below 1990s levels by 2020 — will be finalized in
October. But in August the California Air Resources Board, which
oversees the implementation of the program, will vote on draft
rules to be followed by a 15-day public comment period. Posted.
http://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/news/2011/07/25/time-running-out-to-change-cap-and-trade.html?s=print

California Releases Updated Cap-Trade Regulations. California
regulators released an updated version of their cap-and-trade
regulations for greenhouse gases yesterday, one of the last steps
before voting to make the program official. Covered polluters --
those businesses that emit more than 25,000 metric tons per year
of carbon dioxide equivalent -- will begin official trading in
2013, after a year of fine-tuning and practice trading that
begins next year. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2011/07/26/6 BY
SUBSCRIPTION ONLY

Companies Write To Defend Cap-And-Trade Program. Businesses are
writing letters to governors across 10 states in the Northeast in
support of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, the first
regional carbon cap-and-trade program in the United States. The
three-year-old initiative, backed by green companies and
environmental groups, is facing challenges from conservative
activists. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2011/07/26/8 BY
SUBSCRIPTION ONLY

Technologies Multiply To Put CO2 To Work -- And Make Money. One
man's pollution is another man's raw material. In this case, it's
carbon dioxide (CO2), one of the most notorious greenhouse gases.
Government regulators, researchers and private companies have now
found ways to sequester waste CO2 and put it to work in making
paints, plastics and fuels. In doing so, they seek to find a way
to simultaneously reduce emissions, produce low-cost materials
and even make some money. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2011/07/26/3 BY
SUBSCRIPTION ONLY

Reanalyses ‘R’ Us.  There is an interesting new wiki site,
Reanalyses.org, that has been developed by a number of groups
dedicated to documenting the various reanalysis products for
atmosphere and ocean that are increasingly being made available. 
For those that don’t know, a ‘reanalysis’ is a climate or weather
model simulation of the past that includes data assimilation of
historical observations.  Posted. 
http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2011/07/reanalyses-r-us/

FUELS

As White House Decision on New Fuel Efficiency Standards Nears,
Go60MPG Launches Radio ad Push in D.C. With Radio Ads, Go60MPG
Highlights How Strong Fuel Efficiency Standards Would Create
Jobs, Save Consumers at the Gas Pump, Reduce Dependence on
Foreign Oil. With a decision imminent from the Obama
Administration on new fuel efficiency and emissions standards for
2017-2025 vehicles, Go60MPG …Posted.
http://www.sacbee.com/2011/07/25/3792858/as-white-house-decision-on-new.html

ARB Approves "OGV Clean Fuel Regulations" At a public hearing on
June 23, 2011, the Air Resources Board (ARB) approved amendments
to the regulations “Fuel Sulfur and Other Operational
Requirements for Ocean-Going Vessels within California Waters and
24 Nautical Miles of the California Baseline” (title 13,
California Code of Regulations [CCR], section 2299.2, and title
17 California Code of Regulations, section 93118.2). Posted.
http://www.marinelink.com/news/regulations-approves339670.aspx

VEHICLES

California Dials Back Its Electric Car Credits. So far, electric
cars have been more popular in California than in most of the
rest of the country. In large part, EV appeal was greater in
California due to a $5,000 state rebate that came on top of the
$7,500 federal tax credit. With the tax credits, the price of an
all-electric Nissan Leaf could be as low as $21,000, making it
cheaper than a Toyota Prius and putting it on par with other
small cars. (The Chevrolet Volt was not eligible for the state
credit, although it does receive the $7,500 federal tax credit.)
Posted.
http://news.consumerreports.org/cars/2011/07/california-dials-back-its-electric-car-credits.html

Cars Now Getting Better Climate Grades. We're making progress in
reducing greenhouse emissions from new cars in the U.S. Is a 14
percent gain since October of 2007 impressive? You bet it is,
considering that population continues to grow, and we're not
making significant progress in cutting our miles on the road. Or
enacting any climate legislation, for that matter. The 14 percent
reduction is enshrined in the latest monthly Eco-Driving Index
from the University of Michigan. Posted.
http://www.sacbee.com/2011/07/25/v-print/3792029/cars-now-getting-better-climate.html

California: Zero-Cost Ways To Support EV Introduction.  On 1 July
2011, California decided to ban hybrids from carpool lanes,
giving this privilege to PHEVs and full EVs. In the same month,
on 21 July 2011, California’s Air Resources Board voted to cut
the rebate EV buyers can collect by half, to now $2500. But with
more than $26 billion budget deficit for 2011, California is
moving towards non-financial ways to promote electric vehicles. 
Posted.  http://www.cars21.com/content/articles/62720110726.php

GREEN ENERGY

TRPA Rejects Biomass Power Plant At Tahoe. Kings Beach -- Lake
Tahoe's land use regulatory agency has rejected plans for a
biomass power plant on the lake's north shore. Tahoe Regional
Planning Agency Executive Director Joanne Marchetta says her
staff concluded the Kings Beach site is "unworkable." Placer
County Supervisor Jennifer Montgomery says the plan generated
widespread citizen complaints. Posted.
http://www.mercurynews.com/science/ci_18544571

Painting Roofs White Could Save A Year’s Worth Of Emissions.  The
White Roof Project has a simple mission: Paint black roofs white.
Here's what that tiny effort gets you, according to the
organization (click the picture for a more extensive
infographic): A 24 billion metric ton reduction in CO2 emissions,
if every roof is painted white by 2030. That's a year's worth of
CO2.  $5 billion in energy cost savings for the United States
Posted. 
http://www.grist.org/list/2011-07-25-painting-roofs-white-could-save-a-years-worth-of-emissions

Is This The Greenest College Campus Ever?  California's Butte
College has a 928-acre wildlife refuge. It promotes ride shares.
It uses goats for landscaping, and worms for composting. It has
LEED-certifiable buildings. And now it's going off the grid --
the first college in the country, the school claims, to be energy
independent.  Posted. 
http://www.grist.org/list/2011-07-25-is-this-the-greenest-college-campus-ever

MISCELLANEOUS

EPA’s Funding Facing Rollback. House Republicans are attempting
to slash funding for climate-change programs and reduce the power
of regulatory agencies in a spending bill for next year that
Democrats call an assault on the environment. Posted.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/jul/25/epa-s-funding-facing-rollback/

OPINIONS

Letter To The Editor: EPA Should Be State Agency. There is no
authorization for the Environmental Protection Agency in the
Constitution. It is clearly missing from Article 1, Section 8,
which establishes all powers of Congress. Therefore, under the
10th Amendment, environmental protections should be a
responsibility of the states. Posted. 
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/jul/25/epa-should-be-state-agency/]

Outdated Environmental Info. Earthjustice, an environmental law
firm, has taken upon itself to file a lawsuit in federal court to
force the EPA to enforce compliance within five years of a
decision on whether the region fails to meet the national
standards on Ozone depletion. The study by the EPA was done some
30 years ago! Many things have changed over the years, including
the requirement of Bay Area cars to be smog tested which affected
pollution in the valley. Posted. (Paid subscription only)
http://www.modbee.com/2011/07/25/1790039/outdated-environmental-info.html

BLOGS

Democrats Turn Up The Heat On Enviro Cuts. House Democrats
invoked the record-breaking weekend temperatures as they railed
against a Republican bill up for floor discussion this week that
cuts funding and trims the regulatory power of federal
environmental agencies. Posted. 
http://www.washingtontimes.com/blog/inside-politics/2011/jul/25/democrats-turn-heat-environmental-cuts/

Volleys Fly in House Debate on E.P.A. and Interior. The House of
Representatives began heated debate on Monday on an
appropriations bill for the Department of Interior and
Environmental Protection Agency that pits Republican critics of
environmental regulation against Democrats who fear that landmark
protections could be gutted. Posted. 
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/25/volleys-fly-in-house-debate-on-e-p-a-and-interior/?ref=earth

Obama's Fuel Economy Standards Threaten the Economy. Remember
when, in the State of the Union address, President Barack Obama
promised to launch an assault on needless, duplicative, wasteful
federal agencies and regulations? Neither does he. Thanks to
Obama, the U.S. government now has three agencies--the National
Highway Transportation Safety Administration, the Environmental
Protection Agency, and the California Air Resources
Board--involved in the effort to improve through mandates the
fuel economy of U.S. passenger vehicles. Posted.
http://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/peter-roff/2011/07/26/obamas-fuel-economy-standards-threaten-the-economy_print.html

Gov. Brown Pushes Renewable Energy Goal At UCLA Conference. Gov.
Jerry Brown wants a major chunk of California’s renewable energy
to come from urban rooftops and backyards, rather than just the
massive solar and wind installations scattered around the
outskirts of the state. How that’ll come to pass, though, is
still up in the air. So Brown called a conference to figure out
how to execute his plan, which calls for rooftop solar panels,
small wind turbines…Posted.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/money_co/2011/07/gov-brown-pushes-12-gigawatt-renewable-energy-goal-at-ucla-conference.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+MoneyCompany+%28Money+%26+Company%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

Urban Power Like Rooftop Solar Dominates Brown's Energy Confab
may not be quite the renewable energy powerhouse that Germany and
China are, but California will be well on its way once it speeds
up installations of smaller, urban projects, Gov. Jerry Brown
said Monday. At a UCLA conference called to help figure how to
achieve Brown’s goal of 12 gigawatts of localized clean power
production, he and executives from SolarCity, Google and NRG
talked about the state’s energy future. Posted.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/greenspace/2011/07/rooftop-solar-and-distributed-generation-dominate-browns-ucla-energy-confab.html

Roofing It: Brown Stumps for Distributed Solar. Governor Brown
moves forward with plans to encourage more local solar generation
in the state. California has been on something of a solar frenzy
recently, approving permits for more than 4,000 megawatts of new
solar power in 2010 alone. Most of that is in the form of large,
industrial-scale installations, which will provide lots of power,
but also will require transmission infrastructure to get the
clean energy from the desert sun to where its needed, primarily,
the coastal cities. Posted.
http://blogs.kqed.org/climatewatch/2011/07/25/roofing-it-brown-stumps-for-distributed-solar/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+kqed%2FClimateWatchBlog+%28KQED%27s+Climate+Watch+Blog%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

The Solar Scheme: How Banks Overvalue Solar Projects for
Financial Gain. First, there were solar systems with a hefty
up-front price that not many households and companies could
afford. Then came the solar power purchase agreements (PPAs) and
solar leasing that transformed solar systems from a product into
an affordable service. One of the cornerstones of the new model
is a 30 percent federal tax credit on the solar systems…Posted. 
http://www.triplepundit.com/2011/07/solar-scheme-banks-overvaluing-solar-projects-taxpayers-money/

Climate Change-Pollutants From the Past. Climate change is
remobilizing toxic pollutants from long-term sinks such as ice
and sea water in the Arctic reports a paper published online in
Nature Climate Change this week. The finding suggests that this
could potentially undermine efforts to reduce exposure to these
toxic compounds. Posted. 
http://www.celsias.com/article/climate-change-pollutants-past/

Toyota Says Prius Plug-In Is "27 Percent Better Than An
Equivalent Diesel." With the Toyota Prius Plug-in set to launch
in early 2012, now's the perfect time to dive into the interim
results from the cars' trials in London. Here are some details
straight from Toyota: Average journey distance has been 7.3
miles, with 59 percent of all journeys covering between 3.1 and
12.4 miles. Posted. http://green.autoblog.com/

Republicans Target EPA Regulations of Big Polluters in Debt
Talks. If Congress can’t reach a deal on the debt ceiling, we
have a single week before the United States defaults on its
debts, but the Republicans are still calling for some outrageous
budget cuts to try to win the battle. The right’s latest targets
are the Department of the Interior and the Environmental
Protection Agency. Posted. 
http://inhabitat.com/republicans-target-epa-regulations-of-big-polluters-in-debt-talks/

Trucks Get ‘Winglets’ To Make Them More Fuel Efficient. In order
to make them more fuel efficient and aerodynamic, airplanes have
winglets (curved structures) at the wing tips to reduce drag.
ATDynamics are hoping that this same engineering trick will also
work on the ground. The company has outfitted trucks with a
TrailerTail to do exactly that. Posted.
http://inhabitat.com/trucks-get-winglets-to-make-them-more-fuel-efficient/

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