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newsclips -- Newsclips for August 18, 2011.
Posted: 18 Aug 2011 13:23:51
California Air Resources Board News Clips for August 18, 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 White House looks to curb smog-rule impact. The Obama administration is promising to blunt the impact of its pending ozone standards by ensuring flexibility for industries, but it likely won’t have enough wiggle room to win over its fiercest critics. In an effort to refute industry’s claims that a tighter smog standard will put a damper on economic recovery, the White House and the EPA have repeatedly vowed to use flexibility allowed under the Clean Air Act when the rules are implemented. Posted. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0811/61594.html Previous EPA smog crackdown didn't hurt local economies – report. If the last time U.S. EPA updated its nationwide smog standards is any indication, a plan to further ratchet down pollution limits won't slam the economy in parts of the country with dirtier air, according to an analysis released today by a liberal think tank. Oil companies, manufacturers and large business groups such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce sounded the alarms in 1997 when, under the watch of President Clinton, the agency moved to tighten the air quality standards for ground-level ozone, the main component of smog. Posted. http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/print/2011/08/18/3 BY PAID SUBSCRIPTION ONLY CLIMATE CHANGE Rick Perry calls global warming an unproven, costly theory. The Texas governor says scientists have 'manipulated data' to win research dollars. Reporting from Bedford, N.H. - Texas Gov. Rick Perry on Wednesday reaffirmed his view that global warming is an unproven scientific theory that has been advanced, at least in part, by scientists who have "manipulated data," and he argued that programs intended to limit climate change are costing the nation "billions if not trillions" of dollars that he believes could be better spent elsewhere. Posted. http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-0818-perry-global-warming-20110818,0,1895804.story http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/08/18/MNF51KONBS.DTL&type=printable http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110817/A_NEWS/110819904&cid=sitesearch http://www.vcstar.com/news/2011/aug/17/perry-says-he-doesnt-believe-in-global-warming/ http://www.nctimes.com/news/national/article_453a552f-3b5c-5da1-a078-fac000545577.html Climate law will increase REU rates; Redding cost could rise 1.5% to 27%. California's campaign to curb its greenhouse gas emissions could cost Redding Electric Utility ratepayers as soon as next year. An emissions cap and trade program under Assembly Bill 32, the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, may force REU to raise rates anywhere from 1.5 percent to 27 percent, Elizabeth Hadley, legislative and regulatory analyst for the utility, recently told the City Council. Posted. http://www.redding.com/news/2011/aug/17/climate-law-will-increase-reu-rates/ Climate Change: GHG Emissions Allowance Prices Tumble. As California regulators weigh whether to move ahead with a carbon cap-and-trade program, the price for greenhouse gas emission rights last week in Europe sunk to nearly an all-time low. The reason is plentiful supply and ongoing economic sluggishness. Benchmark certified emissions reductions stemming from offset projects hit 7.4 euros/ton, or about $10.53. Posted. http://www.cacurrent.com/storyDisplay.php?sid=5563 DIESEL EMISSIONS Engineer to Measure Vehicle Emissions on Highways. Study will focus on particulate matter concentrations, which are increasingly implicated in human death and illness. Riverside, Calif. (www.ucr.edu) -- Heejung Jung, a University of California, Riverside assistant professor of engineering, has received a $41,000 grant from the UC Transportation Center to build a portable device, install it on test vehicles and use it to map real-time particulate matter concentrations on Southern California highways. Particulate emissions from burning transportation fuels are increasingly implicated in human illness and death. Posted. http://newsroom.ucr.edu/2706 VEHICLES GM plans to roll out Cadillac ELR, a luxury electric compact car. The Cadillac ELR will use a drivetrain similar to what GM developed for the plug-in hybrid Chevrolet Volt. Cadillac, the upscale General Motors Co. brand, plans to come out with a luxury electric compact car — based on the decidedly blue-collar Chevrolet Volt. GM said Wednesday that the Cadillac ELR will use a drivetrain similar to what it developed for the Chevrolet Volt, which will enable the new model to travel some distance on only electricity before a gas motor kicks in to act as a generator and extend the vehicle's range. Posted. http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-cadillac-ev-20110818,0,2441947.story http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110817/OEM04/110819903/1186 GREEN ENERGY Cash-Rich Companies Begin to Make Renewable Energy Investments. With major U.S. corporations holding tens of billions of dollars in cash on their balance sheets, a financing tool for renewable energy projects that lost its luster during the credit crunch at the end of 2008 is staging a comeback. Specialized "tax equity" deals that had been a major source of financing for the wind and solar industries are getting a fresh look by companies outside the financial sector, such as Google. Posted. http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2011/08/18/18climatewire-cash-rich-companies-begin-to-make-renewable-e-3023.html?pagewanted=print Do alternative designs for wind turbines work? Propeller wind turbines are the most common way of using one of the most abundant energy sources on Earth to generate electricity. The tall three-bladed fans are the ubiquitous symbol of wind energy, but they aren't the only design on the market. Vertical axis turbines, where the rotating axis stands upright, have been around as long as their horizontal brethren but have failed to catch on at large scales. Posted. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2011/08/18/4 BY PAID SUBSCRIPTION ONLY MISCELLANEOUS Bashing E.P.A. Is New Theme in G.O.P. Race. The Environmental Protection Agency is emerging as a favorite target of the Republican presidential candidates, who portray it as the very symbol of a heavy-handed regulatory agenda imposed by the Obama administration that they say is strangling the economy. Representative Michele Bachmann of Minnesota wants to padlock the E.P.A.’s doors, as does former Speaker Newt Gingrich. Posted. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/18/us/politics/18epa.html?ref=earth Most GOP candidates have harsh words for EPA. The Environmental Protection Agency is emerging as a favorite target of the Republican presidential candidates, who portray it as the very symbol of a heavy-handed regulatory agenda imposed by the Obama administration that they say is strangling the economy. Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota wants to padlock the EPA's doors, as does former Speaker House Newt Gingrich. Gov. Rick Perry of Texas wants to impose an immediate moratorium on all environmental regulation. Posted. http://www.insidebayarea.com/politics-government/ci_18703251 http://www.contracostatimes.com/politics-government/ci_18703251 Free smog check Saturday in Fresno. The San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District and Valley Clean Air Now are teaming again up to encourage owners to cleanup their old cars during the “Tune In & Tune Up” event this Saturday at the Fresno Fairgrounds. Free vehicle emissions tests will be available from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the parking lot on Maple and Butler avenues. Fresno-area drivers who own older cars can have their vehicles inspected, and will be provided with a voucher for up to $800 if the car does not pass an emissions test. Posted. http://www.thebusinessjournal.com/environment/10929-free-smog-check-saturday-in-fresno Polystyrene ban: Bill would put California first. California would become the first state in the nation to ban the use of polystyrene foam to-go food containers under legislation pending in the Assembly. Opponents are pushing hard to keep the measure bottled up in committee. A key reason is that Gov. Jerry Brown could sign it into law.As mayor of Oakland, Brown secured elimination of plastic foam cups and containers at the Oakland Coliseum. Various environmental groups back the ban as a way to reduce litter and marine pollution while encouraging greater use of biodegradable or compostable alternatives. Posted. http://www.capitolweekly.net/article.php?xid=zxgh3egjupdzhp# http://www.dailybreeze.com/news/ci_18701446?source=rss OPINIONS Opinion: CARB was wise to give California business a warm-up year for global warming law. The National Football League's preseason is under way. Especially after this locked-out summer, players, owners and fans are eager for teams to get back on the gridiron and work out the kinks before the full weight of the regular season kicks in. For businesses in California, 2012 will be a preseason, of sorts, for cutting greenhouse gas emissions. Just as football's preseason is designed to allow teams to get up to speed for the regular season, 2012 will give businesses, regulators, and investors a chance to climb the learning curve without penalties. Posted. http://www.insidebayarea.com/ci_18701690 http://www.mercurynews.com/opinion/ci_18701690?nclick_check=1 PAID SUBSCRIPTION Revive Alerts To Spare The Air. About this time two years ago, as students were returning to school and people were busy driving around, air pollution in the San Joaquin Valley soared, causing ozone to reach levels that violated federal air quality standards. Posted. http://www.modbee.com/2011/08/17/1820040/revive-alerts-to-spare-the-air.html BLOGS Weather Alerts Are Imperiled, NOAA Warns. Without money to build a new satellite, the federal government will no longer be able to forecast severe weather events far enough in advance for communities to take life-saving action five years from now. That was the message that Jane Lubchenco, the administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, delivered on Wednesday at a town-hall-style meeting in Denver. Posted. http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/17/weather-alerts-are-imperiled-noaa-warns/ Never Mind a Tiger in Your Tank: How About An Alligator? Researchers at the Lafayette campus of the University of Louisiana are looking for green substitutes for diesel fuel. The prime one now in use is soybeans, which are used to make biodiesel oil. But soybeans are also needed for human consumption and animal feed. Now the researchers think they have identified a potential source for biodiesel that currently goes straight to landfills: alligator fat, about 15 million pounds of it every year. Posted. http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/17/never-mind-a-tiger-in-your-tank-how-about-an-alligator/ A Republican Shout-Out for Wind Energy. In The New York Times on Thursday, John M. Broder writes about a blood sport that has become quite popular among the field of Republican presidential candidates: attacks on the Environmental Protection Agency. Yet the candidates recently found time to rally behind clean wind energy, a topic some voters identify with a somewhat more liberal agenda. Posted. http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/18/a-republican-shout-out-for-wind-energy/ Clouds Part for U.S. Solar Industry. A potentially dim week for the American solar power industry ended on a bright note instead. Solar advocates mounted a last-minute push Monday to prevent sweeping cuts to a federal loan guarantee program for clean energy development in a Republican budget plan. The cuts would have essentially closed the program, which is popular with solar power developers, and rescinded billion of dollars in loan commitments for dozens of projects. Posted. http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/15/clouds-part-for-u-s-solar-industry/ Have Solar Panels, Will Travel. A thing of sheer beauty is berthed in Victoria Harbor in Hong Kong: the Tűranor PlanetSolar, a vessel that is circumnavigating the globe to prove that solar energy can power water transportation. Designed in New Zealand, built in Germany and flying a Swiss flag, the 102-foot boat has completed about two-thirds of a voyage that began in Monaco last September. So far it has sailed nearly 24,000 miles. Posted. http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/18/have-solar-panels-will-travel/?ref=earth#h Revisiting Climate and the Food Supply. When I was researching a June article on the threat that climate change poses to the food supply, scientists described numerous difficulties they have encountered in seeking to forecast food production. They cited uncertainty about whether crops would be hit harder by drought or heat. Posted. http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/18/revisiting-climate-and-the-food-supply/ Jerry Brown calls for high speed rail to move forward. Gov. Jerry Brown said this afternoon that California's embattled high-speed rail project should move forward, despite growing criticism about the project's management and cost. While the nation is in a "period of massive retrenchment," Brown told The Fresno Bee's editorial board, "I would like to be part of the group that gets America to think big again." The Democratic governor has said little publicly about the project since it came under fire this year in Sacramento, with cost estimates rising and lawmakers questioning its oversight. Posted. http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2011/08/jerry-brown-calls-for-high-spe.html#ixzz1VOjn3xD9 Gov. Brown discusses high-speed rail and moving water around the state. Gov. Jerry Brown told The Fresno Bee's editorial board of his plans for two major infrastructure projects in California. He said he still backs high-speed rail, but believes the governmental authority overseeing the project in California needs to do a better job on the project. He also said that in the next year, his administration will have a detailed proposal to build a water conveyance system around the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Posted. http://fresnobeehive.com/opinion/2011/08/gov_brown_talks_about_high-spe.html#ixzz1VOkfl9F7 New one-pot methanol-mediated process for conversion of wood and cellulosic solids to liquid fuels. Researchers at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) have developed a one-pot process for the catalytic conversions of wood and cellulosic solids to liquid and gaseous products in a reactor operating at 300–320 °C and 160-220 bar. Little or no char is formed during this process. Posted. http://www.greencarcongress.com/2011/08/ucsb-20110818.html California's cap-and-trade needs to be well-designed to protect manufacturers. Vice President of Communications for the California Manufacturers & Technology Association. California has lost a third of its manufacturing sector and the California Air Resources Board (CARB) continues to try to implement the state's AB 32 carbon reduction program in a cost-effective manner. The rest of the country has lost a large portion of its manufacturing as well, but at least temporarily given up on mandatory carbon reductions. Posted. http://foxandhoundsdaily.com/blog/gino-dicaro/9330-californias-cap-and-trade-needs-be-well-designed-protect-manufacturers Infographic: What it would take to meet Obama’s 2035 clean energy goals? In order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve America's energy security, President Obama has laid out a goal for the U.S. to generate 80 percent of its electricity from clean energy sources by 2035. To replace coal, which is currently the dominant source of electricity, we would need to rely on other energy sources. Posted. http://www.climatecentral.org/blogs/interactive-2035-electricity