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California Air Resources Board News Clips for October 25, 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

Pollution by railroads in state is targeted. San Bernardino --
Estela Hernandez stood outside the bustling BNSF Railway yard in
San Bernardino, explaining how she carries two types breathing
medications in case her 4-year-old granddaughter Maurissa has an
asthma attack. Attorney David Pettit listened intently. The
little girl then pulled a plastic applicator from her knapsack
and put it in her mouth. When child as breathing trouble, the
battery operated device sprays a fine mist of medicine into
child’s lungs. Posted.
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/bernardino-323594-child-breathing.html
http://www.pe.com/local-news/san-bernardino-county/san-bernardino-county-headlines-index/20111024-san-bernardino-railroad-pollution-targeted.ece

CLIMATE CHANGE

U.S. Vote on EU Aviation Plan May Start Trade War, Environment
Group Says. The U.S. House of Representatives’ backing for a bill
to bar American airlines from paying for greenhouse gas
discharges under the European Union emissions- trading plan may
lead to a trade war, an environment lobby said. The House
yesterday passed the “European Union Emissions Trading Scheme
Prohibition Act of 2011” after the industry estimated that
participation in the cap-and-trade system would cost U.S.
airlines $3.1 billion between 2012 and 2020. Posted.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-10-25/u-s-vote-on-eu-aviation-co2-plan-may-trigger-trade-war-lobby-group-warns.html
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-10-25/u-s-vote-on-eu-aviation-plan-may-trigger-trade-war-lobby-says.html

Climate skeptic admits he was wrong to doubt global-warming data.
Remember when scientists who had cast doubt on global temperature
studies boldly embarked on an effort to "reconsider" the
evidence? They have. And they conclude that their doubt was
misplaced. UC Berkeley physicist Richard Muller and others were
looking at the so-called urban heat island effect - the notion
that because more urban temperature stations are included in
global temperature data sets than are rural ones, the global
average temperature was being skewed upward because these sites
tend to retain more heat. Hence, global warming trends are
exaggerated. Posted.
http://www.sacbee.com/2011/10/24/v-print/4002510/climate-skeptic-admits-he-was.html

EarthTalk: What's the latest on limits on greenhouse gas
emissions? Dear EarthTalk: What's the latest in regard to putting
limits on greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S.? Is there any hope
that Obama can get something done?- Bradley Johnson, Helena,
Mont. Our best hope to date was 2009's American Clean Energy and
Security Act (ACES), a bill that called for the implementation of
a "cap-and-trade" system to limit carbon dioxide emissions by
capping overall emissions and allowing polluters to buy or sell
greenhouse gas pollution credits …Posted.
http://www.sanluisobispo.com/2011/10/24/1808342/earthtalk-whats-the-latest-on.html#ixzz1boYlmmHL

DIESEL EMISSIONS

CARB notes DPF retrofit deadline looming. “Fleet owners need to
plan now to equip their trucks with diesel particulate matter
filters in order to be reading in January,” said Erik White,
assistant chief of mobile sources. Sacramento, Calif. — The
California Air Resources Board (CARB) today sent out a news
release reminding owners of heavier diesel trucks that they “need
to act now in order to comply with California’s Truck and Bus
regulation,” which has its first diesel filter deadlines in
January 2012. Posted.
http://www.thetrucker.com/News/Stories/2011/10/25/CARBnotesDPFretrofitdeadlinelooming.aspx

VEHICLES

Sacramento keeps cars idling as carpool lanes fail. What is the
purpose of High Occupancy Vehicle lanes? Is it to make people who
aren't in carpool lanes feel resentful? Or, as UC Berkeley civil
and environmental engineering Professor Michael Cassidy believes,
is the goal to reduce the number of People Hours Traveled?
Cassidy believes HOV lanes work, but used to work better. Cassidy
and doctoral student Kitae Jang conducted a study of Bay Area
freeway traffic before and after July 1, when the Legislature let
lapse a 2005 program that allotted yellow stickers granting
access to HOV lanes for low or solo occupancy to 85,000 hybrid
vehicles. Posted.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/10/25/EDL11LLIQR.DTL&type=printable

Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer BYD launches North American
headquarters in Los Angeles. Los Angeles — Chinese electric
carmaker BYD Co. opened its North American headquarters on
Monday, a move that officials said could bring hundreds of jobs
and provide a U.S. hub for sales and research. The opening will
be “a catalyst that ushers in good jobs, global investment and a
more sustainable future,” Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa
said. Posted.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/chinese-electric-vehicle-manufacturer-byd-launches-north-american-headquarters-in-los-angeles/2011/10/24/gIQARJZ9CM_story.html?wprss=rss_national

Nissan betting big on electric cars despite poor sales. Nissan,
which has so far seen paltry sales of its electric Leaf, is
sounding downright bullish about its prospects for its electric
cars. Nissan, with its French sister Renault, expects to sell 1.5
million zero-emission models in five years, Bloomberg News
reports. In the U.S., Nissan has sold 7,199 Leafs for the year
through September, according to Autodata. They only went on sale
in December, so it's easy to see how slow the model is taking to
catch on. Worldwide, Bloomberg says, Nissan has sold about
15,000, including those in the U.S. Posted.
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/driveon/post/2011/10/nissan-leaf-poor-sales/1

GREEN ENERGY

Mitt Romney: We need an environment for jobs.  First, the good
news: President Barack Obama has finally created some "green
jobs." Now for the bad news: They are not in the United States,
but in Finland.  The creation of environmentally friendly jobs
has been at the top of Barack Obama's policy agenda since coming
into office. With the first of his now many jobs plans, the
President set out to fulfill his campaign promise of spending
$150 billion to create ten million green jobs. Alas, things
didn't quite worked out as planned.  Posted. 
http://www.ocregister.com/opinion/jobs-323475-obama-president.html

MISCELLANEOUS

What your new home will look like in 2015. The fact that the
average American home is slowly but surely shrinking - and will
most likely continue to do so if and when the country shakes off
its current financial woes - isn't exactly revolutionary news.
But when members of the National Association of Home Builders
(NAHB) were asked earlier this year what they anticipate the new
home size will be 2015, it's how they think single-family homes
will shrink - …Posted. 
http://www.fresnobee.com/2011/10/24/2588598/what-your-new-home-will-look-like.html#storylink=misearch

Geothermal still outpowers wind, solar in California. Industry
convenes in San Diego through Wednesday. Amid soaring investment
in solar and wind energy technology, commercial geothermal plants
still anchor the state's production of non-fossil fuel power.
Geothermal energy provides 42 percent of California's commercial,
in-state renewable electricity generation, an industry group
announced at its convention in San Diego. About 160 businesses
are participating in the Geothermal Energy Association Expo.
Posted.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/oct/24/geothermal-still-outpowers-wind-solar-california/

New paving approach saves Bay Area cities money and is
environmentally friendly. Recycling method used on Monterey Road
is being considered across the Bay Area. An innovative and
environmentally friendly paving technique is being tried on one
of San Jose's most pothole-infested roads -- and cities across
the Bay Area are watching to see if the same method could save
them millions of dollars and allow them to repave dozens of other
roads. Posted.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/environment/ci_19183719

OPINIONS

The Post-Global Warming World. Moving on from climate virtue. The
United Nations will convene its 17th annual climate-change
conference next month in Durban, South Africa, with the purpose
of sealing a new carbon-cutting deal to succeed the
soon-to-expire 1997 Kyoto Protocol. It promises to be a historic
event, if not in the way the organizers might hope. The chances
that a global deal on carbon would ever be reached were always
slim, a point brought home by the collapse of the comic 2009
Copenhagen summit. Posted.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204618704576640730949448812.html
BY SUBSCRIPTION

Editorial: Lights out for solar highways in state? The
first-in-California "solar highways" in Sacramento County were
supposed to showcase the potential of power-generating solar
panels along roadsides. What they ended up demonstrating instead
is that right now, it's way too complicated to get such projects
done. The state must do much more to clear away regulatory and
other barriers – or its hopes for a renewable energy future will
darken. Posted.
http://www.sacbee.com/2011/10/25/v-print/4004053/lights-out-for-solar-highways.html

Cap and trade will exact cost. Re "Air board OKs cap and trade
program" (Page A1, Oct. 21): Cap and trade is a victory for
environmentalists and a huge loss for business, jobs and
California citizens. Costs for implementing these regulations
will be enormous, and put many businesses at a competitive
disadvantage. This will cause layoffs, downsizing and more
businesses leaving the state. Green energy jobs will be few, as
many green companies like Solyndra will not make it without
subsidies. Posted.
http://www.sacbee.com/2011/10/25/4004051/letters-to-the-editor-police-shootings.html#ixzz1boH80l95

Repeal, don't add, regulations. When will our legislators
recognize that the continued exodus of hundreds of manufacturing
companies from California to other states and countries is the
direct result of oppressive regulations? China's exponential
increase in coal-fired electricity plants was needed to
manufacture American goods. Their coal dust is now reaching North
American shores. Chinese manufacturing creates more ground, water
and airborne pollutants than American manufacturing performed
under current regulations. Posted.
http://www.sacbee.com/2011/10/25/4004051/letters-to-the-editor-police-shootings.html#ixzz1boHWJDaq

Chris Paine: Recharging Hope In Electric Cars. No villains appear
in Chris Paine's new film, "Revenge of the Electric Car" -- a
stark contrast to its 2006 predecessor. "Who Killed the Electric
Car?" came complete with a search for the discarded bodies of
General Motor's EV1 (eventually found crushed in a junkyard), a
funeral and accusations that the auto industry and oil companies
had teamed up to destroy the promise of a zero-emission vehicle.
But Paine had a feeling the electric car would eventually come
back. Posted.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/25/chris-paine-revenge-electric-car_n_1029665.html

The answer, my friend, to better air quality is blowing in the
wind. It is a scene that happens dozens of times – if not more –
each day in Manteca. Leaf blowers are revved up to move
everything from lawn clippings and leaves to dirt. It is one of
the most insane things we do to damage our health and to
essentially burn fossil fuel to accomplish very little. If you
doubt that, take a look at most folks who use leaf blowers. They
simply blow the debris into the street to scatter to the four
winds. They rarely get it in a pile and pick it up. Posted.
http://www.mantecabulletin.com/section/38/article/28634/

BLOGS

House Writes a Bill to Excuse U.S. Carriers. One of the stranger
bills to be considered by Congress passed by a voice vote on
Monday evening. Officially named the European Union Emissions
Trading Scheme Prohibition Act of 2011, it essentially tells
American airline carriers that it is illegal for them to
participate in the European Union’s cap and trade system, which
charges companies for producing emissions beyond their allotted
limit. Beginning Jan. 1, all flights landing at European Union
airports will in theory incur a penalty if they produce excessive
emissions. Posted.
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/25/house-writes-a-bill-to-excuse-u-s-carriers/

Mazda to debut next-generation midsize sedan diesel concept and
CX-5 SUV with SKYACTIV Technology at Tokyo Motor Show; new push
on clean diesels in Japan market.  Mazda Motor Corporation will
showcase the global premiere of the Mazda Takeri next-generation
midsize sedan concept car at the upcoming 42nd Tokyo Motor Show.
Mazda will also hold the Japan debut of the new CX-5 crossover
SUV. Both vehicles are equipped with the full array of Mazda’s
SKYACTIV Technology (earlier post).  Posted. 
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2011/10/mazda-20111025.html