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newsclips -- Newsclips for November 17, 2011.
Posted: 17 Nov 2011 14:36:05
California Air Resources Board News Clips for November 17, 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 Re-election Strategy Is Tied to a Shift on Smog. Washington - The summons from the president came without warning the Thursday before Labor Day. As she was driven the four blocks to the White House, Lisa P. Jackson, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, suspected that the news would not be good. What she did not see coming was a rare public rebuke the president was about to deliver by rejecting her proposal to tighten the national standard for smog. Posted. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/17/science/earth/policy-and-politics-collide-as-obama-enters-campaign-mode.html?_r=1&pagewanted=print AIR POLLUTION: Tougher standards would save lives, groups say. Imposing tougher national health standards for diesel soot and other microscopic particles would prevent as many 1,360 early deaths in the Riverside-San Bernardino area and as many as 4,230 in urban Southern California, according to a report released Wednesday by the American Lung Association and other organizations. Posted. http://www.pe.com/local-news/topics/topics-environment-headlines/20111116-air-pollution-tougher-standards-would-save-lives-groups-say.ece Air pollution control board approves Oceano dunes rule. The San Luis Obispo County Air Pollution Control District voted 7-4 with one abstention to approve a new regulation that requires state parks to reduce particulate matter blowing from the Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area or face fines of $1,000 per day. The APCD contends evidence from a scientific study it produced show that off-road vehicles at the dunes are causing an increase in particulate matter downwind on the Nipomo Mesa. Posted. http://calcoastnews.com/2011/11/air-pollution-control-board-approves-oceano-dunes-rule/ http://santamariatimes.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/slo-apcd-passes-dust-regulation/article_2e98aef4-10ed-11e1-ba09-001cc4c002e0.html http://www.sanluisobispo.com/2011/11/16/1838391/county-board-air-quality-nipomo.html Smog Pollutant May Be Tied to Stroke Risk. People who live in areas with high levels of traffic-related air pollution might have a slightly increased risk of dying from stroke, Danish researchers suggest in a new study. They found people living in urban zones with high estimated concentrations of nitrogen dioxide were 22 percent more likely to suffer a fatal stroke than people in less-polluted neighborhoods. Posted. http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/11/17/smog-pollutant-may-be-tied-to-stroke-risk/ Beijing’s EPA: The Air Quality is Just Fine. As Beijing’s air continues to grow darker and more polluted, the region’s Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau regularly reports a clean outlook based on its official interpretation of the data. While China does acknowledge that it doesn’t measure “fine” particulates below 2.5 micrometers in diameter (the size that is generally believed to pose some of the greatest health risks to human lungs and organs), the country’s official measurements seem to be in direct conflict with the U.S. Embassy’s data …Posted. http://www.triplepundit.com/2011/11/beijings-epa-air-quality-fine/ Study: Apartments Pose High Secondhand Smoke Hazards. Research shows that smoke can spread through cracks in fixtures, pipes, shared ventilation systems and windows. The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health announced Wednesday that multi-unit housing can expose hazardous secondhand smoke to non-smokers living adjacent to those who do smoke. Since 2006, secondhand smoke has been classified by the California Air Resources Board as a "toxic air contaminant" that can lead to death, serious illnesses, and a overall health hazards. Posted. http://www.atvn.org/news/2011/11/secondhand-smoke-threat-those-living-multi-unit-homes CLIMATE CHANGE Regional Cap-and-Trade Scheme Creates Economic Growth, Study Says. A regional cap-and-trade program launched in the northeastern U.S. three years ago has saved customers nearly $1.1 billion on electricity bills, helped create 16,000 jobs, and has retained more than $765 million in local economies by reducing the demand for fossil fuels, according to a new analysis. While the future of the so-called Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) remains in jeopardy - with New Jersey planning to drop out and other states also considering leaving…Posted. http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/17/idUS383543217520111117 Scientists: NY must prepare for climate change now. Albany, N.Y. — A team of scientists says New Yorkers should start preparing for radical climate changes that will bring much hotter summers, snowier winters, devastating floods, and a broad range of other impacts to the environment, communities and human health. The 600-page report called ClimAID (CLIME'-aid), authored by more than 50 scientists from Cornell, Columbia University and the City University of New York, is being released Wednesday at a conference in Albany. http://online.wsj.com/article/APfb6b6cd4feea4038b8b7b38e01473197.html BY SUBSCRIPTION http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/17/nyregion/climate-change-to-affect-new-york-state-in-many-ways-study-says.html?pagewanted=print Global Temps `Virtually Certain' to Rise: UN. The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change whirrs into action this week with a significant assessment of extreme events and disasters. The final report is due on Nov. 18. A draft summary for policymakers obtained by Bloomberg shows the caution and rigor with which scientists approach attributing observed trends to man-made climate change. The panel says it's “virtually certain” that warm daily temperature extremes will increase in this century. Posted. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-16/global-temps-virtually-certain-to-rise-un.html Arizona withdraws from Western Climate Initiative. Phoenix -- Arizona is formally withdrawing from the Western Climate Initiative, a regional collaboration to establish a cap-and-trade program to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. Arizona became a WCI member under Democratic Gov. Janet Napolitano. She resigned in 2009 and was replaced by Republican Jan Brewer. Brewer kept Arizona in the WCI, but ordered that the state not implement the cap-and-trade program. The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality now says the state is going further by withdrawing formally from WCI. Environmental Quality Director Henry Darwin says Arizona is joining a new multistate collaborative effort to explore customized use of other approaches such as use of biomass fuels. Posted. http://www.sacbee.com/2011/11/16/4060209/arizona-withdraws-from-western.html http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2011/11/16/state/n145449S26.DTL http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_19350328 http://azdailysun.com/news/local/state-and-regional/brewer-withdraws-arizona-from-climate-initiative/article_6dbee72b-e2fb-5194-873b-a6f3031ee5f4.html http://www.environmental-finance.com/news/view/2124 Climate change: Sea rise could kill vital marshes. The critical tidal marshes of San Francisco Bay - habitat for tens of thousands of birds and other animals - will virtually disappear within a century if the sea rises as high as some scientists predict it will as a result of global warming. The sea would inundate the coastline and eliminate 93 percent of the bay's tidal wetlands if carbon emissions continue unchecked and the ocean rises 5.4 feet, as predicted by scientists under a worst-case scenario, according to a new study by PRBO Conservation Science. Posted. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/11/16/MNMF1LVNPO.DTL&type=science Global warming speaker gets cool reception at energy summit. A professor who served on a panel that won a Nobel Peace Prize for its work on climate change got a polite but skeptical reception at the fifth annual Kern County Energy Summit Wednesday. The summit put on by the Kern Economic Development Corp. featured a range of speakers from the energy sector, including oil and gas, wind, solar, utilities, investment banking and government. The keynote speaker was Mark Jaccard, who teaches in the School of Resource and Environmental Management at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver. Posted. http://www.bakersfield.com/news/business/economy/x1479488961/Global-warming-speaker-gets-cool-reception-at-energy-summit Agriculture: Valley farmers need to think about climate change. This week, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change will release a new report that will give us a global view of how prepared we are to withstand extreme weather events. The report has been long in the making, but couldn't come at a more appropriate time. Globally, 2011 has brought us record-breaking floods, droughts, wildfires, hurricanes and temperature extremes — and the United States has received a heavy dose of every one of these devastating events. Posted. http://www.modbee.com/2011/11/16/1950273/valley-farmers-need-to-think-about.html BY SUBCRIPTION Cap-and-trade program fuels economic growth in Northeast. A new report finds that America's first mandatory, market-based carbon cap-and-trade system added $1.6 billion in value to the economies of participating states, set the stage for $1.1 billion in ratepayer savings, and created 16,000 jobs in its first three years of implementation. Says Susan Tierney, managing principal at the Analysis Group, which produced the report: We tracked the dollars spent, and RGGI [the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative] generates greater economic growth in every one of the 10 states that participate in RGGI than would occur without a carbon price. The states' auction of the CO2 allowances was important for generating those public benefits. Posted. http://www.grist.org/climate-policy/2011-11-16-cap-and-trade-program-fuels-economic-growth-in-northeast FUELS U.S. seeks to double average gas mileage by 2025. The Obama administration's proposed rules would increase average gas mileage for each automaker's passenger vehicle fleet to 54.5 mpg from the 2011 model-year average of 27.8 mpg. The Obama administration has proposed landmark fuel economy standards that would almost double the average gas mileage for each automaker's passenger vehicle fleet to 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025. The rules proposed Wednesday mark the latest step in a lengthy campaign to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and oil consumption. Posted. http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-fuel-economy-20111117,0,5670531.story Environmental concerns over Canada's oil exporting. New York -- Canada needs to do more to address environmental concerns over Alberta's heavy oil to win approval of pipeline projects to export the crude to the United States and Asia, according to the province's premier. The country "must be more proactive on those issues," Alberta Premier Alison Redford said in. The State Department said on Nov. 10 that it would delay a decision on TransCanada Corp.'s proposed Keystone XL pipeline until early 2013 to consider alternate routes. Posted. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/11/16/MNLN1M00MV.DTL Navy launches its largest biofuel test for ship. The U.S. Navy launched its largest alternative fuel test to date on Wednesday, pumping 20,000 gallons of algae-based fuel into a destroyer ship that will embark on a 20-hour trip along the California coast. The success of the Paul H. Foster ship's overnight trip Wednesday from San Diego to Port Hueneme is vital to the Navy's plan to unveil next year a small carrier strike group of small ships, destroyers, cruisers, aircraft, submarines and a carrier run on alternative fuels, including nuclear power. Posted. http://www.modbee.com/2011/11/16/1950175/navy-tests-biofuel-to-power-ship.html BY SUBSCRIPTION HyperSolar to Use Solar to Make Natural Gas. HyperSolar has filed a patent application for its technology to produce natural gas using solar power. According to the company, the natural gas is a carbon neutral methane gas that can be used as a replacement for fossil-fuel based natural gas. “The sun is our greatest source of energy and a method to use this energy to make clean, renewable fuel is a very significant discovery,” said Tim Young, CEO of HyperSolar. Posted. http://domesticfuel.com/2011/11/16/hypersolar-to-use-solar-to-make-natural-gas/ Clinton opens energy bureau as geopolitics shift to gas issues. U.S. electric utilities are gradually adding more gas-burning turbines to their domestic fleets. But major multinational oil producers such as Exxon Mobil Corp., ConocoPhillips and Chevron are also getting deeper into the gas game, and on a global scale. The State Department announced yesterday that it has created a Bureau of Energy Resources. Posted. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2011/11/17/5 BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY VEHICLES All-electric Sedan coming soon from Coda. New model will retail for $39,900 and is currently available for preorder online. Coda has announced the start of production of its all-electric Sedan at the Los Angeles Auto Show. Customers can now preorder the Sedan online, Coda said November 16, with a base price of $39,900 for the 2012 model year vehicle. As expected, the Sedan will offer a slightly better battery system than rivals such as the Nissan Leaf, with a 150-mile (240 km) range and a charge time which Coda says is capable of a full charge in six hours, twice as fast as its competitors. Posted. http://www.nydailynews.com/autos/all-electric-sedan-coming-coda-article-1.979162 California outlines plans to put more zero-emission cars on the road. California has released details of its proposals to set new emission standards for cars and light trucks, while boosting the numbers of zero-emission cars on the road. The California Air Resources Board’s package of measures cover model years 2015-2025 and aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 47% on current levels, cut smog-forming emissions 75% and ensure that one in seven new cars (over 15%) sold in 2025 will be zero-emission or plug-in hybrid vehicles. Posted. http://www.energyefficiencynews.com/policy/i/4648/ http://www.power-eng.com/news/2011/11/1542996773/california-announces-groundbreaking-advanced-clean-car-rules-proposed-regulations-will-deliver-clean.html http://www.ucsusa.org/news/press_release/significant-progress-california-zero-emissions-vehicle-zev-0572.html U.S. 54.5 MPG Fuel-Economy Standard May Cost $157 Billion. A proposed U.S. rule requiring automakers to double average fuel economy of vehicles to 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025 may cost $157 billion, two agencies said in a draft. The standard would add an average of $2,000 to the price of each new passenger vehicle sold by 2025, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and Environmental Protection Agency said in a proposed rule posted today on NHTSA's website. Benefits of $419 billion to $515 billion in fuel savings would offset the costs, the highway agency wrote. Posted. http://news.businessweek.com/article.asp?documentKey=1376-LURM321A1I4H01-3QQNJ6PA6D1ER9UNI3QNJUOL38 Electric vehicles industry in China: promising but lack of a clear road map. China's electric car industry is rapidly growing. Both domestic and international carmakers have already anticipated the great business opportunities in the world's largest passenger car market. Although the Chinese government strongly encourages development of new-energy vehicles through subsidies, until now there is still no clear roadmap to guide China's EV industry. Posted. http://www.cars21.com/content/articles/69420111117.php Honda Civic GX Natural Gas Wins “2012 Green Car of the Year” Award. The Civic beat out the Ford Focus Electric, the Mitsubishi i, the Toyota Prius v and the 2012 Volkswagen Passat TDI. The car is rated at 27-mpg city, 38-mpg highway and a 31-mph average. Honda claims the cost to operate the car is roughly 30 percent less than a conventional gasoline engine. While fueling stations for such cars are rate, they’re likely to become much more popular – especially in Southern California. The reason is that the Civic GX is allowed to operate in the high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes – something the Prius is no longer able to boast. Posted. http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2011/11/honda-civic-gx-natural-gas-wins-2012-green-car-of-the-year-award.html TRANSPORTATION: EPA makes room for pickup truck transition in new fuel economy rules. Pickup trucks may get special consideration in new fuel economy standards, as the White House attempts to slash oil use without removing a favorite vehicle from American roads. A proposed rule issued yesterday by the Department of Transportation and U.S. EPA would cover vehicles sold from 2017 to 2025. It would require trucks to improve their fuel economy at a slower rate than smaller cars have to. Posted. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2011/11/17/2 BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY GREEN ENERGY S. Korea to Invest $31 Billion by 2020 in Green-Energy Technology. South Korea, the world’s ninth- largest greenhouse gas emitter, plans to spend 35.5 trillion won ($31 billion) by 2020 to develop technology for renewable and nuclear energy and carbon emissions reduction. The investment is part of the nation’s road map to grab a 10 percent share of the world’s clean-energy market and have one of the world’s top five energy industries by 2020, the Ministry of Knowledge Economy said in an e-mailed statement. Posted. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-17/s-korea-to-invest-35-5-trillion-won-in-green-energy-technology.html SMUD boosting wind power with new turbines at plant near Rio Vista. SMUD is more than doubling its wind power plant in the Montezuma Hills near Rio Vista. A total of 55 new wind turbines are being constructed with a large crane. SMUD expects it will take 464 truckloads to deliver the components, including tower pieces and turbine blades, to the site. The turbines will provide 128 megawatts of electricity when they go online early next year for the Sacramento Municipal Utility District. The current generating capacity is 102 megawatts of power. Posted. http://www.sacbee.com/2011/11/17/4062030/smud-doubling-wind-power-at-plant.html Sustainable energy. With the recent events surrounding the Keystone XL pipeline and the collapse of Solyndra, the energy debate is as heated as ever in this country. Conservatives tend to oppose subsidies on clean energy and green technologies, supporting their arguments with failed examples like Solyndra. In these arguments, they claim these industries are a dead end and too much public money already has been spent on them. Meanwhile, they continue to push for more spending on big oil and increased domestic drilling, saying it's our only chance of weaning ourselves off foreign oil. Posted. http://www.vcstar.com/news/2011/nov/16/sustainable-energy/ MISCELLANEOUS Ford unveils redesigned Escape SUV at L.A. Auto Show. The Escape, the fifth-best-selling vehicle in the U.S., has been transformed from a five-passenger SUV into a sloping crossover with just a hint of minivan. The Ford Escape, an aging vehicle that looks much like the model that first debuted in 2000, has quietly become one of the biggest success stories at Ford Motor Co. The automaker has sold more than 200,000 of the small sport utility vehicles this year, making it the fifth-best-selling vehicle in America and the top SUV. Posted. http://www.latimes.com/business/autos/la-fi-auto-show-escape-20111117,0,3249255.story Study is detailed look at Valley health hazards. Stockton - Almost one-third of the San Joaquin Valley's 4 million residents lives at high risk for shortened life spans and health problems due to environmental and social hazards. Now they have a tool they can use to measure and illustrate those problems for planning purposes or to improve their communities. University of California, Davis, researchers this week released a report that examines the 300-mile-long Valley's environmental hazards, social vulnerabilities and key health indicators to create the Cumulative Environmental Vulnerability Assessment, or CEVA. Posted. http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20111117/A_NEWS/111170330 OPINIONS California in flux: Politically, culturally, ethnically, the Golden State undergoes a sea change. The weather seems the same, the same climate that lured millions of people to California after World War II. Hollywood is still here. San Francisco still has its cable cars, Golden Gate Bridge and fabulous restaurants. Sacramento still has its trees, Fresno its Bulldogs, San Diego its zoo and Death Valley its spring wildflowers. But California is undergoing profound changes. Posted. http://www.capitolweekly.net/article.php?_c=10593cy47rptmd5&1=1&xid=1056vpmvlu9prud&done=.1058mngv1mskpmk&_credir=1321551568&_c=10593cy47rptmd5# BLOGS Without a price on carbon, oil will find a way. Last week, environmentalists and Nebraska activists won a huge victory when the White House delayed the Keystone XL pipeline, which would have transported oil from the tar sands in Alberta down to Cushing, Okla., and on through to Texas refineries on the Gulf Coast. Yet as it turns out, blocking Keystone alone won’t stop the flow of oil from Alberta and elsewhere. Yesterday, the world got yet another reminder of how hard it is to prevent oil from coming to market (or tamping down on emissions) without taxing or capping carbon. Posted. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/post/without-a-price-on-carbon-oil-will-find-a-way/2011/11/17/gIQAXBDRUN_blog.html LA’s Solar Power, Green Jobs Potential Largely Untapped. World Bank financing has help put solar power systems on more than 300,000 homes and small businesses in Bangladesh. Working with its local partners, the World Bank’s International Development Association IDA’s Rural Electrification and Renewable Energy Project (RERED), is aiming to boost that to more than 1 million with an additional $172 million credit facility. Posted. http://www.triplepundit.com/2011/11/las-solar-power-green-jobs-potential-largely-untapped/ Agriculture Industry and Solar Developers Battle In California’s San Joaquin Valley. During the last part of the 19th century cattle ranchers and farmers battled for supremacy in California’s San Joaquin Valley. Farmers won the battle, and farming has been entrenched in the Valley’s fertile soil ever since. Today another battle is being waged, and this time it is between farmers and those who want to develop solar power. The San Joaquin Valley is considered by many to be the agricultural center of the world. Posted. http://www.triplepundit.com/2011/11/agriculture-industry-solar-developers-battle-californias-san-joaquin-valley/ Eindhoven University of Technology to make biofuels from its own wood waste; cyclic oxygenate CyclOx and ethanol. Researchers at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) are developing a small-scale demonstration reactor that will process 40 tons of wood waste per year from the university into replacements for diesel fuel and gasoline. TU/e aims with this project to demonstrate the viability of small-scale, environment-friendly fuel production from its own waste material at competitive prices. Posted. http://www.greencarcongress.com/2011/11/cyclox-20111117.html