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newsclips -- Newsclips for December 21, 2011.
Posted: 21 Dec 2011 12:19:21
California Air Resources Board Newsclips for December 21, 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 Activists celebrate closing of polluting plant near L.A. school. Settlement of a civil lawsuit against Palace Plating ends an eight-year battle over the metal-finishing plant that residents say contaminated their South Los Angeles neighborhood. With nearly two dozen parents and others standing behind her, community activist Martha Sanchez announced Monday the end of an eight-year battle to close a metal finishing plant that residents say has contaminated their South Los Angeles neighborhood, making their children and teachers sick. Posted. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-school-toxins-20111220,0,1429359,print.story Stagnant air forces San Francisco pollution alert. San Francisco—Stagnant air has forced San Francisco air quality officials to issue a pollution alert. Residents are asked to limit driving. Burning wood is illegal during Spare the Air days. The San Francisco Chronicle ( http://bit.ly/uI0UTz) says it's the eighth Spare the Air day since Dec. 7. Bay Area Air Quality Management District spokesman Ralph Borrmann says skies appear to be clear, but cold air near the ground is trapping pollutants and creating a health hazard. Posted. http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_19591897 http://www.modbee.com/2011/12/21/1995895/stagnant-air-forces-san-francisco.html http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20111221/WIRE/111229927 http://www.dailynews.com/ci_19591897?IADID=Search-www.dailynews.com-www.dailynews.com http://www.insidebayarea.com/ci_19591897?IADID=Search-www.insidebayarea.com-www.insidebayarea.com http://www.fresnobee.com/2011/12/21/2656698/stagnant-air-forces-san-francisco.html#storylink=misearch UC Merced Connect: Biofuel’s air pollution can offset benefits. The burning of sugar cane fields before harvest for ethanol production can create air pollution that detracts from the biofuel's overall sustainability, according to research published recently by a team of researchers led by UC Merced scientists. UC Merced graduate student Chi-Chung Tsao was the lead author on the paper and was aided in the study by UC Merced professors Elliott Campbell and Yihsu Chen. Posted. http://www.sacbee.com/2011/12/21/v-print/4137181/uc-merced-connect-biofuels-air.html CLIMATE CHANGE EU court upholds carbon trade plan for aviation. AMSTERDAM (AP) -- U.S. air carriers failed Wednesday to block an EU law charging airlines flying to Europe for their carbon pollution, yielding to a sweeping measure intended to curb climate-changing emissions from international aviation. The European Court of Justice in Luxembourg dismissed arguments that imposing the European Union's cap-and-trade program on flights to and from European airports infringes on national sovereignty or violates international aviation treaties. Posted. http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_CLIMATE_AVIATION?SITE=RIPRJ&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT Other stories: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/europes-high-court-upholds-cap-and-trade-carbon-plan-for-airlines-rejects-us-appeal/2011/12/21/gIQAup7J9O_story.html http://www.latimes.com/news/local/environment/la-me-gs-eu-high-court-airline-pollution-charges-20111220,0,3454352.story?track=rss http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2011/12/21/international/i023226S70.DTL&type=printable http://www.modbee.com/2011/12/21/1995784/european-court-approves-carbon.html#storylink=cpy http://www.dailynews.com/ci_19592779?IADID=Search-www.dailynews.com-www.dailynews.com http://www.insidebayarea.com/ci_19592779?IADID=Search-www.insidebayarea.com-www.insidebayarea.com http://www.contracostatimes.com/ci_19592779?IADID=Search-www.contracostatimes.com-www.contracostatimes.com http://www.fresnobee.com/2011/12/21/2656584/european-court-approves-carbon.html#storylink=misearch Summary Box: EU court upholds carbon trade plan. CARBON CHARGE: U.S. airlines failed to block an EU law charging airlines flying to Europe for their carbon pollution, The European Court of Justice in Luxembourg dismissed arguments that imposing the European Union's cap-and-trade program on flights to and from European airports infringes on national sovereignty or violates international aviation treaties. Posted. http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_CLIMATE_AVIATION_SUMMARY_BOX?SITE=RIPRJ&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT VEHICLES Tesla Sets Prices, Specifications of 2012 Model S Battery Sedans. Tesla Motors Inc. (TSLA), the U.S. electric- car maker that plans to build a rechargeable sedan in California, said a top-of-the-line version of the Model S will cost as much as $92,400 when it goes on sale in 2012. Tesla released detailed prices, features and options for the Model S sedan today on its website. The car will be built in Fremont, California, with deliveries beginning in mid-2012. Extended-range versions will have enough lithium-ion battery capacity to travel as far as 300 miles per charge, Tesla said. Posted. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-12-21/tesla-sets-prices-specifications-of-2012-model-s-battery-sedans.html http://content.usatoday.com/communities/driveon/post/2011/12/tesla-unveils-details-prices-of-model-s-electric-sedan/1 Toyota NS4 plug-in concept to debut in Detroit, Prius C to join it. Toyota will come to the Detroit auto show with an advanced plug-in-hybrid concept called the NS4. It will be the world premiere of the car, but no other details were immediately available. Meanwhile, the Prius C will make its U.S. debut. It's positioned as an entry-level model in the Prius family, joining the third-generation liftback, the Prius V mid-sized vehicle and a plug-in model. Pricing for the Prius C hasn't been announced yet, but the car will begin arriving in dealerships in spring 2012. Posted. http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20111220/OEM04/111229986/1186 GREEN ENERGY Administration boosts drive for green energy. Pushing for projects on both coasts. The Obama administration is boosting its drive to support renewable energy projects on both coasts, officials said Tuesday, including projects on public lands in the West and pushing for offshore wind energy sites in the Atlantic Ocean. Interior Secretary Kenneth L. Salazar said his department has approved a 300-megawatt solar farm in Arizona and a 200-megawatt wind farm in Southern California. The wind farm includes 186 megawatts that would be produced on federal lands. Posted. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/dec/20/administration-boosts-drive-for-green-energy/ Investors not shying away from solar power. Solyndra notwithstanding, some investors are still willing to bet big money on solar power. Google, for example, reported Tuesday that it will invest $94 million to help build four solar power plants near Sacramento. And Stion, a San Jose startup that makes thin-film solar cells, said Tuesday that it has raised another $130 million in private investments, much of it from Korean private equity funds. Posted. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/12/21/BUJR1MEV0Q.DTL&type=printable OPINIONS Dan Walters: Cost of reaching for the sun will soar. As Gov. Jerry Brown participated in a Capitol menorah-lighting ceremony this week to mark the onset of the Jewish holiday Hanukkah, he uttered a secular prayer for a miracle that would make California a model of carbon-free energy. Today's miracle, he said, "is not to find more oil, but to utilize the sun," adding, "when we continue to use our intelligence, we're going to take that sun through the miracle of modern science and technology, and we're going to light up California, our cars, our homes, our air conditioners." Posted. http://www.sacbee.com/2011/12/21/4136636/dan-walters-cost-of-reaching-for.html The Magic Word is…Adipic. Looking at Verdezyne and its bull markets. Holy Capex, Batman! The race to commercial-scale adipic acid is on. Does it matter? You bet your green nylons it does, Robin. Here’s why. Myself, the only five syllable word I have learned to use reliably is “Philadelphia”, but there’s this seven-syllable doozy going around you might as well know something about: renewablechemicals. It is generally used in bio-based investment meetings as the universal answer to any annoyingly difficult question that cannot otherwise be answered with “Brazil”. Posted. . http://biofuelsdigest.com/bdigest/2011/12/21/the-magic-word-is%e2%80%a6adipic-looking-at-verdezyne-and-its-bull-markets/ BLOGS On Our Radar: China Demands Emission Cuts. Amid protests over pollution, China says it has ordered local governments to reduce emissions of major pollutants by as much as 10 percent by 2015. Skeptics point out that the government’s monitoring of pollutants is lax and in some cases highly inaccurate. [The Telegraph]Google says it will invest $94 million in four solar farms in the Sacramento area in concert with Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Company. [The Los Angeles Times] Posted. http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/21/on-our-radar-china-orders-emission-cuts/ House Member Says Air Board Tried To “Mislead Congress” ARB’s response to inquiry wasn’t what Orange County Republican had in mind. Orange County Republican Darrell Issa says he remains “deeply troubled” by what he calls a “lack of candor” & “internal inconsistencies” in the California Air Resource Board’s (ARB) response to his November 9th letter probing negotiations toward a new national fuel economy standard. (You can read my original post on Rep. Issa’s and Nichols first round of correspondence here.). Posted. http://blogs.kqed.org/climatewatch/2011/12/20/house-member-says-air-board-tried-to-mislead-congress/ Tesla announces pricing, options and battery specs for 2012 Model S. Tesla is still a year away from delivering its first Model S, but the up-start automaker has released official pricing details on its all-electric sedan, along with options and battery specs. Pricing for the Model S is broken down depending on battery capacity and the resulting range, with the 160-mile version commanding $57,400, the 230-mile variant priced at $67,400 and the 300-mile Model S coming in at $77,400. There's also the $87,400 Perfomance model which has the same 85-kWh battery as the 300-mile version. Posted. http://www.green.autoblog.com/2011/12/20/tesla-announces-pricing-options-and-battery-specs-for-2012-mode/ Rep. Issa asks CARB for more documents about 54.5 mpg CAFE standards. A month ago, Darrell Issa (R-CA) sent letters to 15 automotive CEOs asking them for information about the possible safety effects of implementing the proposed new fuel economy standards. Now, he's following up with a new request to California Air Resources Board chairwoman Mary Nichols for documents about how CARB, the Obama administration and the automakers came to the agreement to hit 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025. He's been down this road before, and claims that the 4,000 documents CARB sent him before were not enough, especially since some had already been made public. Posted. http://green.autoblog.com/2011/12/21/rep-issa-asks-carb-for-more-documents-about-54-5-mpg-cafe-stand/ Will the EPA’s mercury rule cause a wave of blackouts? No. Later this afternoon, EPA administrator Lisa Jackson is expected to roll out the agency’s new regulations on mercury and toxic pollution from coal-fired power plants. That raises some questions: Just how many plants will end up getting shuttered as a result of all of the EPA’s new air-pollution rules? And how much of a pain will this be?It’s a hotly debated topic these days, with industry groups (and plenty of Republicans) predicting possible blackouts and economic havoc, while environmentalists have mostly been rolling their eyes. Posted. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/post/will-the-epas-mercury-rule-cause-a-wave-of-blackouts-no/2011/12/20/gIQALEu88O_blog.html EEA data show most automakers must reduce emissions to meet European 2015 CO2 regulations. While most car manufacturers have already met their individual 2012 CO2 targets for Europe, several carmakers need to make their fleets even more carbon-efficient to meet the 2012 target, according to updated data published by the European Environment Agency (EEA). The data also show that almost all manufacturers must reduce emissions to meet 2015 targets under European legislation for new passenger cars, based on average CO2 emissions for each manufacturer. Posted. http://www.greencarcongress.com/2011/12/eea-20111221.html