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newsclips -- Newsclips for December 28, 2011

Posted: 28 Dec 2011 12:31:44
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.
GREEN ENERGY

Why the Hype Surrounding Renewable Energy Is Just That.  Okay,
call me a spoilsport, but as much as we all might wish otherwise,
there really is no free energy lunch. Not so long as much or more
needs to be put in to get it than it yields, that removes more
valuable land and other resources from more beneficial uses than
it is worth, that isn’t reliably available in sufficient
quantities when and where needed, that promises highly debatable
environmental advantages, that costs consumers lots more than
“nonrenewable” alternatives, and whose sustainability depends
upon endless government mandates and subsidies.  Posted. 
http://www.forbes.com/sites/larrybell/2011/12/27/why-the-hype-surrounding-renewable-energy-is-just-that/

OPINION

PRUDEN: A little humility at the ‘climate research’ crossroads. 
“Climate research,” the New York Times confidently assures us,
“stands at a crossroads.” This means that a lot of research
scientists are standing at the crossroads, holding out paper bags
like trick-or-treaters on Halloween night, standing in line for
taxpayer largesse to fill ‘em up.  These specialists in shakedown
“science,” who speak only in hyperbole, are calling the weather
of 2011 the worst in history, or at least in memory, or maybe a
decade, and say they could have found useful links between
disasters and global-warming “science” by now if only they could
shake down tightwad taxpayers for a few more millions.  Posted. 
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/dec/27/pruden-a-little-humility-at-the-climate-research-c/


The dirty politics of clean energy.  Disturbing revelations
continue to emerge about how more than half a billion dollars of
taxpayer dollars were shoveled into the Solyndra solar-panel
boondoggle. It is becoming increasingly clear that the only
“green” involved in this scandal is money.  There is no
compelling reason to empower the government to use public funds
to engage in risky investments.  Posted 
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/dec/26/the-dirty-politics-of-clean-energy/

BLOGS

In Drilling Safety Debate, Hydrofracking’s Not the Only Target.
In the heated debate over fracking in New York, it is often
forgotten that conventional natural gas drilling has been taking
place in the state for decades. Chemung County, a place I write
about in Wednesday’s Times, has been a leader in gas production
in the state and is now poised to become a leader in exploration
of the Marcellus Shale. Drilling awaits the approval of new state
rules governing horizontal drilling combined with high-volume
hydraulic fracturing, or fracking – a controversial process
because it uses large amounts of water, more than one million
gallons per well — and could pose new risks of groundwater
contamination. Posted. 
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/28/in-drilling-safety-debate-hydrofrackings-not-the-only-target/

Air pollution control agency increases gas log rebate.  The Air
Quality Management District is increasing its rebate for gas log
sets from $125 to as much as $200. The rebates are for homeowners
who convert their existing wood-burning fireplaces to log sets
fueled with natural gas, which radically reduce fine particulate
emissions.  The air pollution control agency for Orange County
and the non-desert portions of L.A., San Bernardino and Riverside
counties says that fireplaces and other wood-burning devices are
used in 1.2 million homes in the South Coast Air Basin.  Posted. 
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/home_blog/2011/12/gas-log-rebate.html

Three federal electric vehicle incentives expiring at end of
2011. 2011 may have been the first full year that multiple
mainstream plug-in vehicles were available in the U.S., but it
will also be remembered – most likely – as the year when the U.S.
federal government was offering the most money to plug-in vehicle
buyers (based on the number and types of incentives offered, not
in total funds spent). As of the end of 2011 – i.e., three short
days from now – three incentives will go the way of an ethanol
subsidy. A fourth – arguably the most important one – will remain
on the books. Posted. 
http://green.autoblog.com/2011/12/28/in-budget-fight-three-federal-electric-vehicle-incentives-fall/

Sign of the times: Gas stations in Japan get into EV charging
game. It's an idea with global reach: turn gas stations into
electric vehicle charging points. Whether you're talking about
the U.S. or the UK, putting plugs near pumps seems to make sense.
And that's just what's going to happen in Japan, too. Not a
surprise, really, especially since most DC fast chargers will be
coming to Asia in the next few years. The latest announcement of
the growing transition comes from a group of four companies in
Japan – Cosmo Oil , Idemitsu Kosan, JX Nippon Oil and Showa Shell
Sekiyu KK – that will install EV charging station at 27 of their
various gas stations in the first three months of 2012. Posted. 
http://green.autoblog.com/2011/12/28/sign-of-the-times-gas-stations-in-japan-get-into-ev-charging-ga/

EPA finalizes 2012 Renewable Fuel Standards; cellulosic biofuels
category comes in at 0.006%.  The US Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) finalized the 2012 percentage standards for four
fuel categories that are part of the agency’s Renewable Fuel
Standard program (RFS2). (Earlier post.) The final 2012 overall
volumes and standards are Biomass-based diesel (1.0 billion
gallons; 0.91%), Advanced biofuels (2.0 billion gallons; 1.21%),
Cellulosic biofuels (8.65 million gallons; 0.006%), Total
renewable fuels (15.2 billion gallons; 9.2%).  In the proposed
rulemaking released earlier this year for 2012, EPA had proposed
a cellulosic biofuels volume ranging from 3.45–12.9 million
gallons (0.002–0.010%).  Posted. 
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2011/12/eparfs-20111227.html

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