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ARB Newsclips for March 15, 2012. 

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

Air pollution deaths 'to increase'.  Air pollution is set to
cause increasing numbers of early deaths in the coming decades,
including in rich countries, a "grim" report on the environment
warns.  The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and
Development (OECD) also warned that without changes to government
policies, carbon emissions would rise by 50% by 2050, putting the
world on course for temperature rises of 3C to 6C by 2100. 
Posted. 
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5haWtgnnYcKIuOdbkEYjeQvnuxCTg?docId=N1129081331823988592A

Study On LAX Air Quality Closer to Completion.  The final phase
of a landmark study is under way to determine how much air
pollution in the region comes from Los Angeles International
Airport, officials said today.  Two initial phases of the study
determined the best techniques and equipment for determining air
quality levels and which pollutants can be linked to airport
operations. The study was started in 1999, but was suspended for
one year because of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.  Posted. 
http://brentwood.patch.com/articles/study-on-lax-air-quality-closer-to-completion

DEP says Pa. plant's pollution upgrades likely OK.  State
Department of Environmental Protection officials say they'll
likely issue a permit for pollution control equipment that will
keep a western Pennsylvania power plant operating—and 265 workers
employed.  The Tribune-Democrat of Johnstown (
http://bit.ly/xMPqkD) says DEP officials announced those plans at
a meeting Wednesday at a school auditorium near the Homer City
Generating Station, the state's second-largest coal-fired power
plant. Posted. 
http://www.contracostatimes.com/ci_20179728/dep-says-pa-plants-pollution-upgrades-likely-ok?IADID=Search-www.contracostatimes.com-www.contracostatimes.com
http://www.insidebayarea.com/ci_20179728/dep-says-pa-plants-pollution-upgrades-likely-ok?IADID=Search-www.insidebayarea.com-www.insidebayarea.com

DIESEL EMISSIONS

CARB fines DPF maker $103,000 over illegal diesel filters. The
California Air Resources Board has fined a diesel particulate
filter $103,000 for selling DPF systems the air quality agency
says are illegal.  Donaldson Co. Inc. of Minneapolis paid the
administrative fine recently.  CARB says its investigation showed
Donaldson sold 103 systems that didn’t include a back pressure
monitor. In a news release, CARB officials described the back
pressure monitor as “a device essential to the performance of
both the filter and the engine of the vehicle.”  Posted. 
http://www.landlinemag.com/Story.aspx?StoryID=23365

FUELS

Air Products and FuelCell Energy to partner to market
tri-generation stationary fuel cell power plants; industrial
hydrogen users and vehicle refueling.  Air Products and FuelCell
Energy, Inc. signed a Memorandum of Understanding to work toward
the market development of stationary Direct FuelCell (DFC) power
plants that simultaneously produce hydrogen, ultra-clean
electricity and usable high quality heat. Target markets for
these tri-generation stationary fuel cell power plants include
industrial hydrogen users as well as vehicle fueling
applications. 
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2012/03/ap-fce-20120305.html

VEHICLES

New, more efficient cars could save you gas money.  Gasoline
prices are headed for record highs this spring. If that happens,
a new, more fuel-efficient car may be worth the investment.  Gas
has jumped 54 cents to an average of $3.81 per gallon this year.
By next month, the price could break the all-time record of $4.11
in July 2008.  Four years ago, car companies didn't have enough
fuel-sipping small cars to satisfy buyers, and that hurt sales.
But they've put far more emphasis on fuel economy since then, and
there's now a wide selection of efficient cars and SUVs.  Posted.
 http://www.modbee.com/2012/03/14/2112452/new-more-efficient-cars-could.html

GREEN ENERGY

Study: Young people not so 'green' after all. They have a
reputation for being environmentally minded do-gooders. But an
academic analysis of surveys spanning more than 40 years has
found that today's young Americans are less interested in the
environment and in conserving resources — and often less
civic-minded overall — than their elders were when they were
young. The findings go against the widespread belief that
environmental issues have hit home with today's young adults,
known as Millennials, who have grown up amid climate change
discussion and the mantra "reduce, reuse, recycle." Posted.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2012/03/15/national/a021436D45.DTL&type=business

More than $16 million in auto clean energy loans stalled. More
than $16 billion in loans authorized five years ago by Congress
to develop fuel-efficient vehicles has yet to be dispersed, with
applicants for the money complaining that the Energy Department
is crippling plans for greener cars and trucks at a time of
rising gas prices. Some companies contend that the loans,
administered by energy officials, have dried up because of a
political firestorm that followed the bankruptcy last year of the
solar-panel company Solyndra, which had received a federal loan
from a related program. Posted.
http://www.sacbee.com/2012/03/13/v-print/4332141/auto-clean-energy-loans-stalled.html

Solar debate heats up as CA farmland is targeted.  In the debate
pitting photovoltaic power stations against agriculture, all eyes
have been on Fresno County, where the abundance of sunshine that
make it the No. 1 agriculture-producing county in the nation also
make it ideal for solar arrays.  This week Fresno County, with 29
projects on 11,000 acres in the pipeline, approved its plan to
balance food security with green energy with a decision that
falls short of what both sides wanted.  Posted. 
http://www.contracostatimes.com/ci_20174668/solar-debate-heats-up-ca-farmland-is-targeted?IADID=Search-www.contracostatimes.com-www.contracostatimes.com

OPINIONS

Editorial: U.S. shouldn't skimp on tsunami warnings. The U.S.
coastline is under increasing siege from rising sea levels caused
by climate change. California, the rest of the West Coast and
Hawaii also face the danger of tsunamis – as we witnessed a year
ago when the ripples of the devastating earthquake in Japan
deluged harbors in Crescent City and Santa Cruz and caused nearly
$60 million in damage across the state. So it is the epitome of
penny-wise and pound-foolish for the Obama administration to
propose cutting the nation's tsunami warning and preparedness
programs. Posted.
http://www.sacbee.com/2012/03/15/v-print/4338317/us-shouldnt-skimp-on-tsunami-warnings.html

Viewpoints: Hetch Hetchy provides a clean source of energy. In
recent months there have been numerous articles, in The Bee and
other newspapers, about the water implications of draining Hetch
Hetchy reservoir. And in San Francisco, there is a misguided
ballot initiative, the Water Sustainability and Environmental
Restoration Act, that is asking voters to take the first step
toward dismantling the dam and fostering water insecurity in the
Bay Area. What hasn't received as much attention is the clean
energy implications if Hetch Hetchy is drained. Energy security
and reliability are at the core of a sustainable future. Posted.
http://www.sacbee.com/2012/03/15/v-print/4338324/hetch-hetchy-provides-a-clean.html

EDITORIAL: Global warming greed.  It’s only now becoming clear
how many people have become rich thanks to the global-warming
scare. Politicians from both parties have been so afraid of being
labeled a “denier” that they’ll vote for any piece of legislation
bearing the trendy green label. The numbers are adding up fast. 
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) counted a whopping 641
programs in place at 130 federal agencies in 2010 to prop up
windmill technology and underwrite solar panel manufacturers. 
Posted. 
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/mar/14/global-warming-greed/

BLOGS

Solar, Wind and Biofuel: A $246B Market in 2011.  For those
wondering if the clean energy economy will ever really take
flight, there’s some renewable light at the end of the tunnel.  A
report from Clean Edge that’s aptly titled “Clean Energy Trends
2012” says the solar photovoltaic, wind, and biofuel markets grew
by 31 percent to $246.1 billion last year.  That’s a nice number
but still nothing to compare with just the aggregate profits of
the fossil fuel guys: over the past decade the top five oil and
gas companies alone reported more than $1 trillion in profits and
another $71 billion in profits during the first half of 2011.
Posted. 
http://www.triplepundit.com/2012/03/solar-wind-biofuel-246bn-market-2011/

New Materials Remove Co2 From Smokestacks, Tailpipes and Even The
Air.  Scientists are reporting discovery of an improved way to
remove carbon dioxide — the major greenhouse gas that contributes
to global warming — from smokestacks and other sources, including
the atmosphere. Their report on the process, which achieves some
of the highest carbon dioxide removal capacity ever reported for
real-world conditions where the air contains moisture, appears in
the Journal of the American Chemical Society.  Posted. 
http://www.celsias.com/article/new-materials-remove-co2-smokestacks-tailpipes-and/