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newsclips -- ARB Newsclips for March 20, 2012
Posted: 20 Mar 2012 12:34:24
Happy First Day of Spring! ARB Newsclips for March 20, 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. CLIMATE CHANGE Airlines Probably Will Get Global CO2 Market, ICAO’s Kobeh Says. The global airline industry will probably need some form of carbon market beyond 2015 to help protect the climate, said the president of the United Nations’ International Civil Aviation Organization. It’s too early to foretell the outcome of a three-year process ending in September next year that is considering greenhouse-gas trading for the industry, Roberto Kobeh, president of the organization since 2006, said yesterday in an phone interview from Montreal. Posted. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-20/airlines-probably-will-get-global-co2-market-icao-s-kobeh-says.html DIESEL EMISSIONS CARB urges truckers to report vehicles to meet new March 30 deadline. The Air Resources Board (CARB) is reminding California-bound truck owners that the deadline to report information regarding their fleets has been extended to March 30. CARB provided a two-month extension from the original January 31 reporting deadline to give fleet owners more time to submit their information before widespread enforcement of the regulation begins. Posted. http://www.thetrucker.com/News/Stories/2012/3/20/CARBurgestruckerstoreportvehiclestomeetnewMarch30deadline.aspx FUELS Appeals court overturns PG&E gas plant approval. A state appeals court has sidetracked Pacific Gas & Electric Co.'s plans for a new natural gas power plant in Oakley. The 586-megawatt plant would have provided electricity for PG&E's grid in Northern and Central California. The company initially proposed to complete construction by June 2014, but the California Public Utilities Commission rejected the proposal, saying it exceeded PG&E's demonstrated needs for 2014. Five months later, the commission endorsed an amended proposal to bring the Oakley plant on line in June 2016. Posted. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/03/20/BA8J1NMB75.DTL&type=printable Natural gas industry high on future, despite current low prices. Despite looming federal regulations and rock-bottom market prices, leaders in the natural gas business are confident the shale boom that’s helped revitalize economies from Pennsylvania to Wyoming is only just getting started. Companies from across the sector, from multibillion-dollar outfits such as Chesapeake Energy to small-town hardware stores, have gathered in Pittsburgh this week for the annual Marcellus Midstream Conference, one of the largest industry meetings in the nation. Posted. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/mar/19/natural-gas-industry-high-on-future-despite-curren/ Diesel Reaches Highest Price Since Summer 2008. The average diesel price spiked 1.9 cents this week to $4.142 a gallon, its highest price since the summer of 2008, according to the Energy Information Administration's weekly fuel update. The price is the second highest since diesel reached $4.145 on Aug. 25, 2008. California actually saw a very slight decrease of .2 cents, but the state still has the highest diesel prices in the country with an average of $4.481. Gas prices rose 3.8 cents to $3.867. The Gulf Coast was hit the hardest with an increase of 5.1 cents per gallon. Posted. http://www.truckinginfo.com/news/news-detail.asp?news_id=76386 VEHICLES Hybrid, electric or gas: What’s a car buyer interested in the environment to do? People interested in environmental issues love a good game of this vs. that. Which is better for the environment: Paper towels or hot-air hand dryers? Cash, check or credit? Going to the theater or renting a DVD? While it’s an interesting diversion, such cases are all cocktail party chatter compared with whether, how much and what you choose to drive. One-fifth of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions come from transportation, according to the advocacy group Environmental Defense Fund. Posted. http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/hybrid-electric-or-gas-whats-a-car-buyer-interested-in-the-environment-to-do/2012/03/12/gIQA4ISdNS_story.html Cutting the cord for electric cars. Will the electric car recharger be the next technology to go wireless? That’s the question posed by Evatran, a Morrisville startup that has created a “plugless” charging station to juice up plug-in electric cars. The company’s founders – and funders – are betting that cutting the cord will be the next advance for electric cars, building on the same concept that has untethered telephones and computers from the tyranny of wall jacks. Posted. http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/03/19/1943465/cutting-the-cord-for-electric.html GREEN ENERGY At San Jose solar convention, SolarWorld's trade case against China looms large. The looming trade war with China dominated the conversation Monday at the San Jose Convention Center as thousands of solar professionals gathered for PV America, a solar industry trade show. Many fear that the Obama administration, eager to create American manufacturing jobs, is about to apply additional duties on solar cells and solar panels made in China, possibly driving up solar prices and curtailing solar adoption in the United States just as the industry is taking off. Posted. http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_20208965/solarworld-panel-china-trade-san-jose-solar-convention House Panel to Cite New Flaw in Energy Loans. A Congressional committee that has been investigating the Energy Department’s loan programs is adding to its line of attack on the eve of an appearance by the energy secretary before the panel. The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee has been seeking with limited success to portray the financial support for a solar company, Solyndra, which eventually went bankrupt, as a politically inspired boon to an Obama campaign fund-raiser who was an investor in the business. Posted. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/19/us/politics/house-panel-to-cite-new-flaw-in-energy-loans.html?src=recg MISCELLANEOUS Mower exchange offered by air district. The Yolo-Solano Air Quality Management District has announced that its annual lawn mower exchange program will begin on April 16. The program allows Yolo and Solano County residents to receive a $100 discount on a new rechargeable lawn mower when they recycle their old gas-powered mower at one of Yolo-Solano AQMD's partner sites. Posted. http://www.dailydemocrat.com/ci_20212297/mower-exchange-offered-by-air-district?source=most_viewed More Recycling: More Jobs. The City of Stockton was home to the 8th annual REXPO, whose theme this year was “Unplugged,” on March 14, 2012 between the hours of 7:00 AM until 2:00 PM at the Hilton Hotel. The event was hosted by Green Team of San Joaquin, a program of the Stockton Chamber of Commerce. Posted. http://bwnews.us/2012/03/19/more-recycling-more-jobs/ OPINIONS Editorial: Stop dithering, pass transportation bill. Just back from a break, the House of Representatives has a short two weeks of work before it takes another recess. The No. 1 priority ought to be passing a bipartisan transportation bill – as the Senate already has done on a 74-22 vote. Lawmakers generally pass a transportation bill lasting five or six years – because states and localities need certainty to plan for multiyear projects. The last transportation bill passed in 2005 and expired in 2009. Posted. http://www.sacbee.com/2012/03/20/4350848/stop-dithering-pass-transportation.html Does cap-and-trade produce technological innovation? Cap-and-trade is dead, but some folks never tire of kicking the corpse. Corpse kickers received a boost last week from a paper published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, which purported to show that cap-and-trade programs “do not provide sufficient incentives for energy technology innovation.” This strikes me as a classic example of a press release overhyping and oversimplifying a paper to get attention. Posted. http://grist.org/climate-policy/does-cap-and-trade-produce-technological-innovation/ BLOGS Slimmer Majority of Americans Champions Renewables, Poll Finds. The partisan battle over the cause of the increase in gasoline prices has escalated as the average price of a gallon has crept closer to $4, with Republicans accusing President Obama for investing too much in alternative sources of energy at the expense of conventional fuels and Democrats blaming geopolitics and instability around the Persian Gulf. Now comes a survey from the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press suggesting that more Americans may be moving toward the Republican way of thinking on conventional energy. Posted. http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/19/slimmer-majority-of-americans-champions-renewables-poll-finds/?scp=10&sq=climate%20change&st=cse Environmental Groups Sue to Block New Desert Town. Environmental groups have filed suit against a proposed development near the Salton Sea that they say would irreparably harm the environment. The Sierra Club and Center for Biological Diversity allege that Travertine Point, a 40,000 acre development that would include up to 16,655 residential units and 5 million square feet of commercial space in a remote location 16 miles from the nearest established town, would dramatically increase vehicle pollution and further damage the already-imperiled Salton Sea. Posted. http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/news-ticker/2012/mar/20/environmental-groups-sue-to-block-new-desert-town/ What If Rest Of U.S. Did What California Has Done On Climate? California, a state that’s historically been at the cutting edge of environmental and climate policies, continues to take bold steps in order to address climate change. Climate studies and projections indicate that California will be hit hard by climate change, losing a great deal of its snow pack (a vital source of freshwater), and experiencing at least one meter of sea level rise by 2100. With the most advanced climate plan of any state, California is taking these threats very seriously…Posted. http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/03/20/447429/what-if-rest-of-the-us-did-what-california-has-done-on-climate/?mobile=nc MiEV Power BOX turns your electric Mitsubishi into a mini power station. As anyone who's suffered through an extended blackout can tell you, electric power can be a precious commodity. With the advent of electric cars comes the ability to borrow back some of the energy stored in traction batteries to help deal with emergencies or other situations. Mitsubishi's MiEV power BOX - soon become available as a dealer option – does just that, at least for Japanese customers. Posted. http://green.autoblog.com/2012/03/19/miev-power-box-turns-your-electric-mitsubishi-into-a-mini-power/ 2013 Nissan Leaf update will add new heater, up to 25 miles of range in the cold. From what we know today, pretty much everything about the all-electric Nissan Leaf is getting bigger and/or better in 2012. From availability in Europe to 50-state availability and production in the States, it's clear Nissan is planning big things for its EV this year. Now, Nissan's Mark Perry has told the The Detroit News that the 2013 Leaf will get serious improvements when it launches later this year, including a better heater, a darker interior option and leather seats. Posted. http://green.autoblog.com/2012/03/20/nissan-leaf-update-will-add-new-heater-25-miles-of-range/