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newsclips -- ARB Newsclips of October 23, 2012.

Posted: 23 Oct 2012 12:35:40
ARB Newsclips for October 23, 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

Tribe near Vegas appealing EPA coal plant air rule. An American
Indian tribe living in the shadow of a NV Energy Inc. coal-fired
power plant outside Las Vegas is heading a legal push for more
stringent emissions and air quality standards for the facility.
The Moapa Band of Paiute Indians, National Parks Conservation
Association and Sierra Club is asking the 9th U.S. Circuit Court
of Appeals in San Francisco to order the federal Environmental
Protection Agency to beef up standards approved in August for the
Reid Gardner Generating Station. Posted.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505245_162-57537994/tribe-near-vegas-appealing-epa-coal-plant-air-rule/


CLIMATE CHANGE

EU needs to decide carbon reform "without delay”: draft. A rapid
rise in surplus EU carbon credits is expected to slow from 2014
onwards, but to tackle a short-term glut member states need to
decide before the end of the year on a temporary fix, a European
Commission draft document said. The draft report on the carbon
market also called on the member states to discuss and explore
options for more lasting changes to the Emissions Trading Scheme
(ETS) after allowance prices hit a record low in April.
Posted.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/23/us-eu-ets-idUSBRE89M0KX20121023


EU to Sell 197 Million of CO2 in Early 2013, New Energy Says. The
European Union will probably sell about 197 million metric tons
of carbon allowances in the first two months of next year, even
as it seeks to complete details of a supply-glut fix, said
Bloomberg New Energy Finance. That volume will “almost certainly”
be sold in auctions over that period while the bloc seeks to
complete details of its plan to temporarily delay supply, James
Cooper, an analyst in London for New Energy Finance, said today
in an e-mailed response to questions. Posted.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-10-19/eu-to-sell-197-million-of-co2-in-early-2013-new-energy-says-1-.html


Climate linked to conflict in East Africa, study finds. A study
relating climate to conflict in East African nations finds that
increased rainfall dampens conflict while unusually hot periods
can cause a flare-up, reinforcing the theory that climate change
will cause increased scarcity in the region. The study was
published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences. Politicians and many scientists have called climate
change a security risk…Posted.
http://www.latimes.com/news/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-climate-change-linked-to-conflict-in-east-africa-20121022,0,7901739,print.story


Climate change will increase methane emissions from rice paddies
– study. Both warming and increased carbon dioxide in the air
will nearly double the intensity of greenhouse gas emissions from
rice paddies, a new study has found. "We're pushing these
ecosystems to become more of a source of this potent greenhouse
gas," said Bruce Hungate, a researcher at Northern Arizona
University and co-author of the report.
Researchers from the University of California, Davis, Northern
Arizona University and Trinity University in Dublin analyzed
journal articles on greenhouse gas emissions from rice
cultivation in fields, growth chambers and glass houses. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2012/10/23/5  BY
SUBSCRIPTION ONLY

Candidates spar over energy; climate's a no-show. Despite weeks
of protests and public campaigns, advocates for a discussion of
climate change policy saw their efforts fall short last night
when neither President Obama nor GOP presidential nominee Mitt
Romney broached the topic at their final debate of the campaign
cycle. Obama and Romney met at Lynn University in Boca Raton,
Fla., in their third and final matchup last night, in an event
largely keyed to foreign policy. Various environment
organizations had lobbied for weeks -- submitting petitions,
purchasing national television ad time and staging protests at
each of the debate sites -- for candidates to be asked to address
their positions on climate change science. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/print/2012/10/23/2 BY
SUBSCRIPTION ONLY

DIESEL EMISSIONS

Diesel fumes more polluting than gas, new California study finds.
A chemical analysis of air samples taken from California's San
Joaquin Valley and an Oakland traffic tunnel show that diesel
fuel emissions are more polluting than previously thought,
according to researchers. The study, which appeared Monday in the
journal PNAS, focuses on a specific form of pollutant known as
secondary organic aerosol, or SOA. The pollutant is a major
element of smog and can contribute to heart and respiratory
problems. Posted.
http://www.latimes.com/news/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-diesel-pollution-20121022,0,5516594,print.story


CARB: How do you know your PM filter is legal?  That diesel
particulate filter a shop or parts dealer talked you into may fit
onto your after-exhaust system – but it won’t keep you from
getting a citation issued by the California Air Resources Board. 
As part of CARB’s diesel truck inspection blitz in September, the
air quality agency found many trucks that had particulate filters
installed, though some weren’t CARB approved and left truck
owners vulnerable to expensive fines.  In a news release, CARB
says “some companies are advertising and attempting to sell
devices that cannot be used to comply with Air Resources Board
diesel engine regulations.”  Posted. 
http://www.landlinemag.com/Story.aspx?StoryID=24313  

Air pollution study clears the air on diesel versus gas
emissions.  Are gasoline-fueled cars or large diesel trucks the
bigger source of secondary organic aerosol (SOA), a major
component of smog? UC Berkeley researchers have stepped into this
debate with a new study that says diesel exhaust contributes 15
times more than gas emissions per liter of fuel burned.  The
study, published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy
of Sciences, elucidates the contributions to air pollution from
the two types of fuel emissions. The authors estimate that diesel
exhaust is responsible for 65-90 percent of a region’s
vehicular-derived SOA, depending upon the relative amounts of
gasoline and diesel used in the area.  Posted. 
http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2012/10/22/diesel-vs-gas-contributing-to-smog/


FUELS

When prices spike, do gas stations make money? Consumers took a
beating when gas prices jumped this month, but the price spike
also gashed independent station owners too, leaving many bleeding
red ink. Branded stations like Shell, BP, or Exxon typically
charge more for gas than the unbranded stations, but they’re
insulated from shortages like the one that struck California
earlier in the month. Posted. 
http://www.nctimes.com/business/when-prices-spike-do-gas-stations-make-money/article_365b23a2-300e-5708-baa0-8ca97655a613.html
 

Oil price below $88 on global growth concerns. The price of oil
fell below $88 a barrel Tuesday as the impending reopening of a
key pipeline in North America and concerns about slowing economic
growth overcame rising Middle East supply risks.
By early afternoon in Europe, benchmark oil for December delivery
was down $1.04 to $87.61 a barrel in electronic trading on the
New York Mercantile Exchange after briefly venturing above $89
earlier in the day.The contract fell $1.32 to finish at $88.73
per barrel in New York on Monday, reaching a three-week low as a
major North American pipeline got set to reopen. Posted.
http://www.nctimes.com/news/world/oil-price-below-on-global-growth-concerns/article_005799b2-822e-5a54-9237-3e47bf27fa0c.html


GREEN ENERGY

Green buildings on the rise in Persian Gulf states. With massive
steel Sidra trees sprouting from the base of the building and a
9-meter (yard) high sculpture of a spider in the lobby protecting
a sack of grey and white eggs, Qatar National Convention Center
is hard to ignore. But it's what most visitors don't see that may
become the building's lasting legacy in a region far better known
for over-the-top excesses than conservation.
From the sustainably logged wood used in its construction to the
3,500-square-meters of solar panels on the roof…Posted.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/ML_GULF_GREEN_BUILDINGS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


IKEA to move to clean energy by 2020, protect forests. IKEA, the
world's largest furniture retailer, will shift to renewable
energy by 2020 and grow more trees than it uses under a plan to
safeguard nature that has won support from environmentalists.
The Swedish-based group, which wants to build on many customers'
desire for a greener lifestyle, also said on Tuesday it would
limit sales by 2016 to energy-efficient products including
induction cookers and LED light bulbs. Posted.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/23/us-ikea-idUSBRE89L1LZ20121023
 

Billboards Urge L.A. Mayor to Up City's Renewable Energy. Given
the last renewable energy-related billboard that mentioned Los
Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa -- a well-placed sign on the
10 near its entrance to the Coachella Valley slamming the mayor
for his support of the proposed "Green Path North" transmission
line -- you might expect him to be a little jumpy to hear there
are new ones. Posted.
http://www.kcet.org/news/rewire/utilities/billboards-urge-los-angeles-mayor-to-up-citys-renewable-energy.html


MISCELLANEOUS

As unconventional U.S. oil, gas boom, so do jobs: report. The
U.S. oil and gas rush is cutting into jobless numbers, supporting
a total of 1.7 million jobs this year, a number that will swell
to almost 3 million by 2020, a leading consultant said in a study
released on Tuesday. The report by forecaster IHS Global Insight
(IHS.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) is part of a series
attempting to quantify the impact that booming production of
so-called "unconventional" oil and gas has had on the American
economy. Posted.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/23/us-usa-oil-economy-idUSBRE89M05Y20121023


OPINIONS

The Promise of Renewable Energy. David Brooks’s Oct. 19 column,
“A Sad Green Story,” unfairly brands clean technology subsidies
as wasteful corporate welfare. He does not mention the numerous
subsidies, in the form of research grants, sweetheart resource
extraction contracts and costly foreign policy interventions,
that have benefited fossil fuels for decades. The reluctance of
both political parties to eliminate these subsidies puts clean
technologies at a competitive disadvantage. Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/23/opinion/the-promise-of-renewable-energy.html?_r=0


Michael Shellenberger to climate activists: It’s not the end of
the world.  Michael Shellenberger and Ted Nordhaus have a real
knack for stirring the pot.  In 2004, the duo, founders of an
Oakland, Calif.-based think tank called the Breakthrough
Institute, published a paper called “The Death of
Environmentalism: Global Warming Politics in a Post-Environmental
World.” Much to the chagrin of many old-school greens, they
argued that the institution of environmentalism was unable to
deal with the global crises knocking at our door, because
environmentalists were pigeonholed by what they called “the
politics of limits”…Posted. 
http://grist.org/climate-energy/michael-shellenberger-to-climate-activists-its-not-the-end-of-the-world/
 

Obama and Romney ignore climate, could learn from Hillary
Clinton.  The climate silence is complete: Climate change got not
a single mention in any of the three presidential debates nor in
the vice presidential debate this year. That hasn’t happened for
24 years.  In the final debate on Monday night, focused on
foreign policy, moderator Bob Schieffer didn’t ask anything about
energy or climate, but he posed a couple of open-ended questions
that would have given easy entrée to either candidate had they
any inclination to bring up the topic: “What is America’s role in
the world?” and “What do you believe is the greatest future
threat to the national security of this country?”  Posted. 
http://grist.org/politics/obama-and-romney-ignore-climate-could-learn-from-hillary-clinton/
 

BLOGS

Obama won the third presidential debate, but what about climate
change?  In their last presidential debate Monday night, the two
presidential candidates began with Libya and stayed in the
Islamic world for almost the entire evening. They talked about
“divorcing” Pakistan, arming Syrian rebels and rallying allies
against Iran. In this exchange, Romney offered few serious
counterproposals to Obama’s current policy, and Obama offered
little more about his vision for the next four years. Posted. 
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/post/obama-won-the-third-presidential-debate-but-what-about-climate-change/2012/10/23/1842c0c4-1cc0-11e2-ba31-3083ca97c314_blog.html


One Reason for Debate Climate Silence. Below you can see my
two-slide Powerpoint explanation for the presidential debates’
resounding #climatesilence (that’s the Twitter hashtag for the
failed push to get global warming on the debate agenda). Try to
find slide one — depicting the online tussle over climate science
and policy — within slide two, which places the first issue in
the flow of the moment’s news. Posted.
http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/23/one-reason-for-debate-climate-silence/?ref=earth
 

Invasive Grasses as Biofuel? Scientists Protest.  More than 200
scientists from across the country have sent a letter to the
Obama administration urging the Environmental Protection Agency
to reconsider a rule, in the final approval stages, that would
allow two invasive grasses, Arundo donax and Pennisetum
purpureum, to qualify as advanced biofuel feedstock under the
nation’s renewable fuel standard.  “As scientists in the fields
of ecology, wildlife biology…Posted. 
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/23/invasive-grasses-as-biofuel-scientists-protest/


A New Sustainability Chief for New York. New York City’s Office
of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability is about to see a
changing of the guard. In a few weeks Sergej Mahnovski, the
current director of energy policy for Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg,
will take over the sustainability office, which puts changes into
effect related to the mayor’s PlaNYC environmental agenda.
Posted.
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/23/a-new-sustainability-chief-for-new-york/?ref=earth
 

Food and Climate: A New Warning. As we have noted many times, one
of the major questions about climate change is what it will do to
the world’s food supply. Competing factors are at work. On the
one hand, the rising level of carbon dioxide in the air
significantly bolsters the growth of plants, potentially raising
yields. Conversely, rising heat and, in some places, additional
weather extremes like drought and heavy rains threaten to reduce
yields. Posted.
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/23/food-and-climate-a-new-warning/?ref=earth
 

Sustainable Innovation: The Ethanol Stove. Many of the 1.2
million people living in Maputo, Mozambique’s capital, have a
clean energy problem. Charcoal, the main source of fuel,
harvested from the old-growth forests in the north of the East
African country, is slowly running out. Because the forests are
receding, the cost of a bag of cooking charcoal is rising.  The
fuel — used in many places in sub-Saharan Africa — has other
drawbacks, of course. Posted.
http://rendezvous.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/22/sustainable-innovation-the-ethanol-stove/


Hydrogen leak at San Onofre poses no risk, Edison says. Workers
discovered a hydrogen leak in a pipe on the non-nuclear side of
the shuttered San Onofre nuclear plant over the weekend. The U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued a non-emergency notice of
the leak on Sunday, after plant operator Southern California
Edison reported it. Edison also notified the California Emergency
Management Agency and the San Diego Department of Environmental
Health. Posted.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/10/hydrogen-leak-san-onofre.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+lanowblog+%28L.A.+Now%29


Cap-and-Trade, Carbon Taxes, and My Neighbor's Lovely Lawn.  The
recent demise of serious political consideration of an
economy-wide U.S. CO2 cap-and-trade system and the even more
recent resurgence in interest among policy wonks in a U.S. carbon
tax should prompt reflection on where we've been, where we are,
and where we may be going.  Almost 15 years ago, in an article
that appeared in 1998 in the Journal of Economic Perspectives,
"What Can We Learn from the Grand Policy Experiment? Posted. 
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-stavins/cap-and-trade-carbon-taxes_b_2003791.html


Mind your sign language.  A FARMER from Corcoran, California, has
come up with a rather unsubtle way to draw attention to
Not-In-My-Back-Yard objections to the route planned for America's
first true high-speed rail (HSR) line. A sign erected on his farm
at the side of the road suggests, "To All High Speed Rail
Advocates—Eat Sh** And Die" [his asterisks, not ours]. 
California's high-speed rail plans, which Gulliver has covered
before, have long been a subject of controversy in the state.
Posted. 
http://www.economist.com/blogs/gulliver/2012/10/high-speed-rail-california

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