What's New List Serve Post Display

ARB Newsclips for October 25, 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

Kellogg agrees to pay $500K in emissions case. The government
says Kellogg Co. has agreed to pay a $500,000 penalty to resolve
Clean Air Act violations at manufacturing facilities in Battle
Creek and Grand Rapids. The agreement with the Battle Creek-based
company was announced Thursday by the U.S. attorney's office in
Grand Rapids. Kellogg also agreed to improve emission levels at
the facilities and replace a cooling and dehumidifying system, a
project that's expected to cost more than $435,000. Posted.
http://www.sfgate.com/news/science/article/Kellogg-agrees-to-pay-500K-in-emissions-case-3981261.php#ixzz2AKaoiiui


California day care centers exceed standards for formaldehyde,
study reveals. UC Berkeley researchers found nearly nine out of
10 local day care centers exceeded state safety guidelines for
formaldehyde, according to a new study, heightening concerns
because children can be especially vulnerable to such chemicals.
An ingredient in some furniture glue, carpet, paints and fabrics,
formaldehyde can trigger breathing difficulties and, at very high
levels, has been identified as a cancer-causing agent. Posted.
http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_21848311/california-daycare-centers-exceed-standards-formaldehyde-study-reveals
http://www.contracostatimes.com/news/ci_21848314/california-daycare-centers-exceed-standards-formaldehyde-study-reveals?source=rss

http://www.ksee24.com/video/Day-Care---AGR-175699501.html

First-offense wood burners: Go to smoke class. Light a fire on a
bad air day and you may be going to smoke school -- or pay a $100
fine if you refuse. The Bay Area's air pollution district is
getting tougher this year on scofflaws, violators of its
four-year-old»¿ rule banning home or business owners from burning
wood fires in chimneys and stoves during Spare the Air alerts.
First-time violators used to get off with a written warning, but
they won't anymore. Posted.
http://www.mercurynews.com/science/ci_21844803/first-offense-burners-go-smoke-class
 http://www.contracostatimes.com/ci_21844803/first-offense-burners-go-smoke-class?IADID=Search-www.contracostatimes.com-www.contracostatimes.com

http://www.insidebayarea.com/ci_21844803/first-offense-burners-go-smoke-class?IADID=Search-www.insidebayarea.com-www.insidebayarea.com


How Bay Area no-burn rules work.  If you burn a wood fire in your
home or business fireplace or stove during a 24-hour Spare the
Air alert, you can be cited by the Bay Area Air Quality
Management for violation of their smoke rule.  An air district
inspector must personally observe the smoke to write up a
violation notice.  Inspectors' patrol routes are based on
priorities that consider areas with a history of high smoke
concentrations or complaints about illegal burning.  Inspectors
don't give people violation notices. The air district mails them
to violators.  Posted. 
http://www.contracostatimes.com/ci_21844807/how-bay-area-scofflaw-get-caught-smoking?IADID=Search-www.contracostatimes.com-www.contracostatimes.com


Report: More Chinese cities need to come clean on air pollution. 
Several Chinese cities have shown improvements with air quality
information -- a politically-sensitive issue in China -- but
improvements are still needed, according to a Beijing-based
non-profit environmental group.  The report by the Institute of
Public and Environmental Affairs assessed air quality monitoring
in 113 cities across China.  Posted. 
http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/25/world/asia/china-air-quality-disclosure/index.html
  

Enviros push EPA to make industry report toxic releases. Oil and
gas companies should be required to report releases of toxic
chemicals to a U.S. EPA database of environmental pollution,
according to a petition filed yesterday with the agency by a
coalition of green groups. Industries that must file annual
reports of environmental pollution to EPA's Toxic Release
Inventory divulge information only about the 682 listed
chemicals, which means such reporting, …Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/energywire/print/2012/10/25/5 BY
SUBSCRIPTION ONLY

CLIMATE CHANGE

U.S. looks to old Arctic ship logs for climate change clues. A
project to help track Arctic climate change using volunteers to
transcribe U.S. ship logs online was launched on Wednesday by the
National Archives and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA). Using citizen scientists to transcribe
thousands of pages of logbooks from Navy, Coast Guard and other
ships from 1850 to World War Two will fill a big data gap, NOAA
Administrator Jane Lubchenco said. Posted.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/24/us-usa-climate-arctic-idUSBRE89N1CU20121024


Cap-and-Trade Failure Aided U.S. to Cut Carbon Emissions. The
failure by Congress to pass cap- and-trade legislation in 2010
had one unanticipated impact: It helped to cut greenhouse gas
emissions. U.S. carbon-dioxide emissions are likely to be lower
by 2020 because of regulatory measures and market changes than
they would have been under legislation backed by President Barack
Obama and Democrats, said Dallas Burtraw, a senior fellow at
Resources for the Future in Washington. Posted.
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-10-25/cap-and-trade-failure-aided-u-dot-s-dot-to-cut-carbon-emissions


Smithsonian launches marine effort with $10M gift. The
Smithsonian is launching a new initiative to study coastal waters
and create the first global network monitoring climate change and
human impacts on ocean life with a $10 million gift. Los Angeles
hedge fund manager Michael Tennenbaum is announcing the donation
Thursday. He says long-term data is needed to raise the level of
dialogue about climate change and biodiversity. Posted.
http://www.modbee.com/2012/10/25/2428082/smithsonian-launches-marine-effort.html#storylink=misearch
 BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY

Many Calif. companies shun offsets as cap-and-trade system nears
launch. As California prepares to launch its carbon cap-and-trade
program, fear persists about buying offsets because they can be
ruled invalid retroactively, a market insider said yesterday.
Buyer liability for problems with offsets "has been the No. 1
thing that people have been worried about," said Joel Levin, vice
president for business development at Climate Action Reserve, a
nonprofit that issues credits for offset projects. "It's scared
them off of the program." Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2012/10/25/3  BY
SUBSCRIPTION ONLY

Indigenous leaders rejecting California REDD hold governor
responsible for their safety. As California lawmakers prepare to
launch the state’s cap and trade program as part of its Global
Warming Solutions Act, or AB32, indigenous leaders traveled to
Sacramento to urge officials not to include an international
forest-based carbon offset mechanism, known as REDD, in the law.
REDD, which stands for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and
forest Degradation, is a controversial market-based policy
mechanism that proposes to protect tropical forests in order to
capture and store carbon dioxide pollution. Posted.
http://www.foe.org/news/news-releases/2012-10-indigenous-leaders-rejecting-california-redd-hold-go


Brown asked to cool it on cap-and-trade.  A group of employer and
taxpayer organizations has formally asked Gov. Jerry Brown to
delay the scheduled Nov. 14 auction of greenhouse gas allowances
long enough to “fix” the state’s cap-and-trade program.  The
auction would sell to regulated businesses the right to emit
greenhouse gases in a scheme that would lower annually the
permissible total emissions. Posted.  
http://www.vvdailypress.com/opinion/brown-37269-asked-trade.html


DIESEL EMISSIONS

Speed limit on ships urged for air quality. Setting a speed limit
for cargo ships sailing near ports and coastlines could cut their
emission of air pollutants by up to 70 percent, a U.S. study
says. David R. Crocker III of the University of California,
Riverside, and colleagues say their evaluation of the impact of
vessel speed reduction policies such as those proposed by the
California Air Resources board suggests they would help reduce
the impact of marine shipping on Earth's climate and human
health. Posted.
http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2012/10/24/Speed-limit-on-ships-urged-for-air-quality/UPI-93481351106336/#ixzz2AG8kH6Oo

FUELS

Algae biofuel not sustainable now-U.S. research council. Biofuels
made from algae, promoted by President Barack Obama as a possible
way to help wean Americans off foreign oil, cannot be made now on
a large scale without using unsustainable amounts of energy,
water and fertilizer, the U.S. National Research Council reported
on Wednesday. "Faced with today's technology, to scale up any
more is going to put really big demands on ... not only energy
input…Posted.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/24/usa-biofuels-algae-idUSL1E8LODXX20121024


Oil Refining’s Fortunes Rise. The refinery business has long been
the difficult stepchild of the oil industry, expensive to run,
prone to accidents and a low-margin headache for executives who
preferred drilling for gushers.  But signs of the improving
fortunes for the industry can be seen at Valero Energy’s Three
Rivers refinery here, about 70 miles south of San Antonio at the
doorstep of a giant new shale oil field. Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/25/business/energy-environment/cheaper-oil-and-gas-give-a-lift-to-the-refining-business.html?pagewanted=all
 

Hearing planned on alternative fuel tax break. The revenue
department is holding a public hearing on proposed regulations
that spell out limits on the state's alternative fuel vehicle tax
credit. The tax break program's cost has grown much larger than
estimated and has become a headache for Gov. Bobby Jindal's
administration because of differing interpretations about what
should be included. Proposed regulations, set for discussion at
Thursday's hearing, would limit the tax credit program costs to
an estimated $10 million…Posted.
http://www.vcstar.com/news/2012/oct/25/hearing-planned-on-alternative-fuel-tax-break/
 

Southland gas prices falling; drivers say it's still not low
enough. Just how far the region's gasoline prices have dropped
from the sudden, scary peak of nearly three weeks ago could be
seen Wednesday at an unbranded station in Calabasas. Attracting
unwanted national attention during the spike, Low-P on Calabasas
Road had been charging $5.79 for regular unleaded - and customers
were still buying. On Wednesday, the station was charging $3.999
- about a 30 percent drop. Posted.
http://www.sbsun.com/ci_21848252/southland-gas-prices-falling-drivers-say-its-still


VEHICLES

China's BYD sending electric cabs to London. Chinese automaker
BYD Co. is sending 50 electric cabs to London in a boost to
China's struggling makers of all-electric vehicles. BYD and cab
company Green Tomato Cars Ltd. announced this week they will
start trial use of 50 of BYD's e6 sedans in late 2013. They said
it will be the British capital's first all-electric fleet. BYD,
one of whose investors is Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway
Corp., is seen by industry analysts as China's most advanced
competitor in the infant electric vehicle industry. Posted. 
http://www.vcstar.com/news/2012/oct/25/chinas-byd-sending-electric-cabs-to-london/


GREEN ENERGY

Green energy would save EU trillions by 2050: report. A green
revolution to make EU energy almost totally carbon-free by 2050
would generate 3 trillion euros ($3.9 trillion) in fuel savings,
a report commissioned by environmental campaigners said. The
energy shift would already create around half a million extra
jobs by 2020, researchers from German aerospace center DLR, which
also specializes in energy and transport, found. The European
Union has legislated to ensure that 20 percent of the energy mix
is green by 2020, as part of a set of three main environmental
goals. Posted.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/24/us-eu-greenpeace-idUSBRE89N0F120121024


U.K. Renewables Make Up 2% of Energy Bill Increases, Lobby Says.
U.K. programs promoting the use of renewable power accounted for
just 2 percent of the increase in consumer bills over two years,
an industry lobby said, after Centrica Plc (CNA)’s British Gas
and RWE Npower Plc raised charges. Renewables contributed 4
pounds ($6.40) to the average jump in a dual-fuel energy bill of
about 205 pounds in the two years to July, the Renewable Energy
Association said today, citing data from energy regulator Ofgem
and the government. Posted.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2012-10-24/u-k-renewables-make-up-2-of-energy-bill-increases-lobby-says.html


Cities Enticed by Pay-if-You-Save Energy Deals. WHEN the city of
Brea, Calif., about 25 miles southeast of Los Angeles, set out to
reduce its carbon emissions and save money on energy costs, the
challenge was the same faced by many other cities nationwide:
allocating the funds to pay for the program. Finding projects to
make city buildings more energy efficient was far easier. So the
city turned to a form of financing that has become common among
government agencies at all levels: …Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/24/business/energy-environment/energy-service-contracts-a-boon-for-public-agencies.html?ref=earth&_r=0


Guess where all of our new energy came from last month? (Hint:
Not coal).  Last month, the United States added 433 megawatts of
new electricity generation. And according to
SustainableBusiness.com, all 433 of those megawatts came from
renewable sources.  Five wind projects totaling 300 megawatts
(MW) and 18 solar projects for 133 MW were added, according to
the latest “Energy Infrastructure Update” from the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission’s Office of Energy Projects. Posted. 
http://grist.org/news/guess-where-all-of-our-new-energy-came-from-last-month-hint-not-coal/


MISCELLANEOUS

New recycling program to start at KU football game. As Blaine
Bengtson walked around outside Memorial Stadium following the
Kansas University football game against Rice last month, he
didn't like what he saw in the trash cans. "So many just plastic
bottles and things that were totally recyclable were being thrown
away," Bengtson said. For Bengtson, a KU junior from Salina, it
was an assessment that confirmed the need for a project on which
he was already hard at work: a new KU football gameday recycling
program, which will kick off at Saturday's homecoming game
against Texas. Posted.
http://www.sfgate.com/news/science/article/New-recycling-program-to-start-at-KU-football-game-3980784.php#ixzz2AKbH4It0



Medical pot growers hurting California forest habitat.
California's annual medical marijuana harvest is just about done,
but this year brings a new revelation sweeping the nascent
industry: The feel-good herb may not, in fact, be so good for the
environment. From golden Sierra foothills to forested coastal
mountains, an explosion of pseudo-legal medical marijuana farms
has dramatically changed the state's landscape over the past two
years. Posted.
http://www.sacbee.com/2012/10/25/4937606/medical-pot-growers-hurting-california.html#storylink=cpy


Treasure Island sites called safe from radiation. Health
officials find no health risks at 24 areas after contamination
fears raised. State health officials have declared day care and
youth centers, ballfields, some residential backyards and other
sites on Treasure Island safe from radiation in response to fears
about the area’s nuclear past. The surveys taken from 24
publically accessible locations were not part of the Navy’s
scheduled cleanup program, but were prompted by public concern
about exposure to radioactivity on the former Treasure Island
Naval Station.
http://www.baycitizen.org/health/story/treasure-island-areas-declared-safe/


Facing onslaught over climate position, Lungren struggles to hold
onto his House seat. When it comes to Democrats' and
environmentalists' efforts to chip away at the Republican House
majority on Election Day, no Republican has a bigger target on
his back than California's Rep. Dan Lungren. And he wants you to
know it. "It is nice to be here to prove to you that I am the
same person you voted for in the past; I am not that guy on
television," Lungren said at a recent forum here hosted by the
local Chamber of Commerce. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/print/2012/10/25/5 BY
SUBSCRIPTION ONLY

OPINIONS

COLUMN-European biofuel push hard to reverse: Wynn (The author is
a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed are his own.)
European policymakers are discovering the difficulty of curbing a
biofuel industry they weaned five years ago as a low-carbon
alternative to crude oil but which is increasingly at odds with
the environment and food production. To halt or put into reverse
a $22 billion European biofuel industry requires a sound
justification. Posted.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/24/column-wynn-biofuel-carbon-idUSL5E8LN8G620121024


Re "California gas prices and reality" (Dan Walters, Oct. 16):
Dan Walters fails to recognize the tremendous benefits of
California's cleaner gasoline blends. The state's gasoline rule
cuts smog-forming emissions that contribute to health emergencies
like asthma attacks, chronic bronchitis and other lung and heart
illnesses. Given our severe smog problems, California is right to
require these tighter standards to protect public health. Walters
also doesn't acknowledge the benefits that will come from kicking
our addiction to dirty petroleum fuels altogether. Pursuing clean
fuel alternatives will make the biggest public health impact in
our state. Posted.
http://www.sacbee.com/2012/10/24/4935581/california-gas-rule-cuts-smog.html#storylink=cpy


The big bottle and can rip-off. California's recycling program is
turning into a pot of gold for fraudsters. The state's
billion-dollar recycling fund is being raided by out-of-state
hustlers who are loading up trucks with bottles and cans to
redeem here. Little oversight and few rules have invited abuse. 
Next-door states, which don't offer redemption fees, are a ready
source for empties that can be packed up, driven across the
border, then turned in for cash at any of the state's 2,300
recycling centers. Posted.
http://www.sfgate.com/opinion/editorials/article/The-big-bottle-and-can-rip-off-3976013.php#ixzz2AKcSCnNs


John Horgan: Broadway rail crossing decision a tough call.  The
Burlingame City Council found itself in a pickle last week. It
was nearly four years in the making.  Ever since California
voters approved Proposition 1A in November 2008, cities along the
Peninsula have been struggling to deal with that bond measure
which provides moneys to begin construction of a high-speed rail
project in the Golden State. That's because fast-train planners
have been preparing to use the local Caltrain right of way (which
is to be electrified in the bargain) for their new system.  . 
Posted. 
http://www.mercurynews.com/john-horgan/ci_21848005/john-horgan-broadway-rail-crossing-decision-tough-call


Is the Carbon Market Just Hot Air for the Environment? As
California, environment stewards and the sixth largest economy in
the world, prepares to launch the most extensive carbon market in
North America Nov. 14, stakeholders can look to Europe to learn
the dangers from selling too many unverifiable emission credits
and permits. The state plans to auction off 10 percent hand of
the credits and hand out the others free of charge. California
anticipates that businesses will pay some $1 billion over the
next five years for the credits. Posted.
http://business.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474981721610


How Does Climate Change Factor into Decision 2012? Last election
season, presidential hopefuls Barack Obama and John McCain agreed
that climate change was a critical issue demanding urgent
attention. Four years later, both candidates Obama and Mitt
Romney barely discuss climate change. In fact, the words were
never uttered during any of the three presidential debates. Coral
Davenport has been investigating what’s behind the change as the
energy and environment correspondent for The National Journal.
Posted.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/environment/climate-of-doubt/how-does-climate-change-factor-into-decision-2012/


BLOGS

An Airline Fleet Fueled by Natural Gas. At the end of next year,
Qatar Airways is scheduled to open a new airport that will
include a 25-meter swimming pool and squash courts, among other
amenities. But it will also be extraordinary from an energy
standpoint because it will pump airline fuel made from natural
gas. Qatar has relatively little oil and vast supplies of natural
gas. Oil goes on tankers to distant destinations, but moving
natural gas is much harder for the Persian Gulf emirate. So Royal
Dutch/Shell built a gas-to-liquids plant called Pearl that makes
a variety of liquid fuels. Posted.
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/25/an-airline-fleet-fueled-by-natural-gas/?ref=earth


An inside look at California's cap-and-trade program. California
is gearing up to set in motion cap-and-trade, its market-based
program for curbing greenhouse gas emissions, with the state’s
first auction for carbon allowances next month. The program was
created by the state’s Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006,
which aims to reduce emissions in the state to its levels in the
1990s by 2020. The way it works: Businesses, utilities,
refineries and manufacturers in California that spew more than
25,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year are required to
obtain allowances to emit greenhouse gases. Posted.
http://www.greenbiz.com/blog/2012/10/25/inside-look-at-california-cap-and-trade-program