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newsclips -- ARB Newsclips for May 20, 2013.

Posted: 20 May 2013 13:58:14
ARB Newsclips for May 20, 2013. 

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.

CAP AND TRADE

South Korea May Launch World’s Most Ambitious Cap And Trade
Market.  With roughly 18 months until launch, South Korea appears
ready to create the world’s most ambitious cap and trade market,
with the highest global price on carbon.  These findings jump
from a Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) white paper analyzing
how potential market designs could affect the nation’s carbon
price and market efficiency, and are a reminder that global cap
and trade could still be integral to combating climate change. 
Posted. 
http://cleantechnica.com/2013/05/18/south-korea-may-launch-worlds-most-ambitious-cap-and-trade-system/


AIR POLLUTION

In Southern California, a Burning Issue.  As chairman of the
governing board of the South Coast Air Quality Management
District, William Burke perhaps never thought he would have to
defend his position on the layering of fire-roasted marshmallows
between chocolate and graham crackers.  "It's not like I'm
anti-s'mores," Mr. Burke explained to a passionate crowd who
packed a recent board meeting of air regulators. "My job is just
to clean the air."  Posted. 
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323398204578491433233053980.html
 

Wood fire pits could pose health problems for beach residents,
AQMD study shows.  The smoke from one beach fire pit generates
the same pollution as a heavy-duty diesel truck traveling 564
miles, according to air quality experts who are considering
banning the popular pits.  A preliminary study by the Air Quality
Management District this past week considers the health risks of
smoke in support of a potential regional ban on wood for
beach-ring fires.  Posted. 
http://www.presstelegram.com/news/ci_23274978/wood-fire-pits-could-pose-health-problems-beach


Not Your Grandpa's RV: This Roving Lab Tracks Air Pollution. If
you're driving down the road someday and you come across a camper
with a 50-foot periscope sticking up into the sky, you just might
have crossed paths with Ira Leifer. His quirky vehicle is on a
serious mission. It's sniffing the air for methane, a gas that
contributes to global warming. Leifer is an atmospheric scientist
at the University of California, Santa Barbara. But you'll more
often find him off campus, in a garage, next to a string of auto
body shops near the airport. Posted.
http://www.npr.org/2013/05/18/184863769/not-your-grandpas-rv-this-roving-lab-tracks-air-pollution


EPA -- at last -- is ready to publish Tier 3 rule. Nearly two
months after proposing a rule to lower sulfur levels in gasoline,
U.S. EPA is set to publish it in the Federal Register tomorrow.
According to the 1,572-page pre-publication notice, the Tier 3
rule would "result in significant reductions in pollutants such
as ozone, particulate matter and air toxics across the country
and help state and local agencies in their efforts to attain and
maintain health-based National Ambient Air Quality Standards." 
Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2013/05/20/stories/1059981479 BY
SUBSCRIPTION ONLY

CLIMATE CHANGE

U.S. Supreme Court declines to hear Alaska climate change case.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear an Alaskan
village's claim that it should be able to sue oil companies and
utilities for damages attributed to climate change. Lawyers for
the village of Kivalina wanted various named defendants
responsible for greenhouse emissions, including Exxon Mobil Corp,
Chevron Corp and Duke Energy Corp, to pay damages for greater
flooding and erosion that they say have caused by a reduction in
sea ice. Posted.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/20/usa-court-climate-idUSL2N0DW2B020130520


Extreme global warming seen further away than previously thought.
Extreme global warming is less likely in coming decades after a
slowdown in the pace of temperature rises so far this century, an
international team of scientists said on Sunday. Warming is still
on track, however, to breach a goal set by governments around the
world of limiting the increase in temperatures to below 2 degrees
Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial times, unless tough
action is taken to limit rising greenhouse gas emissions. Posted.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/19/us-climate-temperatures-idUSBRE94I0DJ20130519

Analysis: Airline emissions deal may not come before EU deadline.
Hope is fading for a global deal to regulate the airline
industry's greenhouse gas emissions ahead of a fall deadline,
even though failure could push the industry back to the brink of
a trade war over the European Union's emissions trading system.
Last November the EU suspended its controversial scheme to force
all airlines to buy carbon credits for any flight arriving in or
departing from European airspace. Posted.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/19/us-airlines-climate-icao-analysis-idUSBRE94I07E20130519


Indoor pot production leaves giant carbon footprint. Marijuana
growing is not a green industry. Done mostly indoors in, pot
production often uses hospital-intensity lamps, air conditioning,
dehumidifiers, fans and carbon-dioxide generators to stimulate
plants and boost their potency. The power-hungry crops rival data
centers or server farms in intense use of electricity, according
to a peer-reviewed study last year in the journal Energy Policy.
One kilo, or 2.2 pounds, of pot grown indoors, the study says,
leaves a carbon footprint equivalent to driving across the
country…Posted.
http://www.sacbee.com/2013/05/20/5433393/indoor-pot-production-leaves-giant.html#storylink=cpy


State struggles to adjust to problems posed by 'the new normal'
As California continues its groundbreaking push to lower its
greenhouse gas emissions, it wants to remind the public and other
governments why it's taking action. State and federal projections
of sea-level rise underscore the need for California to keep
reducing its emissions, officials told state legislators at an
oversight hearing in Sacramento yesterday. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1059981360/print BY
SUBSCRIPTION ONLY

DIESEL EMISSIONS

CARB offers free classes on diesel truck rules.  The California
Air Resources Board is offering two classes to help diesel truck
owners understand how to comply with the state’s multiple
regulations on diesel emissions.  Course 520 is “How to comply
with CARB Diesel Regulations.” An email message from CARB to
subscribers of agency updates says CARB will hold the class in
various California cities this spring and early summer…Posted. 
http://www.landlinemag.com/Story.aspx?StoryID=25200 

FUELS

RPT COLUMN-Carbon capture faces scale dilemma: Gerard Wynn.
European policymakers face a difficult decision on building
carbon capture and storage (CCS) - saving money in the long run
requires spending more upfront. CCS captures carbon dioxide (CO2)
emissions from a fossil fuel power plant and then pipes it to an
underground storage site such as a depleted gas or oil reservoir.
In theory, CCS would allow energy producers to continue to burn
fossil fuels and still meet carbon emission targets. Posted.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/20/column-wynn-carbon-capture-idUSL6N0E10YS20130520

COLUMN-Koch's unsightly coke mountain: Kemp Petroleum coke piled
up along the banks of the Detroit River has sparked a storm of
protest from local residents and environmental campaigners, who
claim they are just one more problem associated with the
bituminous tar sands being mined in western Canada. "A black
mound of Canadian oil waste is rising over Detroit," the New York
Times scolded in an article published on Friday. Posted. 
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/20/column-kemp-koch-petroleum-coke-idUSL6N0E122N20130520


Tesoro is cleared to buy BP's Carson refinery, Arco stations.
Tesoro won U.S. and state clearance to buy BP's Carson refinery,
Arco stations and other assets for $2.4 billion. Consumer
advocates object. Tesoro Corp. won federal and state clearance
for its purchase of BP's Carson refinery, Arco stations and other
assets for $2.4 billion, an acquisition that would further
concentrate the state's fuel-making capacity into only two
players — Tesoro and Chevron Corp. Posted.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-arco-tesoro-20130518,0,2353462.story


California oil tax push would direct new funds to schools. Just
months after California voters passed Proposition 30 to stave off
education cuts, a push is under way to ensure that the next
stream of higher education funding flows out of the ground. The
idea of an oil severance tax has been bubbling for years, but
proponents have been unable to surmount intense lobbying from the
energy industry. Posted.
http://www.sacbee.com/2013/05/20/5432778/california-oil-tax-push-would.html#storylink=cpy


Calif.'s proposed moratoriums might not apply to other drilling
in Monterey Shale – activists. A war of words is brewing over
hydraulic fracturing and efforts to ban or limit it in
California. Activists who believe they've created negative buzz
around the oil and gas extraction process also called "fracking"
have launched a new battle: persuading the state's Legislature to
look at also restricting different drilling techniques. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/energywire/stories/1059981451/print BY
SUBSCRIPTION ONLY

White House wraps up review of fuel technologies. The White House
has completed a seven-month review of renewable fuel technologies
and feedstocks. The review of a rule proposed by U.S. EPA that
could allow certain new types of fuel to count under the federal
biofuel standard wrapped up Friday, according to the White House
Office of Management and Budget. EPA, which sent the rule to the
office in October, has yet to release the language of the
decisions or to indicate when and how it will take any final
action on the fuels. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/stories/1059981480/print BY
SUBSCRIPTION ONLY

VEHICLES

Transmission engineers are shifting to higher gears. In the next
few years, many new vehicles will have transmissions with up to
10 speeds. The change will help meet stricter fuel economy and
pollution standards. Automakers are spending billions of dollars
to squeeze efficiency from a car part most people never think
twice about — the transmission. Over the next five years, many
new vehicles will have transmissions with up to 10 speeds,
replacing the mostly six-speed transmissions in cars now. Posted.
http://www.latimes.com/business/autos/la-fi-hy-autos-transmissions-20130517,0,7050486.story


California ARB 2013 research project to characterize ZEV market;
assessing future market potential.  The California Air Resources
Board (ARB) 2013 research plan includes a project that will
comprehensively characterize the Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV)
market, with the ultimate goal of increasing consumer purchases
of ZEVs.  The proposed project will investigate the factors that
influence sales of ZEVs in California (e.g., price, vehicle
range, infrastructure). Posted. 
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2013/05/zev-20130518.html   

Grant pays for hybrid SUVs.  Menifee is projected to save $36,000
in general fund money with the purchase of four hybrid vehicles
for its code enforcement staff.  The city will be using grant
money from the South Coast Air Quality Management District to pay
for four Toyota Highlander hybrids.  Before, the city was renting
four vehicles for $750 each per month. That’s $36,000 annually
for four vehicles from the general fund.  Posted. 
http://www.pe.com/local-news/riverside-county/menifee/menifee-headlines/20130518-menifee-grant-pays-for-hybrid-suvs.ece


You can't mandate human behavior.  They are at it again in
California. The mandates for zero-emission vehicles mean that to
sell any volume there; you will need to have some sort of
electric car for that market.  Several other states likely will
enforce the same ZEV requirements, making it even more
challenging for manufacturers. Some car companies may decide to
get out of the California market because it doesn't make sense. 
Posted. 
http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130520/OEM11/305209974/you-cant-mandate-human-behavior#axzz2TqUJKnGc
  

GREEN ENERGY

Insight: The road to a greener America is littered with
road-kill. In October 2004, then California Governor Arnold
Schwarzenegger rolled up to a pioneering fueling station at Los
Angeles International Airport in a hydrogen-powered metallic blue
Hummer loaned to him by General Motors Corp. The "California
Hydrogen Highway," Schwarzenegger's vision to ensure that every
Californian would have access to a hydrogen fueling station by
the end of 2010, called for the state to spend more than $50
million to help deploy up to 100 hydrogen fuel stations that
would serve 2,000 fuel cell vehicles. Posted.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/20/us-usa-energy-green-insight-idUSBRE94J03D20130520


Consumer interest in clean energy topics drops – report. Public
support for the nation's two largest renewable energy resources
-- solar and wind -- eroded slightly in 2012, but they retained
strong overall favorability ratings among consumers, at 69 and 66
percent respectively, according to findings released last week by
Pike Research. But compared with 2009, the technologies have lost
a larger share of public support; that year, both wind and solar
had favorability ratings of around 80 percent, according to a
white paper detailing the survey's findings. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1059981411/print  BY
SUBSCRIPTION ONLY

MISCELLANEOUS

Letters show rift over San Onofre nuclear repairs. Letters show
inability of Southern California Edison and Mitsubishi Heavy
Industries to agree on a long-range repair plan for the facility,
off-line since January 2012. In a flurry of letters late last
year, Southern California Edison and the manufacturer that
designed the steam generators at the now-dark San Onofre nuclear
power plant appeared to be at odds over a long-term plan to
repair the troubled facility. Posted.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-san-onofre-20130520,0,2851283.story


UCR: Students invent smog-cutting device for mowers. Rosalva
Chavez wishes she and her team had finished their invention many
years ago. Perhaps then, she said, her father might not have the
coughing and asthma that plague him. Chavez, 22, an environmental
engineering student at UC Riverside, is part of a five-person
team that recently unveiled an emissions-reducing attachment for
lawnmowers and other small-engine devices. Posted.
http://www.pe.com/local-news/riverside-county/riverside/riverside-headlines-index/20130517-ucr-students-invent-smog-cutting-device-for-mowers.ece


OPINIONS

Climate change is an issue that needs to be discussed
thoughtfully and objectively. Unfortunately, claims that distort
the facts hinder the legitimate evaluation of policy options. The
rhetoric has driven some policymakers toward costly regulations
and policies that will harm hardworking American families and do
little to decrease global carbon emissions. The Obama
administration’s decision to delay, and possibly deny, the
Keystone XL pipeline is a prime example. Posted.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/lamar-smith-overheated-rhetoric-on-climate-change-hurts-the-economy/2013/05/19/32cb6d94-bda4-11e2-97d4-a479289a31f9_story.html


Alter CEQA but don't weaken it. When it comes to the California
Environmental Quality Act, modest changes are needed. Does
California's signature environmental law protect the state's air,
water and wilderness by acting as a check on runaway projects
proposed by overzealous developers? Or does it encourage baseless
lawsuits that unfairly delay and even derail worthwhile projects
that could provide badly needed jobs and housing for
Californians? Actually, it does both. Posted.
http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-ed-ceqa-reform-california-environmental-quality-20130520,0,3982517.story


Viewpoints: Should California cap and trade use forestry offsets?
No Plan won’t stop actual emissions. When Californians passed AB
32, the Global Warming Solutions Act, we committed to one of the
most forward-thinking pieces of climate legislation in the
country, with comprehensive strategies to reduce carbon emissions
from nearly all sectors of the economy. Unfortunately, the
California Air Resources Board is considering a move that will
undermine the best intent of this law by linking it to a
benign-sounding yet dubious and untried scheme to protect rain
forests in Mexico and Brazil. Posted.
http://www.sacbee.com/2013/05/19/v-print/5429868/viewpoints-should-california-cap.html

Viewpoints: Should California cap and trade use forestry offsets?
Yes State can help save other regions.  We love our forests in
California. After a century of rapidly losing them to farming and
logging, we finally succeeded in virtually ending deforestation
in California. We were driven by our interest in the natural
beauty, the wildlife, the sustainable timber supplies and the
water-purifying functions of old-growth redwoods along the coast,
the blue oaks growing across the Central Valley and the mixed
pine forests of the Sierra. Posted.
http://www.sacbee.com/2013/05/19/5429866/viewpoints-should-california-cap.html#storylink=cpy


BLOGS

On climate change, Obama faces an attack from his left flank.  If
you want to get a sense of how impatient some of President
Obama’s most loyal supporters are getting when it comes to
climate change, consider this: They’re planning to conduct
protests at meetings of the grassroots advocacy organization run
by his former top campaign aides.  Environmentalists have become
increasingly frustrated that Organizing for Action…Posted. 
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2013/05/20/on-climate-change-obama-faces-an-attack-from-his-left-flank/


Cap and trade spending plan angers enviros. Some environmental
and other advocates in California have big problems with Gov.
Jerry Brown’s plan to use $500 million generated through the
auction of pollution credits as part of the state’s cap and trade
program as a loan to the general fund. Those advocates for years
have worked alongside officials as the California Air Resources
Board on the best way to spend the money to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions and say putting off the spending shows a broader
complacency about combatting climate change. Posted.
http://blog.sfgate.com/nov05election/2013/05/20/cap-and-trade-spending-plan-angers-enviros/


City purchases hybrids with air quality grant.  The city is
projected to save $36,000 in general fund money with the purchase
of four hybrid vehicles for its code enforcement staff.  The city
will be using grant money from the South Coast Air Quality
Management District to pay for four Toyota Highlander hybrids. 
Before, the city was renting four vehicles for $750 each per
month. That’s $36,000 annually for four vehicles from the general
fund.  Posted. 
http://blog.pe.com/menifee/2013/05/17/menifee-city-purchases-hybrids-with-air-quality-grant-city-of-menifee-toyota-highlander-hybrid-hybrid-trucks-menifee-news/


Climate Change Study Shows Pace Is Slowing, But Extreme Action
Still Vital. Extreme global warming is less likely in coming
decades after a slowdown in the pace of temperature rises so far
this century, an international team of scientists said on Sunday.
Warming is still on track, however, to breach a goal set by
governments around the world of limiting the increase in
temperatures to below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) above
pre-industrial times, unless tough action is taken to limit
rising greenhouse gas emissions. Posted.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/19/global-warming-climate-change-study-2013_n_3303784.html?view=print&comm_ref=false



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