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newsclips -- ARB Newsclips for August 15, 2013.
Posted: 15 Aug 2013 12:42:54
ARB Newsclips for August 15, 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 Board to begin approving projects for California's cap-and-trade system. California is now more than half way through the first year of its ambitious program to cut greenhouse gases under the landmark law: AB 32. An important part of that effort is a cap-and-trade system that requires polluters to reduce their carbon footprint through a combination of cutting emissions and trading carbon credits. Carbon credits basically allow companies to get away with a certain amount of pollution by offsetting it …Posted. http://www.scpr.org/programs/take-two/2013/08/15/33249/board-to-begin-approving-projects-for-california-s/ Interpol issues guide to prevent carbon trading crime. Internationally, the carbon trading market has become one of the biggest commodities markets in the world. It's estimated to be worth about $175 billion dollars, which makes it a major target for crime. So much so that Interpol, the international police force, has just issued a guide to carbon trading crime. Posted. http://www.scpr.org/programs/take-two/2013/08/15/33263/interpol-issues-guide-to-prevent-carbon-trading-cr/ FEATURE: Analysts say California GHG auction to clear below last sale. California greenhouse gas allowances are expected to clear Friday's auction below the last quarterly sale price, analysts say. The state air quality regulator will offer "current" GHG allowances that can be used starting in 2013, as well as a smaller number of "future" permits valid from 2016 onward. Vintage 2013 allowances are forecast to sell for about one dollar less than the May auction, which saw a clearing price of $14 a piece… Posted. http://www.platts.com/latest-news/electric-power/washington/feature-analysts-say-california-ghg-auction-to-21421998 AIR POLLUTION Texas company to pay $7.5M for emitting pollution. A Texas chemical recycling and processing company has agreed to pay a $7.5 million fine for failing to comply with state environmental laws. Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott announced Wednesday that the fine against Gulf Chemical & Metallurgical Corp. is one of the largest Texas Clean Air Act penalties in state history. Posted. http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/Texas-company-to-pay-7-5M-for-emitting-pollution-4732750.php Carbon, silicon in airborne particulates increase risk of death in US cities, study says. Certain ingredients of airborne particulates – especially carbon – apparently increase the risk of death in U.S. cities, according to a new nationwide study. For decades, scientists have been trying to unravel why more people die of heart attacks, asthma and other health problems whenever fine particulate matter, known as PM2.5, increases. Particulates are a mix of substances emitted by sources of combustion, including cars, trucks, industrial plants and wood burning. Posted. http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/newscience/2013/08/airborne-particulates/ CLIMATE CHANGE Climate change may have caused demise of Late Bronze Age civilizations. Archaeologists have debated for decades over what caused the once-flourishing civilizations along the eastern Mediterranean coast to collapse about 1300 BC. Many scholars have cited warfare, political unrest and natural disaster as factors. But a new study supports the theory that climate change was largely responsible. Posted. http://www.latimes.com/news/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-climate-change-late-bronze-age-civilization-collapse-20130814,0,3521236.story NASA, JPL get set to study climate change on Earth in 2014. NASA is getting ready to turn its scientific instruments toward our home planet with a trio of Earth-observing missions set to launch in 2014. The three missions will allow scientists to measure water, wind and carbon dioxide with greater precision, and to improve the accuracy of weather forecasts and climate change projections. Posted. http://www.latimes.com/news/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-nasa-charles-bolden-jpl-earth-20130814,0,5858792.story These 1,429 US Towns Could Be Destroyed By Rising Sea Levels. A recent study has suggested that sea levels could rise by up to 23 feet within 2,000 years if we don't drastically reduce emissions before 2100. Though effects aren't visible immediately, the greenhouse gas emissions of today doom us to increasingly more extreme levels of sea level rise with every passing decade. If we waiting until 2100 to correct our ways would have devastating effects on coastal settlements…Posted. http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/These-1-429-US-Towns-Could-Be-Destroyed-By-Rising-4733038.php UA: Warming pushing plants to higher elevations. University of Arizona researchers say they've proven that climate change is pushing plant species to higher elevations on a southern Arizona mountain. The UA-led research team compared an extensive study of vegetation on Mount Lemmon outside Tucson done in 1963 to a 2011 study of the same area. Posted. http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/UA-Warming-pushing-plants-to-higher-elevations-4734106.php Climate change means soft and sour apples, study finds. A Japanese study has found that popular Fuji apple - known for its sweetness and crispness - has been getting mealier and sourer as the Japanese climate warms. Some 40 years ago, the Fuji apples that grew in orchards on Japan’s main island were full, sweet, and crisp. Now, those apples have become one more victim of global warming: picked today…Posted. http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2013/0815/Climate-change-means-soft-and-sour-apples-study-finds Scientists call for improved understanding of how climate extremes alter nature's carbon cycle. The forests, grasslands and soils that cover the Earth's surface have soaked up about 25 to 30 percent of human emissions of carbon dioxide in the last 50 years. But as the climate changes, how well will these ecosystems continue to do this? That's a question posed in a perspective paper published online yesterday in the journal Nature. Posted. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1059986039/print BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY DIESEL EMISSIONS Air regulation may push 2018 ATV sales out of Imperial County. A new regulation that aims to curb off-highway vehicle pollution may prompt some manufacturers to limit OHV models available for sale in California, a local off road-advocate said. The California Air Resources Board regulation targets evaporative emissions from the gas lines and tanks of OHVs and will be implemented in 2018. Posted. http://www.ivpressonline.com/news/local/air-regulation-may-push-atv-sales-out-of-imperial-county/article_dc78368a-04b5-11e3-a6d3-0019bb30f31a.html CARB: Aug. 31 deadline approaching for TRU orders. Reefer owners who haul in and out of California are being reminded of an approaching order deadline. The California Air Resources Board is reminding reefer owners that orders for new replacement transportation refrigeration units and TRU generator sets must be made by Aug. 31 to meet the state’s Dec. 31, 2013 deadline for 2006 reefers. Posted. http://www.landlinemag.com/Story.aspx?StoryID=25579 Three shippers were fined for violating a clean fuel regulation. Three international shipping firms were fined by the California Air Resources Board after failing to shift from dirty “bunker” fuel to cleaner burning fuel when they entered into state waters. Oslo-based Hoegh Autoliners Shipping AS Co., NCN Corp. Panama and Singapore-based Twin Phoenix Shipping S.A. received a total of $440,250 in fines after the board investigated their visits to the ports of Long Beach, Los Angeles and Stockton. Posted. http://www.presstelegram.com/general-news/20130813/three-shippers-fined-for-clean-fuel-regulation http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130815/A_NEWS/130819950/-1/A_NEWS14 BY SUBSCRIPTION FUELS New Colorado drilling rules delayed. Colorado regulators looking at new air quality rules for oil and gas drillers may need more time. Colorado's Air Quality Control Commission was anticipating possible delays at its meeting Thursday. The group is looking at stricter air controls for an industry that is one of Colorado's top air polluters. Environmental activists have been hoping the commission is stricter on the industry than the agency that regulates spills…Posted. http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/CO_DRILLING_AIR_QUALITY_COOL-?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/Delays-possible-for-new-Colorado-drilling-rules-4733973.php GREEN ENERGY Picking up the nuclear energy bill divides the EU. European Union rules to be published over the coming weeks could make it easier to justify using taxpayers' money to fund new nuclear power, which would pitch major EU powers against each other. The European Commission, the EU executive, says its mind is still open on the topic, but it is under pressure to set a legal framework for state aid to nuclear projects after several member states, including Britain, sought its guidance. Posted. http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/14/us-eu-nuclear-idUSBRE97D05P20130814 Intermittent Nature of Green Power Is Challenge for Utilities. The 21 turbines at the Kingdom Community Wind farm in Vermont soar above Lowell Mountain, a testament in steel and fiberglass to the state’s growing use of green energy. Except when they aren’t allowed to spin at their fastest. That has been the case several times in the farm’s short existence, including during the record July heat wave when it could have produced enough much-needed energy to fuel a small town. Posted. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/15/business/energy-environment/intermittent-nature-of-green-power-is-challenge-for-utilities.html?ref=science 50 shades of window? 'Smart glass' blocks heat, light at flip of switch. Drop that window dressing -- that frame could soon go bare. Researchers say they have created a new kind of "smart glass" – one that can, at the flip of a switch, block heat and still stay transparent, or grow dark to reduce the sun’s glare. This material, described online Wednesday in the journal Nature, could one day help slash energy costs and reduce pollution from buildings like the glass monsters that tower out of urban cityscapes. Posted. http://www.latimes.com/news/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-smart-glass-blocks-heat-tint-dark-electricity-switch-20130814,0,7674149.story http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/New-Smart-Windows-Let-In-Light-But-Keep-Out-The-4733025.php Air board accepting applications to recognize green California businesses. The California Air Resources Board is accepting applications through Nov. 1 for its fourth CoolCalifornia Small Business Awards Program. The awards recognize small firms that integrate positive environmental practices and sustainability into their business practices, including reduced energy use, water conservation and decreasing greenhouse gas emissions. Posted. http://www.modbee.com/2013/08/14/2862953/air-board-accepting-applications.html#storylink=cpy How green the Valley. Even after seven years, there's no graying of the Green Team. In fact, the Greater Stockton Chamber of Commerce's popular Green Team San Joaquin, which helps businesses become more environmentally friendly while also boosting their bottom lines, is now expanding to include the entire San Joaquin Valley. Posted. http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130815/A_BIZ/308150314/-1/A_NEWS14 2 Projects Fall to San Bernardino County's Solar Moratorium. San Bernardino County's moratorium on solar projects in unincorporated areas is already making its mark on the landscape -- or more accurately, keeping marks from being made. Canadian developer Coronus Solar has just backed out of agreements to sell power from two mid-sized solar facilities near Twentynine Palms that have been stalled by the moratorium. Posted. http://www.kcet.org/news/rewire/solar/photovoltaic-pv/san-bernardino-solar-moratorium-is-working.html World solar prices will keep dropping, but U.S. costs will stay relatively high – report. The installed price for solar photovoltaic (PV) systems is likely to continue its precipitous decline, but the speed and scale of that decline will depend on fixing solar's "soft costs," according to a report out this week from the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Installed prices for commercial and residential PV systems in 2012 fell by about 6 to 14 percent from the prior year…Posted. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1059986030/print BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY OPINIONS Energy Test for Obama. “Cut Emissions? Congress Itself Keeps Burning a Dirtier Fuel” (news article, Aug. 9) framed the battle about whether the Capitol Power Plant burns coal as a test of President Obama’s climate policies. A much better test is at hand with a coal-fired power plant that is partly government-owned. The Department of the Interior has a one-quarter interest in the Navajo Generating Station in Arizona. About 40 times the size of the Capitol Power Plant…Posted. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/15/opinion/energy-test-for-obama.html?_r=0 Edison's San Onofre PR: Readers aren't buying it. Southern California Edison wants you to feel (and help pay for) its pain in shutting down the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station. Judging by the letters we've received so far in reaction to Edison's full-page ad in Monday's Times saying as much, readers are feeling neither sympathetic nor financially generous. Posted. http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/opinion-la/la-ol-san-onofre-shutdown-edison-pr-mailbag-20130814,0,1401010.story Frogs, toads are essential part of ecosystem Re "Field hearing on amphibians was a stacked deck" (Editorials, Aug. 10): As the holder of Master's degrees in environmental studies and marine biology, I am a staunch defender of our wildlife and its habitat. Even as mundane as most people would think, frogs and toads are a vital part of the food chain and must be protected in order that climate change itself is not affected. Posted. here: http://www.sacbee.com/2013/08/15/5651197/endangered-species-act.html#storylink=cpy Quality air to breathe. THE ISSUE The oppressive smog problem in urban areas of China should serve as inspiration for Americans to protect the quality of air we breathe. Those who complain of government regulations in the United States should take note of the latest news out of China. China, the world’s No. 3 tourist destination, is seeing a sharp decline in tourism partly because its air pollution has become so bad. Posted. http://www.timesdaily.com/opinion/editorials/article_753d8ce0-052d-11e3-88f9-10604b9ffe60.html Carbon offsetting for Clean Energy Summit? Uhhh, no. The attendees at this year’s National Clean Energy summit took many a gas-guzzling plane, cab and SUV to make it to Las Vegas’ Mandalay Bay Resort, where they spent Tuesday comparing notes on the latest commercial technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Sound ironic? Perhaps. But for now, conference organizers suggest, it is just one of the opportunity costs of getting the fledgling clean energy business going. Posted. http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2013/aug/15/carbon-offsetting-clean-energy-summit-uhhh-no/ BLOGS Is the Internet Good for the Climate? I gave the opening talk (and song) this morning at ScienceOnline Climate, a two-day meeting exploring the role of Web communication in fostering engagement on climate change research and its implications for society. You can watch the sessions here and follow the discussion on Twitter via #ScioClimate. Read on for a few reactions to my talk, in which I posed the question “Is the Internet Good for the Climate?”…Posted. http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/08/15/is-the-internet-good-for-the-climate/ Brave new world: Americans are learning to live with climate change. The Great American Road Trip — it’s a rite of passage, a national pastime, and increasingly, a tool for spreading the word about looming climate catastrophe. Each summer, a motley parade of veggie buses, vintage motorcycles, and bicycles circulates around the country, its participants out to preach the gospel of green living, and perhaps learn a thing or two in the process. Posted. http://grist.org/climate-energy/brave-new-world-americans-are-learning-to-live-with-climate-change/ AB 32’s Scoping Plan is a Tale of Two Energy Futures For a window into two vastly different visions of our state’s future, take a look at the comments filed last week as part of the AB 32 Scoping Plan update process. The 2008 Scoping Plan lays out the approach that California will take to achieve its goal of reducing emissions to 1990 levels by 2020, and this is the first 5 year update. Posted. http://blogs.edf.org/energyexchange/2013/08/14/ab-32s-scoping-plan-is-a-tale-of-two-energy-futures/#sthash.MPb8phw6.dpufhttp://blogs.edf.org/energyexchange/2013/08/14/ab-32s-scoping-plan-is-a-tale-of-two-energy-futures/#sthash.MPb8phw6.dpuf Is your power 'renewable'? What day is it? One of the most prominent parts of the state's broad effort to curb greenhouse gas emissions is the "Renewable Portfolio Standard" -- in a nutshell rules that force electric utilities to reduce use of fossil fuels and increase non-polluting renewables. So what's renewable? You'd think that'd be a simple enough question. Are you digging up fuel that you only get to use once? Are you emitting CO2 and other climate-altering gases? Posted. http://blogs.redding.com/bross/archives/2013/08/is-your-power-r.html#sthash.ehmNciBg.dpuf State Faces Battle With Oil Industry Over Proposed New Fracking Regulations. The next four weeks will determine how aggressively California regulates the controversial oil-drilling technique known as hydraulic fracturing. And as state Sen. Fran Pavley points out, “four weeks is a long time, legislatively.” The energy industry is watching these developments closely and with a degree of apprehension. Posted. http://blogs.kqed.org/newsfix/2013/08/13/california-fracking-regulators/