What's New List Serve Post Display
Below is the List Serve Post you selected to display.
newsclips -- ARB Newsclips for August 20, 2013.
Posted: 20 Aug 2013 14:17:46
ARB Newsclips for August 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 Alberta report recommends stronger carbon-capture rules. Alberta government is investing heavily in carbon capture storage technology to bolster green credentials ahead of pipeline projects. Stronger and more specific safety and environmental rules need to be in place before carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology is brought into widespread use, says an Alberta government report. Posted. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/energy-and-resources/report-recommends-more-carbon-rules/article13859453/ State regulators consider offsets from coal mines, delay consideration of rice emissions. California is preparing to expand its supply of offsets for use in its cap-and-trade program by tapping greenhouse gas emissions reductions made by coal mines around the country. The California Air Resources Board released a discussion draft last week of regulations that would allow owners of coal mines to get credit for destroying methane…Posted. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1059986194/print BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY AIR POLLUTION Large coal power plants getting life extensions. The nation's big coal-burning power plants are not ready to become dinosaurs. Utilities are making substantial investments to keep their largest coal generating stations operating for decades - and emitting millions of tons of carbon dioxide annually. Upgrades planned or underway at more than 100 Midwestern coal power plants will reduce emissions of mercury or other air pollutants. Posted. http://www.sacbee.com/2013/08/20/5665386/large-coal-power-plants-getting.html#storylink=cpy Fed appeals court revives Pa. plant pollution suit. A federal appeals court has revived a lawsuit against a western Pennsylvania power plant, ruling that two women who live nearby can sue over alleged fly ash pollution even though the plant — now owned by NRG Energy Inc. — meets state and federal air pollution standards. Posted. http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/Fed-appeals-court-revives-Pa-plant-pollution-suit-4745722.php China Is Going To Embark On An Epic Attempt To Reduce Pollution, And The Business Opportunity Is Massive (FXI, EWH). China is set to launch a program to tackle its air pollution problem. And this is expected to require an investment of 1.7 trillion yuan over the next five years, according to the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC). Morgan Stanley's Simon H.Y. Lee and his team think there are huge investment opportunities here. Posted. http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/China-Is-Going-To-Embark-On-An-Epic-Attempt-To-4745641.php Air pollution warning issued for Chicago area. The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency is warning Chicago-area residents about high levels of air pollution. The EPA says air quality on Tuesday is expected to be unhealthy for people who have breathing problems, active children and the elderly. Officials expect elevated levels of ground-level ozone because of hot temperatures and sunny weather. Ozone is an unstable gas created when volatile chemicals and exhaust from smokestacks and tailpipes "cook" in the heat and sun. Posted. http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/Air-pollution-warning-issued-for-Chicago-area-4745241.php Start of school in Fresno and Clovis Unified prompts air alert. Ozone, one of the most dangerous forms of air pollution rises at the start of the school year, especially when it is hot. It is a big reason why an air alert was issued Monday. "Air alerts happen when we get dangerously close to exceeding Ozone levels in the San Joaquin Valley." Posted. http://abclocal.go.com/kfsn/story?section=news/education&id=9211892 http://www.modbee.com/2013/08/19/2873180/air-warning.html http://www.tracypress.com/view/full_story/23404357/article-First-Air-Alert-of-season-declared?instance=home_news_lead_story Orange air quality day forecast as temps to rise Tuesday. The DEP has issued an orange air quality alert for Tuesday in Chester and Montgomery counties as temperatures are expected to rise again near 90 degrees. According to the Department of Environmental Protection and its regional air quality partnerships, there will be an unhealthy level of air pollution Tuesday for those with respiratory ailments such as asthma, emphysema and bronchitis. Posted. http://www.pottsmerc.com/article/20130819/NEWS01/130819293/orange-air-quality-day-forecast-as-temps-to-rise-tuesday The East is grey. China is the world’s worst polluter but largest investor in green energy. Its rise will have as big an impact on the environment as on the world economy or politics. ALL industrial nations one day hit an environmental turning-point, an event that dramatises to the population the ecological consequences of growth. In America that event occurred in 1969 when the Cuyahoga river in Ohio, thick with pollutants and bereft of fish, caught fire. Posted. http://www.economist.com/news/briefing/21583245-china-worlds-worst-polluter-largest-investor-green-energy-its-rise-will-have CLIMATE CHANGE Panel Implores Region to Heed Rising Seas. A presidential task force convened to learn lessons from superstorm Sandy urged communities to take rising sea levels and climate change as a given—and plan to shore up their buildings and power grids accordingly. The report released Monday by the Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force is in keeping with President Barack Obama's emphasis that climate change is real and must be addressed. Posted. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323608504579023183533218404.html?KEYWORDS=climate+change http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/20/science/earth/extremely-likely-that-human-activity-is-driving-climate-change-panel-finds.html?_r=2&&pagewanted=print http://www.sacbee.com/2013/08/20/5664679/climate-report-warns-on-seas.html http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/Scientists-say-sea-level-may-rise-3-feet-by-2100-4744922.php Gore: Lake Tahoe climate-change cooperation a model. Former Vice President Al Gore brought his warnings of climate change to the shores of Lake Tahoe on Monday, saying the cooperation that is helping to protect the alpine lake's famed clear waters is a model for what can be accomplished in battling global warming. Gore returned to Lake Tahoe 16 years after he and former President Bill Clinton ushered in a new awareness…Posted. http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/Gore-Lake-Tahoe-climate-change-cooperation-a-4744921.php http://www.vcstar.com/news/2013/aug/19/tahoe-in-spotlight-as-hundreds-gather-for-summit/#ixzz2cWpgsGjb DIESEL EMISSIONS Port Eliminates 81% of Diesel Air Pollution. The Port of Long Beach has cut diesel particulates by 81 percent since 2005, according to an analysis just released. The results for 2012 mark six straight years of improving air quality in the harbor area thanks to the Port's focused efforts to reduce air pollution caused by goods movement. The reasons for air quality improvements include bigger ships carrying cargo more efficiently, newer ships with cleaner engines…Posted. http://www.marinelink.com/news/eliminates%C2%A0-pollution357794.aspx FUELS Keystone XL project could harm wildlife, Interior Department says. A letter contradicts the State Department's draft environmental assessment of the pipeline, saying animals could suffer lasting damage. The Interior Department has warned that the proposed Keystone XL pipeline could have long-term, damaging effects on wildlife near its route, contradicting the State Department's March draft environmental assessment…Posted. http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-keystone-pipeline-20130820,0,4897997.story Cuomo won't join Obama at fracking hotbed sites. Gov. Andrew Cuomo will avoid a potentially dicey political conflict by not accompanying President Barack Obama to parts of upstate New York roiled over the state's ban on hydraulic fracturing for natural gas. Obama supports the technology as an economic windfall that helps make the country more energy independent. Posted. http://www.sacbee.com/2013/08/19/v-print/5663386/cuomo-wont-join-obama-at-fracking.html Viable exhaust-driven on-board ethanol reforming for improvements in fuel economy and emissions. A team at Monsanto and colleagues at AVL Powertrain have successfully designed and demonstrated an onboard low-temperature ethanol reformer that can be driven by exhaust heat. A paper on their work is published in the ACS journal Energy & Fuels. Posted. http://www.greencarcongress.com/2013/08/20130820-sall.html VEHICLES Tesla claims NHTSA crash tests prove Model S is safest car on road. Tesla Motors already claims to have the electric car that can go the longest between charges, and now it is claiming another automotive superlative -- the safest car on the road. The Palo Alto electric car company said that during recent testing by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration “the Model S set a new record for the lowest likelihood of injury to occupants.” Posted. http://www.latimes.com/business/autos/la-fi-hy-tesla-nhtsa-safety-rating-20130820,0,2050024.story Toyota is racing forward with alternative energy. Toyota, aiming to maintain its notoriety as an innovator in the hybrid vehicle field, will present a new concept car, the Yaris Hybrid-R, at the Frankfurt Motor Show this September. The vehicle is based on the same technology as the Toyota TS030 prototype, which raced in this year's Le Mans 24 Hours competition. The manufacturer will also show off its latest strides in the field of zero-emissions fuel cell vehicles. Posted. http://www.insidebayarea.com/business/ci_23899767/toyota-is-racing-forward-alternative-energy?IADID=Search-www.insidebayarea.com-www.insidebayarea.com Prius once again tops California new car market. California new-car sales continued to hum along in the first half of the year, with the Toyota Prius leading the way. In the latest quarterly report from the Sacramento-based California New Car Dealers Association, new motor vehicle sales totaled 850,712 in the first half of this year, a 12.5 percent increase over 756,324 in the year-ago period. Posted. http://www.sacbee.com/2013/08/20/5664471/prius-once-again-tops-california.html#storylink=cpy GREEN ENERGY Capitol Alert: AM Alert: California examines renewable energy industry. With California on a timeline to steadily reduce carbon emissions -- a push buttressed by measures like last year's energy-efficiency boosting Proposition 39 -- the renewable energy industry is looking to expand its market share. An event today hosted by the trade organization Advanced Energy Economy will examine what lies ahead. Posted. http://www.modbee.com/2013/08/20/2873678/capitol-alert-am-alert-california.html#storylink=cpy MISCELLANEOUS Environmentalists object to bill that would change Tahoe rules. Measure before California Legislature would codify an agreement reached last year with Nevada over development at Lake Tahoe. As political leaders from California and Nevada gathered on the eastern shore of Lake Tahoe to discuss ways to protect it, environmentalists protested that a bill in California could reverse nearly two decades of environmental improvements. Posted. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-lake-tahoe-20130820,0,2209700.story?track=rss http://www.sacbee.com/2013/08/20/5664541/brown-blasts-environmentalist.html Recovery is slow in rural China’s ‘cancer villages’ In this small village about 25 miles from Shanghai, the smell of paint and gasoline hangs heavy in the stagnant afternoon air. Small dogs run in streets wide enough for only a small car. Children with worn Disney backpacks walk home from school, avoiding the trash tossed into the street gutters. Posted. http://www.sacbee.com/2013/08/19/5663453/recovery-is-slow-in-rural-chinas.html#storylink=cpy Sonoma County delays landfill deal. Sonoma County today is set to extend interim deals with its two main solid waste contractors, a move meant to buy more time to hammer out a side agreement with cities that has stalled the long-term reopening of the county's central landfill. Operation of the Mecham Road site west of Cotati was to be permanently privatized this summer under a 20-year deal worth an estimated $547 million. Posted. http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20130819/articles/130819486?title=Sonoma-County-delays-landfill-deal OPINIONS 'Perverse Effects' How green subsidies often increase carbon emissions. Anticarbon central planning was bound to distort markets, but it turns out that the planners often increase emissions as they try to engineer President Obama's "new energy economy." So concludes the National Academies, whose major report on energy subsidies deserves more attention than it has received since its June release. By some miracle, Congress in 2008 created a National Research Council special committee to comb the tax code to figure out how specific provisions increase or decrease greenhouse gases. Posted. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324783204578621631632912450.html?KEYWORDS=carbon The climate change debate is far from over. Re "Boxer stirs up fight on climate science" (Capitol & California, Aug. 17): Sen. Barbar Boxer wants Republicans to get on board with scientists' assessments of the dangers of climate change. But the most recent studies by Russian scientists maintain that a 200-year period of global cooling (an ice age) will soon result. I wonder which scientists the senator is referring to? Posted. http://www.sacbee.com/2013/08/20/5658811/boxer-stirs-up-fight-on-climate.html#storylink=cpy Dan Walters: Court case may derail California's bullet train. When former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislators asked voters for a north-south bullet train five years ago, they knew it would be a hard sell. Therefore, they included safeguards to persuade voters that it was a well- reasoned project that would not become a money pit, including: • The state's exposure would be limited to the $9.95 billion bond issue, about a fourth of the estimated cost. Posted. http://www.sacbee.com/2013/08/20/5664539/dan-walters-court-case-may-derail.html#mi_rss=Dan%20Walters#storylink=cpy Ethanol mandates creating an economic car-wreck. There are two iron laws of energy policy in the United States. Iron Law No. 1: A higher federal excise tax on fuel would efficiently reduce gasoline consumption and its negative side effects (air pollution, traffic congestion, carbon emissions, dependence on foreign oil). Iron Law No. 2: Although economically rational, gas taxes are politically unpopular, so Congress will go to almost any length to avoid raising them, even if that means resorting to far less transparent policies. Posted. http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/charles-lane-ethanol-mandates-creating-an-economic-pileup/2013/08/19/17346b08-08ef-11e3-8974-f97ab3b3c677_story.html Contra Costa Times editorial: Judge should halt California's high-speed rail. Finally, a judge officially recognizes what has been obvious for years: The bullet train empress has no clothes -- or, in this case, money. Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Michael Kenny's 16-page ruling issued Friday exposes the fraud perpetuated by the California High-Speed Rail Authority. Posted. http://www.contracostatimes.com/editorial/ci_23894050/contra-costa-times-editorial-judge-should-halt-californias http://www.insidebayarea.com/news/ci_23894024/oakland-tribune-editorial-judge-should-halt-californias-high Can a city's layout promote residents' health? You bet. Our lungs know all too well that Kern County is home to some of the most polluted air in America. The recent American Lung Association State of the Air report placed Kern among the top three most polluted counties in the nation for ozone and first overall for particulate pollution. Not only can we can see it, but we can feel it in our chests and eyes. Kids and the elderly suffer the most…Posted. http://www.bakersfieldcalifornian.com/opinion/hot-topics/x740579897/Can-a-citys-layout-promote-residents-health-You-bet Opinion: Can we please get the facts right? A recent critique of the province’s carbon tax was rife with errors. A Sustainable Prosperity study by Stewart Elgie and Jessica McClay that reported fuel consumption in British Columbia has declined by 18.8 per cent more than in the rest of Canada since adoption of the carbon tax has prompted howls of disbelief from predictable quarters. Posted. http://www.vancouversun.com/life/Opinion+please+facts+right/8808269/story.html BLOGS Could Climate Campaigners’ Focus on Current Events be Counterproductive? This graph is from “Climate Risks: Linking Narratives to Action,” an important new essay in the Stanford Social Innovation Review on the gap between major environmental groups’ messaging on human-driven global warming and the focus of their programs and spending. The message these days has become all about extreme events, from the Frankenstorm to intense droughts, Posted. http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/08/20/could-climate-campaigners-focus-on-current-events-be-counterproductive/ Jerry Brown says high-speed rail ruling won't stop project. Gov. Jerry Brown said Monday that California's high-speed rail project will not be stopped by a judge's ruling that project officials failed to comply with provisions of Proposition 1A, the initiative in which voters approved initial funding for the project in 2008. "It's not a setback," Brown told reporters at the Lake Tahoe Summit. He said the ruling "didn't stop our spending, so we're continuing. Posted. http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2013/08/jerry-brown-says-high-speed-rail-ruling-wont-stop-project-spending.html#storylink=cpy These 20 cities have the most to lose from rising sea levels. The world’s coastal cities will change a lot between now and 2050. They’ll get wealthier, for one. Many of them will add millions more people. And some, like New Orleans, will continue sinking into the ground, thanks to erosion and groundwater pumping. On top of all that, there’s sea-level rise to consider. As the world gets warmer, climate scientists expect the seas to rise somewhere around one foot by 2050. Posted. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/08/20/these-20-cities-have-the-most-to-lose-from-rising-sea-levels/ Cal business group warns of another energy crisis. California’s fight against climate change has, so far, proved popular with voters. But among businesses, it’s a very different story. While some support the state’s policies to rein in greenhouse gas emissions, others emphatically don’t. Manufacturers and oil companies in particular have sought to delay…Posted. http://blog.sfgate.com/energy/2013/08/19/cal-business-group-warns-of-another-energy-crisis/ AM Alert: California examines renewable energy industry. With California on a timeline to steadily reduce carbon emissions -- a push buttressed by measures like last year's energy-efficiency boosting Proposition 39 -- the renewable energy industry is looking to expand its market share. An event today hosted by the trade organization Advanced Energy Economy will examine what lies ahead. Posted. http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2013/08/am-alert-california-examines-renewable-energy-industry.html