What's New List Serve Post Display

ARB Newsclips for October 29, 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.

AIR POLLUTION

'Check Before You Light' advisory resumes Friday.  An annual
program aimed at reducing wintertime air pollution will go into
effect again Friday.  The Butte County Air Quality Management
District's "Check Before You Light" advisories will begin being
issued Nov. 1, asking residents to forgo indoor wood heating
fires on days when air quality is forecast to be bad.  Each
afternoon through February, the district releases a forecast for
the following day. Posted. 
http://www.chicoer.com/news/ci_24407807/check-before-you-light-advisory-resumes-friday
  

Agencies to measure “rotten egg” gas at Salton Sea.  Recently
installed hydrogen sulfide monitors at the Salton Sea will allow
the South Coast Air Quality Management District to measure the
concentrations of the gas that has the tell-tale odor of rotten
eggs.  “We’ll be able to tell the community on a short-term basis
about the strength of the odor and compare it to other episodes,”
said Sam Atwood, district spokesman.  Posted. 
http://www.ivpressonline.com/news/local/agencies-to-measure-rotten-egg-gas-at-salton-sea/article_7756939a-4061-11e3-8428-0019bb30f31a.html


CLIMATE CHANGE

West Coast states and BC to link climate policies. The governors
of Pacific coastal U.S. states and a Canadian province official
are joining forces in a new effort to fight climate change. In an
agreement announced Monday, the governors of California, Oregon,
Washington and the environment minister of British Columbia, Mary
Polak, will place a price on greenhouse gas pollution and mandate
the use of cleaner-burning fuels. Posted.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_WESTERN_STATES_CLIMATE_DEAL?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


OTHER RELATED STORIES
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-10-28/western-u-s-states-british-columbia-sign-climate-change-pact.html

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/10/29/us-usa-environment-climate-idUSBRE99S01V20131029

http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-brown-climate-20131029,0,140122.story?track=rss#axzz2j62fhLTR
http://www.sacbee.com/2013/10/28/5857873/west-coast-states-and-bc-to-link.html

http://www.sfgate.com/business/energy/article/West-Coast-states-and-BC-to-link-climate-policies-4934233.php

http://www.mercurynews.com/science/ci_24406734/california-oregon-washington-and-british-columbia-sign-climate?source=email
 
http://www.imperialvalleynews.com/index.php/news/california-news/5786-governor-brown-joins-oregon-washington-british-columbia-leaders-to-combat-climate-change.html
 
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1059989567/print BY
SUBSCRIPTION ONLY

Brown University won't divest from coal companies. Brown
University has decided not to divest from coal companies, saying
that it would not be "the right tool" to address climate change
and that teaching and research are more effective strategies. The
university said the Corporation, its governing body, opted
against divestment after "expansive and robust discussion" at its
Saturday meeting and after months of deliberation. Posted.
http://www.sacbee.com/2013/10/28/5859405/brown-university-wont-divest-from.html#storylink=cpy


Climate change expert says Earth is having its ‘Independence
Day'.  According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC), Earth’s climate system is a “complex, interactive system
consisting of the atmosphere, land surface, snow and ice, oceans
and other bodies of water and living things.” And, yes, the
scientific community pores over all kinds of data related to this
system every day. Posted.
http://www.theoaklandpress.com/environment-and-nature/20131028/climate-change-expert-says-earth-is-having-its-independence-day

CO2 emissions may be curbed not by policies but by real limits to
oil and coal extraction, experts say. Even as governments
worldwide have largely failed to limit emissions of global
warming gases, the decline of fossil fuel production may reduce
those emissions significantly, experts said yesterday during a
panel discussion at the Geological Society of America meeting.
Conventional production of oil has been on a plateau since
2005…Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1059989568/print BY
SUBSCRIPTION ONLY

DIESEL EMISSIONS

Dirty Diesel, Clean Profits. How innovation and regulation
sparked America’s diesel export boom. In 1992, Mexico City had
just eight days with air rated “good” by the city’s air quality
monitor and in 1999 it was named “the most dangerous city in the
world for children” by the global environmental policy
organization, World Resources Institute, because of its smog. But
by 2012, Mexico City saw 248 “good” air quality days…Posted.
http://nation.time.com/2013/10/29/dirty-diesel-clean-profits/#ixzz2j7quxXVE


FUELS

California Fracking Study May Take 18 Months, Brown Says.
Governor Jerry Brown said it may take as long as 18 months for
California, the third-largest oil-producing state, to complete an
environmental review of the oil and gas drilling technique known
as hydraulic fracturing. Technological advancements have ignited
a boom in the development of fields that were once deemed
uneconomical, particularly in shale formations. Posted.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-10-29/california-fracking-study-may-take-18-months-brown-says.html


ZERO EMISSION VEHICLES

3.3 Million Zero-Emission Vehicles By 2025? Eight Governors
Pledge Action. Last Thursday, the governors of eight [blue]
states pledged to cooperate toward a goal of putting 3.3 million
zero-emission vehicles on their roads by 2025. The cooperative
programs are meant to make it easier for their citizens to buy
and use zero-emission vehicles. While the steps cited so far in
the memorandum of understanding are not binding, California
governor Jerry Brown called it a "serious and profoundly
important commitment" in a statement. Posted.
http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1087991_3-3-million-zero-emission-vehicles-by-2025-eight-governors-pledge-action


VEHICLES

BMW Joins VW in Backing Germany’s Electric-Vehicle Goal. 
Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (BMW) backed the German government’s
goal to have 1 million electric cars by 2020 on the country’s
roads, a week after Volkswagen AG (VOW) said the target is
achievable under broader terms for alternative drives. Developing
the European Union’s electric-vehicle market will need the
backing of authorities, though official support in the bloc is
lagging behind initiatives in the U.S. and China…Posted.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-10-28/bmw-joins-vw-in-backing-germany-s-electric-vehicle-goal.html


GREEN ENERGY

Energy center cuts past climate hype. Cut through the hype.
That’s the mantra of Scott Anders and his research on energy
policy in the highly politicized age of solar energy, electric
vehicles and climate change. Anders directs the Energy Policy
Initiatives Center, or EPIC, founded in the aftermath of
California’s 2000-01 energy crisis in which market manipulation
triggered astronomical power prices and rolling blackouts.
Posted.
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/oct/28/beyond-the-political-climate/


MISCELLANEOUS

Mercury from Gold Rush mining still washing downstream in floods.
The destructive environmental legacy of Gold Rush mining in the
Sierra Nevada could last for thousands of years in the form of
ongoing erosion of mercury-laced sediments, according to new
research. Mercury, a toxic heavy metal, was used in copious
amounts in California's hydraulic gold mining operations in the
mid- and late 1800s. Posted.
http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-mercury-gold-sierra-nevada-20131028,0,2647821.story#axzz2j88vo6VT

OPINIONS

Jokes, Lies and Pollution in China. After my physical exam this
year, the doctor showed me his findings. Next to an irregularity
he had noted concerning lung function, I was surprised to see the
words “air pollution.” It was first time this had ever appeared
in my health report. This reminded me of the uproar in China in
June of last year regarding PM 2.5 — the airborne particles with
a diameter of 2.5 microns or less that are particularly harmful
to our health. Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/30/opinion/international/jokes-lies-and-pollution-in-china.html?_r=0&pagewanted=print


China's pollution indicative of broader problems. China won't be
able to solve its environmental crisis until it respects the
human rights of its citizens. The crisis is severe, as the recent
reports from Harbin, a city of 11 million people in northeastern
China, indicate. Harbin was shut down by air pollution that was
50 times the level the World Health Organization considers safe.
It was so thick that the city's official news site said: "You
can't see your own fingers in front of you." Posted.
http://www.modbee.com/2013/10/28/2998374/chinas-pollution-indicative-of.html#storylink=cpy


Climate Change And Natural Gas Combine To Reduce U.S. Carbon
Dioxide Emissions. File this as yet another “everything you think
you knew was wrong” story. Ten years ago, anyone who would have
said that, absent regulation, U.S. emissions of carbon dioxide
would drop by 11 per cent in the succeeding decade would have
been dismissed as the environmental crackpot of the year. 
Imagine the scorn if that person added, further, that climate
change would be one of the causes.  Posted.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/patrickmichaels/2013/10/29/climate-change-and-natural-gas-combine-to-reduce-u-s-carbon-dioxide-emissions/


Best Electric Vehicles Cities — ChargePoint’s Refreshing Ranking.
I’m a big fan of ranking… just like the rest of you. However, I
generally hate that most rankings are presented in absolute terms
rather than relative terms. For example, there are many rankings
of the “best electric car cities” based on the total number of
electric cars, total number of public electric car charging
stations, etc. Posted.
http://cleantechnica.com/2013/10/28/best-electric-vehicles-cities-chargepoints-refreshing-ranking/#YPScu6vQ65EiXiFV.99


BLOGS

Will Sandy’s Lessons Fade as a Sleepy Atlantic Storm Season Ends?
With the anniversary of Hurricane Sandy’s coastal assault here,
The New York Times and other media have run a batch of helpful
articles tracking how coastal communities are, and are not,
responding to the lessons from the extraordinary surge raised by
that storm — a 1-in-700-year event, by some calculations. With
sea levels rising for centuries to come, amplifying the impact of
any coastal storm…Posted.
http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/10/28/will-sandys-lessons-fade-as-a-sleepy-atlantic-storm-season-ends/?pagewanted=print


Electric Vehicle Myths 1: This Time For Sure! Eight states have
just announced a plan to mandate the sale of a certain amount of
electric vehicles by the automobile industry.  Most stories (Wald
of the Times an exception) about this plan ignored the fact that
it duplicated a plan announced in 1990, which called for electric
vehicles to comprise 10% of auto sales by 2003.  Posted.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/michaellynch/2013/10/28/electric-vehicle-myths-1-this-time-for-sure/


States That Are Deadbeats on Electric Cars.  As PluginCars.com
reported last week, the announcement on Thursday that eight
governors are teaming up to support electric cars was timed to
coincide with a review of zero emissions mandates by the
California Air Resources Board. The message to automakers was
clear: with the right incentives and charging infrastructure,
electric cars can find a sizable market throughout the United
States—so stop making excuses, and get ready to ramp up EV
production.  Posted. 
http://www.plugincars.com/states-are-deadbeats-electric-cars-128659.html
 

All across Europe, bicycles outsold cars last year.  It may have
taken a full generation for Queen's 1978 oddball anthem Bicycle
Race to take effect, but by golly, folks in the band's native UK,
not to mention the rest of Europe, are getting the rather
operatic message. Last year, Europeans bought more bicycles than
light-duty vehicles in 25 of the 27 EU member nations, reflecting
the dual realities of a sputtering economy and rising fuel
prices, NPR reports.  Posted. 
http://green.autoblog.com/2013/10/29/bicycles-outsold-cars-all-over-europe-last-year/