What's New List Serve Post Display

ARB Newsclips for February 13, 2014. 

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

REDD Still On California's Radar. Major doubts have been
expressed recently about whether offsets from reduced emissions
from deforestation and degradation (REDD) will ever make it into
California’s cap-and-trade program. But state regulators affirmed
this week that REDD credits are still on their radar. Political
opposition has been one of the major factors driving the growing
reservations that REDD would ever be allowed into California’s
program. Posted.
http://www.ecosystemmarketplace.com/pages/dynamic/article.page.php?page_id=10195§ion=news_articles&eod=1


Automaker creates carbon market to drive down college campus
emissions. Hundreds of universities and colleges across the
United States have committed to reaching carbon neutrality, but
many lack the financial tools they need to get clean energy and
efficiency projects underway. To help overcome the funding speed
bump, American automaker Chevrolet unveiled a new
carbon-reduction formula yesterday that gives campuses the
ability to sell verified carbon credits. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1059994548/print BY
SUBSCRIPTION ONLY

AIR POLLUTION

China to Reward Localities for Improving Air Quality. Chinese
officials announced on Thursday that they were offering a total
of 10 billion renminbi, or $1.65 billion, this year to cities and
regions that make “significant progress” in air pollution
control, according to a report by Xinhua, the state-run news
agency. The announcement came from the State Council, China’s
cabinet, after it held a meeting on Wednesday to discuss, among
other issues, the country’s immense air pollution problem.
Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/14/world/asia/china-to-reward-localities-for-improving-air-quality.html
 

China announces $1.6 billion air pollution fund. China's Cabinet
has announced that 10 billion yuan ($1.6 billion) has been set
aside this year to reward cities and regions that make
significant progress in controlling air pollution, highlighting
how the issue has become a priority for the leadership. The fund
will be set up to reward rather than offer subsidies for the
prevention and control of air pollution in the key areas…Posted.
http://www.vcstar.com/news/2014/feb/12/china-announces-16-billion-air-pollution-fund/#ixzz2tDvojXlj
 
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2014/feb/12/china-announces-16-billion-air-pollution-fund/


CLIMATE CHANGE

AM Alert: Jerry Brown meets with Obama administration on climate
change.  Gov. Jerry Brown has made climate change a prominent
issue in his return to the governor's office, calling it the
greatest threat to young people's future and focusing on the
reduction of greenhouse gases during his trip to China last year.
 He will discuss the matter further today with President Barack
Obama's task force on climate preparedness, which meets for the
second time at 11:30 a.m. in Los Angeles City Hall.  Posted. 
http://www.sanluisobispo.com/2014/02/13/2923718/am-alert-jerry-brown-meets-with.html


Officials urge Californians to prepare for climate change.  Like
saving for retirement or hoarding food and water for The Big One,
Californians should get ready for the effects of global climate
change, state and federal policymakers said Wednesday. Among the
potential changes discussed at The Autry Museum: severe weather,
droughts, floods, rising sea levels, travel delays, hotter inland
temperatures, even something as odd as the loss of the spring
season. Posted.
http://www.sbsun.com/environment-and-nature/20140212/officials-urge-californians-to-prepare-for-climate-change
 

Closed-door L.A. meeting of Obama climate-change task force
includes Gov. Jerry Brown, Mayor Eric Garcetti.  Gov. Jerry
Brown, Mayor Eric Garcetti and other members of an Obama task
force charged with taking on the effects of climate change will
meet this morning at Los Angeles City Hall. The Task Force on
Climate Change and Resilience, formed by President Barack Obama
in November, is charged with overhauling federal grant programs
and identifying funding sources to better address climate
change-related disasters such as droughts, wildfires, floods and
storms. Posted.
http://www.sbsun.com/environment-and-nature/20140213/closed-door-la-meeting-of-obama-climate-change-task-force-includes-gov-jerry-brown-mayor-eric-garcetti


DROUGHT

Gov. Brown says he can help solve state's water crisis. Though he
offered no new details, he expressed confidence in his political
skill to deal with the situation: “If anybody can get it done, I
can get it done and I’m working night and day to achieve it.”
http://www.latimes.com/local/political/la-me-pc-jerry-brown-barack-obama-tulare-water-20140212,0,2140531.story


Mayor Eric Garcetti calls for conservation in face of drought.
Emphasizing the need to save water during the worst drought in
recent history, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and the region’s
major supplier of water called on residents Wednesday to take
steps to conserve as much as possible and follow existing
conservation guidelines.
http://www.dailynews.com/article/20140212/NEWS/140219786 

DIESEL EMISSIONS

California responds to OOIDA legal challenge of CARB's Truck and
Bus Reg.  California Attorney General Kamala Harris has responded
to OOIDA’s lawsuit against CARB. On Jan. 27, Harris filed a
partial motion to dismiss the complaint’s claims against the CARB
defendants in their individual capacities, but did not seek
dismissal of those claims against them in their official
capacity.  Posted. 
http://www.landlinemag.com/Story.aspx?StoryID=26568#.UvzvkhByx4w


VEHICLES

Conn. honoring top Conn. electric car dealers.  Automobile
dealers in Connecticut who sell or lease the most electric
vehicles will get a special recognition from the Department of
Energy and Environmental Protection. The agency is offering its
first "Connecticut Revolutionary Dealer Awards." Posted.
http://www.modbee.com/2014/02/13/3186841/conn-honoring-top-conn-electric.html#storylink=cpy


GREEN ENERGY

Basking in a New Glow.  If you haven’t noticed the virtual
disappearance of old-school incandescent bulbs from retailers’
shelves, there’s good reason. With the federally mandated
phaseout of traditional incandescent bulbs entering its final
stage, manufacturers and retailers have done well to make the
transition nearly invisible to consumers. Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/13/garden/basking-in-a-new-glow.html?ref=earth
 

Liquid-Cooled Supercomputers, to Trim the Power Bill.  Dropping a
home computer into a vat of liquid would wreck it. Yet some
operators of supercomputers are submerging their machines in
liquids, without causing any apparent damage, to keep them from
overheating. Advocates say so-called immersion or submersion
cooling could solve one of the biggest challenges of the digital
economy: reducing the air-conditioning bills and environmental
strains of the power-hungry servers…Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/12/business/international/improving-energy-efficiency-in-supercomputers.html?ref=earth
 

Huge thermal plant opens as solar industry grows.  A windy
stretch of the Mojave Desert once roamed by tortoises and coyotes
has been transformed by hundreds of thousands of mirrors into the
largest solar power plant of its type in the world, a milestone
for a growing industry that is testing the balance between
wilderness conservation and the pursuit of green energy across
the West. The Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System, sprawling
across roughly 5 square miles of federal land near the
California-Nevada border…Posted.
http://www.vcstar.com/news/2014/feb/13/huge-thermal-plant-opens-solar-industry-grows/#ixzz2tDyxfQk2
  

U.S. defense contractor to build world's largest wave energy
project in Australia. Lockheed Martin, the defense contractor
with a penchant for ocean-based renewable energy projects, will
work with an Australian firm to develop what is believed to be
the largest wave energy project constructed to date. The planned
62.5-megawatt peak power energy project will be built in three
stages off the southeast Australian coast near Portland, an area
known to have some of the world's strongest wave regimes…Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1059994521/print BY
SUBSCRIPTION ONLY

OPINIONS

India’s Air Pollution Emergency.  Last month, the Yale
Environmental Performance Index ranked India 174th out of 178
countries on air pollution. According to India’s Central
Pollution Control Board, in 2010, particulate matter in the air
of 180 Indian cities was six times higher than World Health
Organization standards. Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/14/opinion/indias-air-pollution-emergency.html?_r=0


No quick fixes for drought. If California can't come up with a
quick response to its epic drought, then Washington wants to try.
Two rival and partisan plans have the potential to reshape
agriculture, wildlife and the political landscape for years to
come.
http://www.sfgate.com/opinion/editorials/article/No-quick-fixes-for-drought-5229719.php


BLOGS

Neel Kashkari blames Jerry Brown for drought. Republican Neel
Kashkari blamed Gov. Jerry Brown on Wednesday for California's
ongoing drought, saying a "lack of leadership in Sacramento" has
left the state unprepared for dry years. Posted.
http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2014/02/neel-kashkari-blames-jerry-brown-on-drought.html


Ecotricity offering 1,000 free EV miles to new customers. 
Ecotricity is offering electric vehicle drivers in the United
Kingdom an lengthy incentive for using green energy: 1,000 miles
of free fast charging per year. Called "Green Electricity + Car,"
the program will power customers' homes with renewable power
allow them to charge their cars through Ecotricity's national
network of fast chargers, which the company has named the
Electric Highway. Posted.
http://green.autoblog.com/2014/02/13/ecotricity-offering-1-000-free-ev-miles-to-new-customers/
 

U.S. wants poor and rich countries alike to cut emissions under
next climate treaty.  If the U.S. gets its way, developing
countries will need to roll up their sleeves and do more to slow
down global warming.  The Obama administration is taking the
position that poor and rich countries alike should be legally
obligated to reduce the amount of climate-changing pollution that
they produce after 2020, when a new climate treaty is expected to
take effect.  Posted. 
http://grist.org/news/u-s-wants-poor-and-rich-countries-alike-to-cut-emissions-under-next-climate-treaty/
 

Honda Film: Controlling Air Pollution A 'Never-Ending Race'.  The
fight to improve air quality may not sound like fodder for a
typical Hollywood blockbuster, but Honda has done its best to
make the topic exciting.  The latest short film in the company's
Environmental Short Film series--this one titled "Never Ending
Race"--depicts Honda's efforts to respond to the far stricter
Federal and state environmental legislation in the 1970s that
resulted from efforts to improve the heavy air pollution in Los
Angeles and elsewhere.  Posted. 
http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1090317_honda-film-controlling-air-pollution-a-never-ending-race



California is in a drought emergency.
Visit www.SaveOurH2O.org for water conservation tips.