What's New List Serve Post Display

ARB Newsclips for May 23, 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

China's ambitious cap-and-trade plan rolls down a long, bumpy
runway. China has made progress in its carbon trading pilot
programs but still has a long way to go, government officials and
industry players believe. China, the world's biggest emitter of
greenhouse gases, is betting on carbon trading as a key measure
to cut its emissions for each unit of economic output 40 to 45
percent below 2005 levels by 2020. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1060000102/print BY
SUBSCRIPTION ONLY

AIR POLLUTION

Claims Exide Battery Recycling Plant Has Repeatedly Violated Lead
Emission Standards. Officials announced Thursday that the Exide
battery recycling plant in Vernon has emitted risky levels of
lead into the air, violating federal limits and endangering
nearby residents’ health. Exide could face penalties of $37,500
per day for each violation, according to the EPA. Posted. 
http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2014/05/22/report-exide-battery-recycling-plant-has-repeatedly-violated-lead-emission-standards/


Air pollution is a $1.7T health problem, OECD finds.  Air
pollution is costing the world's most advanced economies plus
India and China $3.5 trillion per year in lives lost and ill
health, with a significant amount of the burden stemming from
vehicle tailpipes, according to a new report by the Organisation
for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/stories/1060000041 

CLIMATE CHANGE

Australia’s Pollution U-Turn Threatening UN Climate Talks. 
Australia’s program to rein in pollution is losing momentum, the
latest in a series of setbacks for the international effort to
tackle global warming. With the highest per-capita fossil fuel
emissions among industrial countries, Australia’s participation
in United Nations-led climate talks is seen as crucial to sway
China and India to step up pollution controls even as developed
nations backslide. Posted.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-05-22/australia-s-pollution-u-turn-threatening-un-climate-talks.html


Air Resources Board shows off mobile pollution monitoring
technology.  Tasked with monitoring and reducing vehicle
emissions, among other things, California Air Resources Board
showed off some of the mobile technology it uses to measure
pollution.  Posted. 
http://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/news/2014/05/22/air-resources-board-shows-off-mobile-pollution.html
 

Study Finds Regulations Could Be Improving Sacramento’s Terrible
Air Quality Rating.  The American Lung Association ranks
Sacramento as having the fifth-worst air quality in the nation,
but new testing reveals that ranking may soon begin to fall,
meaning possible big savings for the state.  From the outside,
the Toyota Rav4 doesn’t look like much, but inside is $300,000
worth of pollution testing equipment.  Posted. 
http://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2014/05/22/study-finds-regulations-could-be-improving-sacramentos-terrible-air-quality-rating/
    

Lawmakers Called Upon to Make More Definitive Climate Rules
Beyond 2020.  As the California Air Resources Board (CARB) hears
public comment Thursday on a far-reaching plan to meet the
greenhouse gas reduction goals in the Golden State's clean energy
law (AB 32), business groups are calling on lawmakers to make
more definitive plans beyond 2020.  Posted. 
http://www.azocleantech.com/news.aspx?newsID=20182  

Air quality at Culver City school under study.  In its ongoing
efforts to improve the air quality around El Marino Language
School, the Culver City Unified School District recently
installed a donated heating and air conditioning system in the
classroom that is closest to the San Diego (405) Freeway, which
is literally across the street from the school.  Posted. 
http://wavenewspapers.com/news/local/culver_city_edition/article_62e4e7a8-e201-11e3-a7ef-001a4bcf6878.html
  

Managers see freshwater shortages as part of a new normal for
changed climate. Forty out of 50 state water managers expect
freshwater shortages in their states "under average conditions"
in the next decade, and a growing number are expressing concerns
about climate effects on water infrastructure, according to a new
government report released yesterday. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1060000131/print BY
SUBSCRIPTION ONLY

Study says carbon loss from tropical forests 'underestimated' A
new study suggests that "hidden" emissions from tropical forests
mean their amount of carbon lost is being significantly
undercounted. Selective logging and fires, almost invisible to
satellite observations, are causing extensive emissions in
tropical forests. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1060000101/print BY
SUBSCRIPTION ONLY

DROUGHT

Drought has upside: record-low rainfall means cleaner beach
water. California's drought has at least one upside: Record-low
rainfall has resulted in cleaner water up and down the coast, a
new report says. Ninety-five percent of California beaches earned
A or B grades for water quality during the summer of 2013, a 2%
improvement over the previous year, according to the annual Beach
Report Card released Thursday by Heal the Bay, an environmental
group. Posted.
http://www.latimes.com/science/la-me-adv-beach-report-20140523-story.html


Drought's upside? Better water quality at beaches, report says. 
There’s at least one upside to the drought: Record-low rainfall
has resulted in cleaner water up and down the California coast, a
new report says. Posted.
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-beach-report-card-drought-boosts-grades-20140522-story.html


Feinstein's California drought bill passes Senate. Sen. Dianne
Feinstein won unanimous Senate approval of a drought bill
Thursday, setting up a potential compromise with House
Republicans who have passed legislation that would override
endangered-species protections to send more water to farms and
cities. Posted.
http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/Feinstein-s-California-drought-bill-passes-Senate-5499655.php

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2014/05/22/228255/senate-passes-california-drought.html#storylink=cpy


DIESEL EMISSIONS

Company racing to clean up ship pollution in ports.  One day last
week, Clean Air Engineering-Maritime Inc. pulled a barge
alongside a container ship in the Port of Los Angeles.  A
130-foot-tall tower with a boom attached was slowly swung out
over the hulking ship hauling thousands of containers.  Posted. 
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/air-615384-clean-ship.html 

Children breathe easier as new regs, technologies clean up school
buses. Those big yellow buses ubiquitous on school-day mornings
and afternoons are getting vastly cleaner as schools and bus
companies adapt to new tough pollution regulations and launch
diesel-free vehicles. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/stories/1060000152/ BY
SUBSCRIPTION ONLY

VEHICLES

Forget Saving the Planet, Driving an Electric Car Will Save Your
Life.  The failure to persuade a sizeable percentage of Americans
that climate change poses a clear and present danger is one of
the great failures in marketing and the subject of considerable
debate among scientists, academics and politicians.  But there is
one argument for taking action against global warming that has
resonated: health.  Posted. 
http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/05/forget-saving-the-planet-driving-an-electric-car-will-save-your-life/371533/


OECD: rising air pollution-related deaths taking heavy toll on
society; more should be done to reduce transport emissions. 
Outdoor air pollution kills some 3.5 million people across the
world every year, and causes health problems from asthma to heart
disease for many more, according to data collected by the World
Health Organization (WHO). (Earlier post.) This pollution is
costing advanced economies plus China and India an estimated
US$3.5 trillion a year in premature deaths and ill health…Posted.
 http://www.greencarcongress.com/2014/05/20140523-oecd.html 

GREEN ENERGY

Generous rooftop solar credit far from over.  The end may still
be years away for a generous utility bill credit for rooftop
solar customers in the San Diego area. Customers of San Diego Gas
& Electric have yet to reach the halfway mark toward a cap on the
current system of “net energy metering” credits for rooftop solar
energy, according to the utility. Posted.
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2014/may/22/net-metering-still-open/
 

Big battery at Stanislaus-Merced line called a game changer in
solar-energy storage.  In the middle of a remote almond orchard
near the Stanislaus-Merced county border, a revolutionary
“battery” was unveiled Thursday. Energy experts are calling it a
game changer that will help stabilize California’s electrical
grid. It’s the world’s largest iron-chromium redox flow battery,
and it can store the electrical power generated by the adjoining
photovoltaic solar panel array. Posted.
http://www.modbee.com/2014/05/22/3352691/big-battery-at-stanislaus-merced.html?sp=/99/1571/&ihp=1#storylink=cpy
 

UC Riverside center to focus on renewable energy research.  UC
Riverside officials have launched a $12 million facility to
identify and research the integration of renewable energy
technologies with energy storage and vehicles that hook into the
grid. “The project has implications for the nation and the
world,” said Reza Abbaschian, dean of the Bourns College of
Engineering, during a ceremony Wednesday beneath photovoltaic
panels. Posted.
http://www.sbsun.com/environment-and-nature/20140522/uc-riverside-center-to-focus-on-renewable-energy-research


For the first time, hydropower accounts for less than 50% of U.S.
renewable energy. Solar and wind power may be leading the growth
of renewables in the United States today, but it has long been an
older source of energy -- hydropower -- that has dominated the
renewable energy sector. Built for the most part decades before
climate change entered the popular lexicon, hydroelectric has
continued to supply the majority of the country's clean,
renewable energy, even as other power sources raced forward.
Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1060000132/print  BY
SUBSCRIPTION ONLY

First grid-scale battery of its kind unveiled at Calif. Farm. In
the middle of an almond grove near here, in California's Central
Valley, a first-of-its-kind battery is sharing space with nut
trees, solar panels and irrigation equipment. The 1-megawatt
system, which holds four hours of power, is the first large-scale
example of an iron-chromium flow battery. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1060000134/print BY
SUBSCRIPTION ONLY 

MISCELLANEOUS

Sacramento’s Mather Airport in long-shot bid for Tesla’s big
factory. It would be among the biggest economic development
bonanzas Sacramento has seen in years, courtesy of one of the
most glamorous companies around. But the odds are very long.
Wading into a fierce multistate competition, Mather Airport’s
business park is in the running for the massive battery factory
planned by Tesla Motors Inc. Posted.
http://www.sacbee.com/2014/05/22/6425105/sacramentos-mather-airport-in.html#mi_rss=Our%20Region#storylink=cpy


Designing a bigger, greener home amid trees.  The sylvan beauty
and funky charm of Santa Monica's Rustic Canyon cast its spell on
Jill Soffer a dozen years ago. She liked the neighborhood's
relaxed environment and abundance of sycamore trees. She
purchased a home there in 2002.  "There's all this green around.
It's not too manicured," Soffer says appreciatively…Posted. 
http://www.contracostatimes.com/News/ci_25778882/Designing-a-bigger-greener-home-amid
  

Local community meeting set on high-speed rail.  A community
meeting to discuss the proposed California high-speed rail system
is scheduled for Thursday, June 5 in Newhall.  It is one of five
meetings being conducted by the California High-Speed Rail
Authority to discuss the route for the Palmdale to Los Angeles
project section, which includes potential routes through the
Santa Clarita Valley.  Posted. 
http://www.signalscv.com/section/36/article/120286/ 

OPINIONS

Gavin Schmidt on Why Climate Models are Wrong, and Valuable.  I’m
overdue to draw your attention to two fresh, and very different,
discussions of climate science by Gavin Schmidt, the longtime
climate modeler at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies.
First is his conversation with Perrin Ireland, a science
illustrator with a playful touch at the Natural Resources Defense
Council. Posted.
http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/05/22/gavin-schmidt-on-why-climate-models-are-wrong-and-valuable/?action=click&module=Search®ion=searchResults&mabReward=relbias%3Ar&url=http%3A%2F%2Fquery.nytimes.com%2Fsearch%2Fsitesearch%2F%3Faction%3Dclick%26region%3DMasthead%26pgtype%3DHomepage%26module%3DSearchSubmit%26contentCollection%3DHomepage%26t%3Dqry651%23%2Fclimate%2Bchange%2F24hours%2F
 

Natural Gas Race.  “Russia and China Finally Complete 30-Year Gas
Deal” (front page, May 22): The Cold War of the 1940s and ’50s
set off an arms race. The United States’ new cold war against
Russia has set off a natural gas race. That Russia is turning to
China as a major natural gas customer is hardly surprising, but
it is dismaying given the extent of climate change across the
planet, which is sure to worsen if fossil fuel use continues at
its current levels. Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/23/opinion/natural-gas-race.html?action=click&module=Search®ion=searchResults&mabReward=relbias%3Ar&url=http%3A%2F%2Fquery.nytimes.com%2Fsearch%2Fsitesearch%2F%3Faction%3Dclick%26region%3DMasthead%26pgtype%3DHomepage%26module%3DSearchSubmit%26contentCollection%3DHomepage%26t%3Dqry651%23%2Fclimate%2Bchange%2F24hours%2F&_r=0


Dan Walters: ‘Cap-and-trade’ fee spending looms as major
conflict.  Spending a growing pot of money from “cap-and-trade”
fees on businesses that emit greenhouse gases looms as a major
conflict between Gov. Jerry Brown and legislators as they wrangle
over the 2014-15 budget.  Posted. 
http://www.sacbee.com/2014/05/22/6426400/dan-walters-cap-and-trade-fee.html


BLOGS

Why Electric Vehicles Will Rule the Road.  I’m not generally a
fan of picking winners and losers except when it comes to the
future of cars. Here, electric vehicles (EVs) are the clear
long-term winners. They’re highly efficient, dirt cheap to power,
and can run on infrastructure that already exists. And even
though electricity isn’t yet “clean” in many places around the
country, EVs still generate fewer emissions than your average
gas-powered vehicle—regardless of whether you charge up on the
coal-fired Kentucky grid or Washington’s much cleaner hydro- and
wind- powered system.  Posted. 
http://blogs.wsj.com/experts/2014/05/20/why-electric-vehicles-will-rule-the-road/
  

How (not) to talk about climate change.  Last week, John Oliver’s
skit on climate change went viral. In it he proclaimed: “That
[people's beliefs about climate change] doesn’t matter. You don’t
need people’s opinion on a fact. You might as well have a poll
asking which number is bigger, 15 or 5. … The debate on climate
change should not be whether or it exists, it’s what we should do
about it. There is a mountain of research on this topic.” 
Posted. 
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/monkey-cage/wp/2014/05/22/how-not-to-communicate-uncertainty-about-climate-change/


CARB’s Special Toyota RAV4 EV Collects Air Pollution Data.  With
so many automakers delivering their first batch of green cars to
California, you can easily say the state is like a Mecca of clean
driving, if you neglect some areas in Japan, like Toyota City for
example.  Thing is, California is the place of choice for
automakers to test out their newest technology in green matter
and two of the greatest eco vehicles were born/made popular in
the area - the Toyota Prius and Tesla Model S.  Posted. 
http://www.autoevolution.com/news/carbs-special-toyota-rav4-ev-collects-air-pollution-data-81675.html
 

CARB uses tricked-out RAV4 EV to measure air pollution in
California. The old-school Toyota RAV4 EV you see above is the
California Air Resources Board's version of a non-participant
observer. The all-electric vehicle cruises around the state
measuring airborne pollution. Since it's powered by batteries,
there are no tailpipe emissions created as CARB tries to get a
handle on how dirty the roadway air is.  Posted. 
http://green.autoblog.com/2014/05/22/carb-uses-tricked-out-rav4-ev-to-measure-air-pollution/
 

As of today, Nissan has sold 50,000 Leafs in the US, 115,000
globally.  Watch out, America, there are 50,000 Nissan Leaf
electric vehicles prowling your streets. That's the official word
from Nissan, which says it has just delivered the 50,000th Leaf –
a black SL model – to Todd and Lisa Bolt in Dallas, Texas. Todd
is a pastor at the Gateway Church in Southlake, where there
almost two dozen Leaf drivers who call themselves the "Blessed
LEAFs Club." We're not making that up. Posted.
http://green.autoblog.com/2014/05/23/nissan-sold-50000-leafs-in-us-115000-globally/


Is Subsidizing the Purchase of Electric Cars the Best Way to
Reduce Air Pollution?  The purpose of this article is to show
with relatively simple logic that electric cars will not have a
noticeable impact on air quality and so it is a complete waste of
money to subsidize these cars.  Let's start with the objective of
not only electrification but also of other alternative fuels:
reduce emissions, so as to improve the air quality.  Posted. 
http://www.evworld.com/news.cfm?newsid=33152  




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