What's New List Serve Post Display

ARB Newsclips for June 25, 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

Calif. Earmarks a Quarter of Its Cap-and-Trade Riches for
Environmental Justice. One-quarter of the $872 million generated
by California's 18-month-old cap-and-trade scheme will go to
housing and public transit programs for poor and minority
communities this year, according to the recently approved state
budget. The decision caps a long fight by environmental justice
advocates over how much of the state's carbon proceeds…Posted.
http://insideclimatenews.org/news/20140625/calif-earmarks-quarter-its-cap-and-trade-riches-environmental-justice


AIR POLLUTION

Bid to save beach bonfires advances in California legislature. 
As rising temperatures send thousands to Southern California's
storied beaches, lawmakers are rushing to make sure a classic
rite of summer, the beach bonfire, doesn't burn out before they
get there. Under a new anti-pollution measure adopted last year
by regional air quality regulators, fire rings on beaches near
houses or in places with poor air quality would have to be
removed. Posted.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/06/24/us-usa-california-beaches-idUSKBN0EZ30J20140624


Oxnard gets traffic study grant. The $132,795 grant, combined
with a $17,205 match from the city for a total $150,000, will pay
for a consultant to work with large local employers on programs
that reduce vehicle trips, said Cynthia Daniels, project manager.
The funds were awarded last year but the city is just now kicking
off the project, Daniels said. Overall, the goal is to reduce air
pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. Posted.
http://www.vcstar.com/news/2014/jun/24/oxnard-gets-traffic-study-grant/#ixzz35fZe8MkH


EPA study of CAFO emissions grinds on with no end in sight. U.S.
EPA's nine-year effort to document air pollution at livestock
operations is likely still many years from completion and
unlikely to be as useful as industry and environmental groups had
hoped. Still incomplete is what EPA promised to do under a 2005
deal cut with livestock producers to identify air emissions for
different types of concentrated animal feeding operations, or
CAFOs. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/stories/1060001938/print BY
SUBSCRIPTION ONLY

Ohio State helping develop 'clean' coal power plant. An Ohio
company is working with Ohio State University researchers to
develop a "clean" coal power plant that would capture up to 90
percent of its carbon dioxide emissions. A $2.5 million grant
from the U.S. Department of Energy is funding the research, which
will be used to scale up a small prototype plant that has already
tested the coal-direct chemical looping process for 680 hours.
Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1060001877/print BY
SUBSCRIPTION ONLY

CLIMATE CHANGE

U.S. to face multibillion-dollar bill from climate change:
report. Annual property losses from hurricanes and other coastal
storms of $35 billion; a decline in crop yields of 14 percent,
costing corn and wheat farmers tens of billions of dollars; heat
wave-driven demand for electricity costing utility customers up
to $12 billion per year. These are among the economic costs that
climate change is expected to exact in the United States over the
next 25 years…Posted.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/06/24/us-climatechange-economy-idUSKBN0EZ0AA20140624


Why the U.S. Needs Business to Save It From Congress. It's easier
for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than it is for a
climate bill to move through the United States Congress. That's
why the Obama administration is threading its climate policy
through the Environmental Protection Agency instead of Capitol
Hill, where it tried and failed in 2010. Posted.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2014-06-25/u-s-business-is-the-grassroots-climate-movement.html


Climate Forecast: A Heat More Deadly Than the U.S. Has Ever Seen.
It’s not the heat. It’s the humidity. And the U.S. is on a path
to regularly experience a deadly combination of the two the likes
of which have only been recorded once on planet Earth.  That’s
one of the findings in a report published today called “Risky
Business,” commissioned by some of America’s top business leaders
to put price tags on climate threats. Posted.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-06-24/what-to-expect-when-your-planet-is-expecting-risky-business-in-climate.html


EPA’s Winning Streak Extended as High Court Backs Greenhouse
Permits. The Obama administration added to a series of
environmental court wins, as the Environmental Protection Agency
retained the right to curb greenhouse gases from power plants,
refineries and chemical factories. The U.S. Supreme Court
yesterday upheld the EPA’s requirement that such facilities
address the emissions as part of permits for expansion. Posted.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2014-06-24/epa-extended-legal-victories-for-climate-change-moves.html


Where Did the Supreme Court Leave EPA's Power on Greenhouse Gas?
Confused by the Supreme Court’s ruling on carbon emissions? It’s
understandable. Monday’s decision interpreted highly technical
regulatory provisions and produced a splintered vote. Scholars,
advocates, and pundits emphasized contrasting themes. Posted.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2014-06-24/where-did-the-supreme-court-leave-epa-s-power-on-greenhouse-gas-.html


Fighting Climate Change Is Profitable: Mexico’s Calderon. 
Curbing climate change is profitable and nations must offer
business incentives for low-carbon growth to cut fossil-fuel
reliance, according to former president of Mexico, Felipe
Calderon. Countries must act jointly and in a “comprehensive”
way, targeting the energy industry, cities, agriculture and
forests as the main areas where runaway greenhouse gas emissions
can be reined in, Calderon said in an interview in London.
Posted.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-06-25/fighting-climate-change-is-profitable-mexico-s-calderon.html
 

Supreme Court backs EPA power to regulate greenhouse-gas
emissions. The Obama administration's drive to regulate
global-warming gases won a surprising victory in the Supreme
Court on Monday with the support of two conservative justices.
Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justice Antonin Scalia
joined the court's moderates and liberals in a 7-2 vote to uphold
most of an Environmental Protection Agency rule that requires new
or rebuilt factories…Posted.
http://www.sacbee.com/2014/06/25/6509893/supreme-court-backs-epa-power.html

http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/Supreme-Court-upholds-program-limiting-greenhouse-5574034.php


Extreme heat a danger to all, especially elderly, young. Hot
weather kills more Americans than all other natural disasters
combined, and the casualties continue to climb despite decades of
warnings about how to recognize the signs of heat stress and take
prompt corrective action. With climate change, some experts
predict ever-worsening summer heat waves and even more related
illnesses and deaths. Posted.
http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/Extreme-heat-a-danger-to-all-especially-elderly-5576849.php

Obama aides to meet with climate change mega-donor.  Obama
administration officials are planning a climate change meeting
Wednesday that includes a Democratic donor who has pledged to
spend up to $100 million to make climate change a major issue in
the November elections. Billionaire Tom Steyer will be one of
several people at the Wednesday meeting devoted to a new report
detailing the economic consequences of climate change. Posted.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/theoval/2014/06/24/obama-tom-steyer-climate-change-white-house-meeting-wednesday/11312935/


How influential is billionaire climate change activist Tom
Steyer? Today marks the one year anniversary of an important
speech President Obama made on climate change in which he
detailed plans to curb greenhouse gas emissions. Tonight, the
White House will be looking at the potential economic damage of
climate change. Posted.
http://www.scpr.org/programs/take-two/2014/06/25/38062/how-influential-is-billionaire-climate-change-acti/


DROUGHT

Drought takes toll on hydro generation in Calif. Hydropower
generation in California has dropped by half as a result of the
state's gripping drought, according to a new analysis. The state,
which normally gets about 14 percent of its electricity from
hydroelectric dams and turbines, saw its hydropower generation
fall 48 percent in the first quarter of 2014 compared with the
same period last year, according to an analysis from SNL Energy.
Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1060001916/print BY
SUBSCRIPTION ONLY

FUELS

Beyond the Keystone XL Pipeline. Political wrangling continues
over the Keystone XL project, a proposed TransCanada  pipeline
from Alberta's oil sands to the U.S. With all the publicity
around this controversial project, it's easy to get the
impression that TransCanada's fortunes will rise or fall with the
Keystone XL pipeline. But is that really the case? Posted.
http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/Beyond-the-Keystone-XL-Pipeline-5578379.php

 
VEHICLES

Japan Moves to Fast-Track Cars Powered by Hydrogen Fuel Cells.
Japan’s government and the country’s top carmakers, including
Toyota Motor, are joining forces to bet big that they can speed
up the arrival of the fuel-cell era. The still-costly and complex
fuel cell technology uses hydrogen as fuel and could greatly curb
automotive pollution. Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/26/business/international/japan-bets-big-on-cars-powered-by-hydrogen-fuel-cells.html

http://www.csmonitor.com/Innovation/Horizons/2014/0625/Japanese-fuel-cell-cars-on-track-for-March-2015-release


Study finds that electric cars are putting the brakes on
pollution. Annual sales of electric vehicles have skyrocketed by
500 percent nationwide the past two years, according to a new
report, benefiting public health and the environment. "It's
clearer we need more cleaner vehicles on the road," said Mac
Farrell, global warming organizer at Environment California.
"We're in the middle of a technological revolution that is
helping to clean up our air and reduce our dependence on oil.
It's the rise of electric vehicles. It's time for this revolution
to really charge ahead."
http://www.insidebayarea.com/news/ci_26025531/study-finds-that-electric-cars-are-putting-brakes


GREEN ENERGY

SunPower Offers Batteries to Hold Solar Power Until Night. 
SunPower Corp. (SPWR), the second-largest U.S. solar
manufacturer, is offering energy-storage systems to California
homeowners that will power houses at night with electricity
generated from sunlight during the day. The company is testing
systems that combine rooftop solar panels with battery storage in
new homes built by KB Home (KBH), San Jose, California-based
SunPower said in a statement today. Posted.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2014-06-24/sunpower-offers-batteries-to-hold-solar-power-until-night.html


How much energy went into making your solar roof? Researchers
want to know. When it comes to energy, you have to invest some in
order to get some. Whether drilling for oil or baking silicon for
photovoltaic panels, there is an energy price for the energy we
produce, researchers say. However, these considerations are often
in a policy blind spot, and most energy regulations focus on
economic costs more than energy outlays. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1060001922/print BY
SUBSCRIPTION ONLY

Solar leasing helps drive PV boom, but market is shifting –
study. Third-party leases that brought U.S. residential solar
power from a niche market into a mainstream energy investment
will account for a record 68 percent of all new residential solar
systems installed this year, according to new findings from GTM
Research. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1060001915/print BY
SUBSCRIPTION ONLY

DOE finalizes furnace-fan standards to mark climate plan
anniversary. The Department of Energy announced final energy
efficiency standards for furnace fans today, the one-year
anniversary of the release of President Obama's Climate Action
Plan. "The part of the Climate Action Plan that got the most
attention was the EPA rules on power plants," but the plan was
packed with smaller DOE measures that will add up over
time…Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/stories/1060001947/print BY
SUBSCRIPTION ONLY

MISCELLANEOUS

Divergent views on exporting gas through bay. Dominion Resources'
proposal to build a liquefied natural gas export facility is
dividing residents of the quiet town of Lusby on the Chesapeake
Bay. Some, like longtime resident Tracey Eno are worried about
increased air pollution. "That can't be good for me. I mean
that's just common sense," said Eno, 44, who lives 1½ miles from
the site. "Is that going to show up as asthma? Lung cancer?
Posted.
http://www.sfgate.com/business/energy/article/Divergent-views-on-exporting-gas-through-bay-5578812.php


OPINIONS

Taking Effective Action Against the Unstoppable. Carbon Cuts Now
Won’t Stop Climate Change, but Could Limit Damage. Climate change
is not an event in your children’s future. It is bearing down
upon you now. And there is nothing you — or anyone else — can do
to prevent the hit. Over the next quarter-century, heat-related
death rates will probably double in the southeastern states.
Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/25/business/economy/carbon-cuts-now-wont-stop-climate-change-but-could-limit-damage.html?_r=0


Climate change: The peril is in all the things we don't know.
Maybe space is indeed the final frontier, but here in Arctic
Alaska, at the Toolik Field Station, it feels like the biggest
gap in our knowledge of the universe is a lot closer to home — as
in, what can we expect as the planet warms? The amount we don’t
know about how geology, plants and animals will respond is
daunting. Posted.
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/opinion-la/la-ol-climate-change-mysteries-20140624-story.html


The economic climate [Editorial]. For too long and by too many,
confronting climate change has been seen through the prism of
economic sacrifice. Reducing greenhouse gases is viewed as a
burden to growth and employment opportunity, the cause of global
warming a fixation of left-wing environmentalists and against the
interest of business, big or small. Posted.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/editorial/bs-ed-climate-20140624,0,1278590.story#ixzz35fbJQaN5


Good ruling on emissions. The Clean Air Act is a complex and
often confusing piece of legislation, especially in confronting
the challenges of global warming, which were not fully understood
when the law was passed in 1970. At that time, the biggest risk
to the environment and health was believed to come from more
conventional air pollutants, such as sulfur dioxide and lead. But
when the threat of greenhouse gases became clear…Posted.
http://www.toledoblade.com/Editorials/2014/06/25/Good-ruling-on-emissions.html#pzftGvFleRUG4lyU.99


BLOGS

Green Cement To Help Reduce Carbon Emissions. Cement production
comprises around 10% of human CO2 emissions.  In Switzerland,
researchers at Ecole Polytechnique Federal de Lausanne (EFPL),
the same institute who created Roombots, recently received a
round of funding to focus on the development and testing of a new
blend of low-carbon cement. This new green cement has the
potential to reduce the carbon footprint of construction sites by
40%. Posted.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jenniferhicks/2014/06/23/green-cement-to-help-reduce-carbon-emissions/
 

Reform Conservatism and Climate Change. When the “Room to Grow”
collection of reform conservative essays dropped last month, some
of the most frequent criticisms from liberals focused on topics
that the book did not address: In particular, comprehensive
immigration reform (the subject of my last post) and climate
change legislation. Posted.
http://douthat.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/06/24/reform-conservatism-and-climate-change/


Hardcore Capitalists Warn That Climate Change Is A Big Deal For
American Businesses. Another day, another climate change report
predicting serious consequences for the United States. Tuesday's
report, however, focuses on the devastation that climate change
could cause for American businesses. Posted.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/24/climate-change-business-b_n_5525742.html

White House Plans Another Big Climate Push. One year after
President Barack Obama rolled out his climate change action plan,
the administration is putting fresh emphasis on its environmental
agenda. The White House plans to host two roundtable discussions
this week on the economic threats that climate change poses and
the "opportunities to overcome those risks”…Posted.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/24/obama-climate-change_n_5523982.html


Energy: Consider the global impacts of oil pipelines. The debate
over the development of oil sands in Alberta, Canada, is
inflaming tensions in and between Canada and the United States.
In April, US President Barack Obama deferred a decision on the
fate of the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline, despite escalating
pressure to approve it from Canadian Prime Minister Stephen
Harper. Posted.
http://www.nature.com/news/energy-consider-the-global-impacts-of-oil-pipelines-1.15434


Plug In America expects 250,000 EVs will be sold by September.
The group of electric vehicle supporters known as Plug In America
(PIA) figures that a grand total of 220,494 plug-in vehicles have
been purchased in the US since the modern wave of EVs went on
sale in late 2010. Just over a year ago, PIA celebrated the
100,000th EV sold in the US, a Mitsubishi i-MiEV. Based on
current sales patterns…Posted.
http://green.autoblog.com/2014/06/24/plug-in-america-expects-250000-evs-will-be-sold-by-september/
 

Toyota prices fuel cell sedan at $70k in Japan, coming to US and
Europe next summer.  Toyota has finally unveiled its FCV hydrogen
fuel cell sedan and its Japanese price. We won't have to wait too
long to see the first of these revolutionary vehicles on the
roads. It will go on sale in Japan in April 2015 and will come to
the US and Europe later that summer. Posted.
http://www.autoblog.com/2014/06/25/toyota-prices-fuel-cell-sedan-70k-in-japan-coming-to-us-and-eu/
 





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