What's New List Serve Post Display
Below is the List Serve Post you selected to display.
newsclips -- ARB Newsclips for July 28, 2014.
Posted: 28 Jul 2014 15:19:07
ARB Newsclips for July 28, 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 Japan, Mexico sign carbon trade deal. Japan and Mexico have signed a deal for Japanese companies to earn carbon credits by investing in technology to cut greenhouse gas emissions in Mexico - in Japan's 12th bilateral carbon agreement. The programme, known as the Joint Crediting Mechanism (JCM), lets companies in Japan, the world's fifth-biggest greenhouse gas emitter, use lower-cost emission cuts abroad to help meet domestic targets. Posted. http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/28/japan-mexico-carbon-idUSL6N0Q32DT20140728 Brown hopes to sell Mexico on following California's green path forward. When California launched its most ambitious effort to combat climate change nearly two years ago, there were fears it would cost workers their jobs and handicap businesses with burdensome regulations. Since then, the state's economy has rebounded from a damaging recession even while operating under tighter restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions. Posted. http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-pol-brown-mexico-20140727-story.html#page=1 http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2014/jul/28/tp-brown-kicks-off-mexico-climate-and-trade/ Like or don’t like EPA’s power-plant rule? Now’s your turn to tell them why. Officials from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency are taking their controversial power plant rule to the people this week, with a series of public hearings that could generate 1,600 comments. In a conference call with reporters Monday, EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy – who testified before Congress on the rule last week…Posted. http://www.fresnobee.com/2014/07/28/4044114/like-or-dont-like-epas-power-plant.html http://www.modbee.com/2014/07/28/3460926/like-or-dont-like-epas-power-plant.html#storylink=cpy http://www.businessweek.com/news/2014-07-28/energy-week-ahead-sold-out-hearings-for-epa-climate-plan Cap-and-trade delay bill a tough sell to governor. A late-in-the-game bill pushed moderate Democrats to delay placing vehicle fuels into the state's controversial cap-and-trade requirements may be a populist measure to mitigate rising gas prices, but likely will be a tough sell to the governor. Beginning Jan. 1, California’s emission control law known as cap-and-trade will include transportation fuel, a policy that may raise gas prices by 12 cents or more. Posted. http://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/news/2014/07/25/cap-and-trade-delay-bill-a-tough-sell-to-governor.html AIR POLLUTION Judge orders EPA to set standards for 3 toxins. A federal judge ordered U.S. EPA on Friday to set air standards for three hazardous air pollutants, ruling that the agency is long overdue in meeting Clean Air Act requirements. EPA has failed to comply with court orders dating back to 2006 mandating that it set emissions limits after environmentalists challenged it in court, said Judge Paul Friedman for the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Posted. http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/28/britain-energy-oil-gas-idUSL6N0Q31BC20140728 Sand fire to cause air quality to worsen today, Sunday. Sacramento-area residents will see a worsening of their air quality this evening due to the effects of the Sand fire that has burned more than 4,000 acres in El Dorado and Amador counties. A high-pressure weather system will bring smoke from the fire into areas west of the timber and grass fire…Posted. http://www.sacbee.com/2014/07/26/6584535/sand-fire-to-cause-air-quality.html Wildfire Smoke Warning: Sand Incident Air Quality Advisory. Some areas of Amador and El Dorado counties are experiencing heavy smoke due to the Sand Incident fire. Amador County Public Health advises community members that air quality may be unsafe for those with sensitive medical conditionsPosted. http://thepinetree.net/index.php?module=announce&ANN_user_op=view&ANN_id=41525 Air quality alert for the Truckee Meadows. The Washoe District Health Department has issued an air quality alert for the Truckee Meadows after ozone reached a level of unhealthy for sensitive groups. The department recommends people, especially those with lung disease like asthma, reduce prolonged or heavy outdoor exertion. Fine particulates were moderate early Sunday afternoon. Posted. http://www.rgj.com/story/news/2014/07/27/air-quality-alert-truckee-meadows/13245795/ Sacramento Valley under Spare the Air alert due to ozone. The Sacramento Valley is under a Spare the Air alert because of the ozone. When the air quality forecast reaches 127, the Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District issues a Spare the Air alert. In order to reduce pollution on spare the air days, residents are encouraged to reduce driving, take public transportation or carpool, and, if possible, work from home. Posted. http://www.news10.net/story/weather/forecast/2014/07/28/spare-the-air-smoke/13239319/ CLIMATE CHANGE 5 things to know about coal trade, global warming. As the Obama administration weans the U.S. off polluting fuels blamed for global warming, energy companies have been sending more of America's unwanted energy leftovers to other parts of the world where they could create even more pollution. Here are five things to know about the issue…Posted. http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_OBAMA_EXPORTING_POLLUTION_5_THINGS_TO_KNOW_1ST_LD_WRITETHRU?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT AP PHOTOS: Coal-exporting town fights rising seas. Norfolk is trapped between the causes and consequences of global warming. The region exports more coal - and the heat-trapping pollution that comes with it - than any place in the U.S. At the same time, Norfolk is already experiencing one of the fastest rates of sea level rise in the country. Flood walls protect downtown from rising waters. Residents raise houses to escape floods. Posted. http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_OBAMA_EXPORTING_POLLUTION_PHOTO_GALLERY?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT Australian Repeal Deals Blow to Global Carbon-Emission Plans. International Coordination on Global Warming Struggles Ahead of Climate-Change Talks. Australia's repeal of a pioneering tax on carbon emissions has dealt a sharp blow to struggling international efforts to coordinate on global warming and comes ahead of key climate-change talks next year. Posted. http://online.wsj.com/articles/australian-repeal-deals-blow-to-global-carbon-emission-plans-1406507851?KEYWORDS=climate+change Energy Week Ahead: Sold-Out Hearings for EPA Climate Plan. The nation gets its chance this week to blast or praise the Environmental Protection Agency’s sweeping plan to cut climate-warming emissions by 2030. Companies, environmental advocates and citizens will sound off at EPA hearings starting tomorrow in Atlanta, Denver and Washington about the 645-page proposal, unveiled two months ago, to limit carbon-dioxide emissions from power plants. Posted. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-07-28/energy-week-ahead-sold-out-hearings-for-epa-climate-plan.html Roadside Land Offers Huge Carbon Storage Potential. As you watch the miles roll by on family road trips this summer, look just behind the guard rails to see what some scientists believe is a significant untapped resource in the battle against climate change. The land alongside the 4 million miles of U.S. public roadways, already being maintained by federal, state, and local governments, could be planted with vegetation that helps transfer carbon from the atmosphere into the soil, they say. Posted. http://www.vcstar.com/news/state/roadside-land-offers-huge-carbon-storage-potential_68695417 Win-Win Way Pinpointed to Aid Food Security & Climate. Imagine being able to contain greenhouse gas emissions, make fertilizer use more efficient, keep water waste to a minimum, and put food on the table for the 10 billion people crowded into the planet's cities, towns and villages by the end of the century. An impossible dream? Not according to Paul West, co-director and lead scientists of the Global Landscapes Initiative at the University of Minnesota's Institute on the Environment. Posted. http://www.vcstar.com/news/state/winwin-way-pinpointed-to-aid-food-security-amp-climate_58102684 Canada’s Cities Lead on Climate Action. Amid the dire warnings about global warming’s impacts, what’s often overlooked is that actions to reduce or prevent them will lead to livable communities, improved air quality, protection of natural spaces, and greater economic efficiency, to name just a few benefits. So it’s not surprising that tangible positive action on climate change is happening in Canada’s cities. Posted. http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/817792-canadas-cities-lead-on-climate-action/ Rising temperatures, ozone spell trouble for key food crops. Global warming and smoggy air will likely make it more difficult to feed a growing population, according to a new study led by researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The interactions between a warming world and ground-level ozone threaten supplies of rice, wheat, corn and soy, the study found. Climate change by itself may reduce crop yields by 10 percent by 2050…Posted. http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/stories/1060003611/print BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY DROUGHT California Marinas Docked by Drought. Dry Spell Brings Hard Times to State's Lake and River Tourism Industry. California's relentless drought is beginning to dry up revenue in its popular lake and river tourism industry. Marinas and boat ramps across the state are turning away customers, and even spots where water is still relatively plentiful say visitors are staying away, assuming things are worse than they are. Posted. http://online.wsj.com/articles/california-marinas-docked-by-drought-1406504303 California officials admit they have incomplete water usage data. When state regulators tried to tally water use across California recently, they didn't exactly get a flood of cooperation. Of the 440 water agencies in the state, only 276 provided water consumption data. And officials in San Diego made a point of formally refusing the request, saying the state's method for measuring water use in California's second-largest city was "misleading and technically inappropriate." Posted. http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-water-use-war-20140727-story.html The Public Eye: Voluntary water conservation not effective, data show. Voluntary conservation measures are not reliably saving water during the worst drought to hit California in a generation, according to data from water agencies across the state. Only mandatory conservation rules, backed by a threat of fines, seem to prompt consumers to save. California water agencies with mandatory rules alone used 5 percent less water from January through May this year…Posted. http://www.sacbee.com/2014/07/28/6586310/voluntary-water-conservation-not.html#storylink=cpy Pass law to regulate diminishing California groundwater. Water fights in California are usually about how to take more water rather than about how to conserve what we have, so it is no surprise that the state does not regulate groundwater pumping. Why invest in efficient water-use technology when you can stick your drinking straw into your neighbors' wells without consequence? A third year of drought has changed that thinking. Posted. http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/Pass-law-to-regulate-diminishing-California-5647756.php California drought: As land sinks, farmers' brainstorm on water. Case Vlot pulls up groundwater through deep wells to keep his corn and alfalfa crops alive. Chase Hurley runs a water company nearby that sells river water to farmers who can't depend on wells. Normally the two would rarely talk to each other. But that was before the drought, and before the land began to sink beneath their feet. Posted. http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/California-drought-As-land-sinks-farmers-5649466.php Drought fight brings incentives, enforcement. “Beer without water is very crunchy.” That slogan appears on the back of the latest craft-beer map from the San Diego Brewers Guild and is the latest attempt to reach residents who might not be thinking about the drought gripping California. A survey this spring by the San Diego County Water Authority found that adults 18 to 34 were significantly less aware of the ongoing drought than those 55 or older. Posted. http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2014/jul/27/drought-enforcement-incentive/all/?print California agencies can’t say if they are meeting water conservation goals. The sprinklers outside the California’s state Capitol are off and the lawn is withering, the lemon- and cucumber-infused “water stations” at the state pension building are gone, and prison inmates are taking shorter showers while campers at some popular parks can’t take them at all. Posted. http://www.dailybulletin.com/environment-and-nature/20140727/california-agencies-cant-say-if-they-are-meeting-water-conservation-goals Does Brazilian Deforestation. Drive Drought In The United States? California regulators overseeing the state’s cap-and-trade program now have one more reason to recognize offsets generated by saving endangered rainforest in Latin America. On Monday, they learned that the destruction of trees in the Amazon rainforest will probably slash rainfall in the United States, depriving drought-choked California of even more drinking water. Posted. http://www.ecosystemmarketplace.com/pages/dynamic/article.page.php?page_id=10465§ion=news_articles&eod=1 FUELS Not in my backyard: US sending dirty coal abroad. As the Obama administration weans the U.S. off dirty fuels blamed for global warming, energy companies have been sending more of America's unwanted energy leftovers to other parts of the world where they could create even more pollution. This fossil fuel trade threatens to undermine President Barack Obama's strategy for reducing the gases blamed for climate change and reveals a little-discussed side effect of countries acting alone on a global problem. Posted. http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_OBAMA_EXPORTING_POLLUTION_ABRIDGED?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT Survey: US gas prices fall 9 cents to $3.58. A national survey finds the average U.S. price of regular-grade gasoline has plummeted 9 cents a gallon over the past two weeks to $3.58. That's the largest drop this year. Industry analyst Trilby Lundberg said Sunday the decrease came despite a rise in crude-oil prices. Lundberg says U.S. refiners, enjoying plentiful supplies, aggressively cut wholesale prices to chase sales. Posted. http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_GAS_PRICES?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT US exports help Germany increase coal, pollution. One of Germany's newest coal-fired power plants rises here from the banks of a 100-year-old canal that once shipped coal mined from the Ruhr Valley to the world. Now the coal comes the other way. The 750-megawatt Trianel Kohlekraftwerk Luenen GmbH & Co. power plant relies completely on coal imports, about half from the U.S. Posted. http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_OBAMA_EXPORTING_POLLUTION_OPTIONAL?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT OTHER RELATED STORIES http://www.sfgate.com/business/energy/article/US-exports-help-Germany-increase-coal-pollution-5650695.php Britain reopens way for fracking. Energy firms will be able to bid for licenses Monday to explore for shale gas in Britain, three years after the controversial fracking process caused seismic tremors which led the government to suspend operations. Business and Energy Minister Matthew Hancock said shale gas has the potential to increase the country's energy supply but stressed national parks will be protected. Posted. http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_BRITAIN_FRACKING?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT OTHER RELATED STORIES http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/28/britain-energy-oil-gas-idUSL6N0Q31BC20140728 EPA Should Check up on Leaky Methane Pipelines: Inspector General. Leaking pipelines were responsible for $192 million worth of lost natural gas in 2011, and a voluntary Environmental Protection Agency program to reduce methane leaks has only provided limited emissions reductions, the Inspector General said in a report. The Inspector General's July 25 report, “Improvements Needed in EPA Efforts to Address Methane Emissions From Natural Gas Distribution Pipelines,” also found the emissions factors…Posted. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2014-07-28/epa-should-check-up-on-leaky-methane-pipelines-inspector-general.html Could higher prices fueled by exports drive down the cost of gasoline? Freer crude oil exports from the United States would harm some refineries but would likely lower fuel prices for consumers, a government economist asserts in an assessment published last week. The oil and gas industry in Texas is continuing to feel the effects of the shale boom as civil unrest in Eastern Europe and the Middle East help to keep international oil prices above $100 per barrel despite a production glut. Posted. http://www.eenews.net/energywire/stories/1060003592/print BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY VEHICLES BMW to Expand Electric-Car Fast Charging. Two New Attacks Aimed at Removing Major Obstacle to Cars' Adoption. BMW AG is launching two new attacks on one of the biggest obstacles to broader acceptance of electric cars such as its i3 model: the lack of fast recharging stations. The company plans to announce today a deal with NRG Energy Inc. to allow owners of BMW i3 electric cars to recharge their batteries for free through 2015…Posted. http://online.wsj.com/articles/bmw-launches-new-ways-to-recharge-electric-car-batteries-1406556001#printMode Touring the highway on hydrogen can be fuelish adventure. Most currently available electric vehicles are predictably shaped. They’re small, egg like, efficient. Out of necessity, they’re hardly the epitome of utilitarianism or grand style. That’s one of the reasons hydrogen fuel cell vehicles are so attractive. Posted. http://www.ocregister.com/articles/fuel-629900-hydrogen-cell.html GREEN ENERGY Yingli Green Energy Faces Tariffs, Committed to U.S. Solar Market. Chinese Solar Equipment Maker Will Face Preliminary Antidumping Tariff of 42.33% on Certain Solar Module Imports. Yingli Green Energy Holding Co. YGE -2.86% Ltd. said Monday that it is still committed to the U.S. solar market, even though the company will be subject to hefty antidumping tariffs. Last week, the U.S. Commerce Department said Yingli Green and other companies shipped billions worth of solar equipment to the U.S. at unfairly low prices last year…Posted. http://online.wsj.com/articles/yingli-green-energy-faces-tariffs-committed-to-u-s-solar-market-1406551704?KEYWORDS=energy China Criticizes U.S. Move on Solar-Equipment Imports. Commerce Ministry Says Washington Ignored 'Facts and Laws' in Plan to Close Loophole. China on Monday hit back at the U.S. for taking another step to close a loophole that allowed some Chinese solar-equipment makers to avoid tariffs. China's Ministry of Commerce, citing an official it didn't identify, said the U.S. ignored "facts and laws" related to the "rules of origin" for trade. Posted. http://online.wsj.com/articles/china-criticizes-u-s-move-to-close-loophole-on-solar-equipment-imports-1406534965#printMode . REGION: Solar sweet spot. Donald Schroth’s last electric bill seemed more like a savings account. The statement said Riverside’s electric utility owed him a $9.11 credit for the month of June, thanks to the $28,000 rooftop solar system he had installed last year. “It’s going to help the environment as well as help me. I have no regrets,” said the retired Riverside Community College maintenance worker. Posted. http://www.pe.com/articles/solar-698023-system-home.html Powering California with Wind, Water, and Sun. Imagine a smog-free Los Angeles, where electric cars ply silent freeways, solar panels blanket rooftops, and power plants run on heat from beneath the earth, from howling winds and from the blazing desert sun. A new Stanford study finds that it is technically and economically feasible to convert California’s all-purpose energy infrastructure to one powered by clean, renewable energy. Posted. http://www.pcbdesign007.com/pages/zone.cgi?a=102130 L.A. utility gets more local solar by linking it to $1.1B project. A Los Angeles utility has a new approach to getting more small-scale solar added in the city, one that solar and energy experts said appears to be unique in the state. Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP), in a project that just launched, made development of local power a requirement to win a contract for a more lucrative deal. Posted. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1060003584/print BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY Could Calif. run on 100% renewables? Some researchers think so. Among all the states that have mandated renewable energy targets, California leads the pack. Under the Global Warming Solutions Act -- signed into law by former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) in 2006 -- the state must receive 33 percent of its electricity from renewables by 2020 and lower its emissions by 80 percent, relative to 1990 levels, by 2050. Posted. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1060003558/print BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY MISCELLANEOUS Students grow a bond with nature through environmental internship. Where the Los Angeles River's concrete channels give way to soft riverbed, hawks, swifts and warblers fly overhead while ibises, owls and larks glide by once in a while. On Friday morning, a different species appeared: students kayaking through the water. Three weeks ago, six Environmental Charter High School students abandoned their native urban home of Lawndale for the Santa Rosa Plateau to be immersed in nature. Posted. http://www.latimes.com/local/education/la-me-leaf-internship-20140727-story.html OPINIONS California's Climate-Change Denial. Californians want "clean" energy, they just don't want to pay more for it—and many don't think they'll have to. That's the takeaway from a new Public Policy Institute of California survey gauging support for policies to counter climate change. Roughly two-thirds of Californians back the 2006 law AB32, which seeks to cut the state's carbon emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. Posted. http://online.wsj.com/articles/political-diary-californias-climate-change-denial-1406317447?KEYWORDS=climate+change California drought requires urgent action. If California and much of the West is suffering from severe drought, then why have the responses to it been weak and largely ineffective? The answers are as complicated as California's water system itself, with our wildly diverse sources and uses of water, prices and water rights, institutions, and more. But here are some observations. Posted. http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/California-drought-requires-urgent-action-5647754.php BLOGS This animation shows how awful the California drought is this year. For the first time since 2000, air pollution is not the top environmental concern among Californians, according to a Public Policy Institute of California survey. It’s water. A full 35 percent of the survey’s respondents cited drought or water supply as their top environmental concern in response to an open-ended question, PPIC reported this week. Posted. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/govbeat/wp/2014/07/25/this-animation-shows-how-awful-the-california-drought-is-this-year/ Plug-In Potential: Why Daimler Is Bullish on Electric Cars in China. China appears to be running behind in its goal of becoming a major market for electric cars. The government set a target of having 500,000 plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles on the road by next year and five million by 2020. Yet sales of new-energy vehicles reached only 17,642 units last year—a tiny fraction of the 18 million passenger cars sold. Posted. http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2014/07/28/plug-in-potential-why-daimler-is-bullish-on-electric-cars-in-china/?KEYWORDS=energy U.S. Coal Exports Eroding Domestic Greenhouse Gains. A comprehensive and sobering Associated Press story by Dina Cappiello provides a valuable update on how United States policies promoting exports of coal are undercutting domestic efforts to restrict emissions of carbon dioxide, the heat-trapping gas released when fossil fuels are burned. This is hardly a surprise given past reporting on this issue, and a long history of such seemingly conflicting policies. Posted. http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/07/28/u-s-coal-exports-eroding-domestic-greenhouse-gains/?src=twr&module=Search&mabReward=relbias%3Ar What ‘The Leftovers’ Says About Climate Change. The new HBO series “The Leftovers” is about what happens after 2 percent of humanity simply vanishes from the earth (this is not really a spoiler; however, some follow). This event has obvious religious connotations, which the show explores. But the story may have secular implications, too…Posted. http://op-talk.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/07/27/what-the-leftovers-says-about-climate-change/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0 Cadillac ELR next EV to get Plugless Power wireless charging tech. Evatran has been testing its Plugless Power wireless charging systems for electric vehicles in the Chevy Volt and Nissan Leaf for years now and made the tech commercially available early this year. With the growth of the EV market, Evatran is getting ready to expand as well. Posted. http://green.autoblog.com/2014/07/28/cadillac-elr-next-to-get-wireless-charging/ Earth Log: One more time -- how did they figure 110 million miles a day? I heard from enough people. So I did it again. I asked how the state calculates the 110 million miles that are supposedly driven daily in the San Joaquin Valley. Perhaps unwisely, I wrote about all those miles last week. The 110 million miles per day is in the state's 2013 air-quality almanac of emissions. I thought it might be a nice way to get your attention to discuss ozone. Posted. http://www.fresnobee.com/2014/07/28/4044131/one-more-time-how-did-they-figure.html?sp=/99/406/ Government Has an Essential Role in Oil Refinery Safety and the Environment. As a chemical engineer who worked for 37 years in the oil industry, I believe we need stronger federal regulation of hazardous air pollutants to insure the health and safety of workers and citizens in the vicinity of all U.S. refining facilities. While some refiners have instituted best practices, many are not yet creating an environmental-awareness culture…Posted. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-levy/government-has-an-essenti_b_5627163.html 6 Nearly Living Architectural Designs That Fight Air Pollution. Getting a breath of fresh air can be a rarity in a city, and construction usually doesn't help. However, there are some buildings — whether already built or only just proposed — that can change the way our environment and infrastructure interact, making the air cleaner in the process. From giant filters to pollution-fighting sidewalks, these buildings and structures are a breath of fresh air in places often overrun with harsh fumes. Posted. http://mashable.com/2014/07/27/pollution-architectural-designs/ California is in a drought emergency. Visit www.SaveOurH2O.org for water conservation tips.