What's New List Serve Post Display
Below is the List Serve Post you selected to display.
newsclips -- ARB Newsclips for October 28, 2014
Posted: 28 Oct 2014 14:57:06
ARB Newsclips for October 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. AIR POLLUTION Modular Air Filtering Towers Could Solve China’s Air Pollution Along with its economical rise, China also recorded a boom on its automotive sector, with over 20 million cars being bought there in 2013 alone. Add the fact that most of those cars are used in urban environments, the country’s success relying on energy created by burning coal, thousands of factories spewing uncontrolled emissions and you get the idea about what kind of air pollution problems some of the cities are confronted with. http://www.autoevolution.com/news/modular-air-filtering-towers-could-solve-chinas-air-pollution-88230.html NPS seeks public thoughts on air pollution in national parks The National Park Service (NPS) is opening a new public comment period on its plan to survey visitors about how well they can see in national parks. NPS is following up on a pilot study it did two years ago to see how people perceive the effects of air pollution on non-urban national parks and wilderness areas. It is seeking permission from the Office of Management & Budget to conduct a broader follow-up survey. http://www.examiner.com/article/nps-seeks-public-thoughts-on-air-pollution-national-parks CLIMATE CHANGE UN expert: Keep up hope amid climate change battle A top U.N. climate change expert urged world governments Monday not to be overcome by hopelessness as they negotiate a new agreement to fight global warming. Rajendra Pachauri, chairman of the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate... http://www.sanluisobispo.com/2014/10/27/3316646/un-envoy-keep-up-hope-amid-climate.html?ihp=0&sp=%2f99%2f177%2f507%2f349%2f Naomi Oreskes Imagines the Future History of Climate Change “Without spoiling the story,” she told me, “I can tell you that a lot of what happens — floods, droughts, mass migrations, the end of humanity in Africa and Australia — is the result of inaction to very clear warnings” about climate change caused by humans. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/28/science/naomi-oreskes-imagines-the-future-history-of-climate-change.html?ref=earth&_r=0 US military refuses to be 'too late' on climate change ...comprehending the deadly purpose of a potential enemy. Too late in realizing the mortal danger. Too late in preparedness. Too late in uniting all possible forces for resistance." Today, as we pass another global heat record, we run the risk of being too late on climate change, endlessly debating causes at the expense of sensible actions. Just as we have underestimated recent threats, such as the Islamic State and a revanchist Russia, we are in danger of underestimating those threats that follow a changing... http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/environment/article3413993.html HIGH-SPEED RAIL Bullet train just a blur in California governor's race ...presided over a series of key political and legal victories related to high-speed rail over the last two years, including securing the $6-billion appropriation in 2012, winning a commitment from the Legislature to allocate 25% of the state's revenue from future greenhouse gas fees to the project and repelling a court challenge to the validity of spending plans. But there are a number of ongoing challenges that could affect costs and schedules. http://www.latimes.com/local/politics/la-me-campaign-train-20141028-story.html FUELS California Energy Commission to award up to $3M for advanced biofuel projects The California Energy Commission's Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology Program (ARFVTP) announced (PON-14-602) the availability of up to $3 million in grant funds for biofuels projects that are in the early/pre-commercial technology development stage. This solicitation is emphasizing transformative technology solutions to significant biofuels industry problems that increase yields, productivity, or cost effectiveness... http://www.greencarcongress.com/2014/10/20141028-cec.html VEHICLES Electric-car drivers trading gas for solar power Owners of electric vehicles have already gone gas-free. Now, a growing number are powering their cars with sunlight. Solar panels installed on the roof of a home or garage can easily generate enough electricity to power an electric or plug-in gas-electric hybrid vehicle. The panels aren't cheap, and neither are the cars. A Ford Fusion Energi plug-in sedan, for example, is $7,200 more than an equivalent gas-powered Fusion even after a $4,007 federal tax credit. http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/usnews/ci_26813925/electric-car-drivers-trading-gas-solar-power GREEN ENERGY Next steps for desert renewable energy planning: public meetings Last month, state and federal officials released a plan to carve out more than 31-hundred square miles of desert for projects like solar arrays and wind farms. The Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan also seeks to designate another chunk of scrubland as nature preserves. Now there's public comment – and public meetings. Officials have scheduled a series of presentations in the counties affected by the Plan. http://www.scpr.org/news/2014/10/27/47631/next-steps-for-desert-renewable-energy-planning-pu/ UC Merced sets goal of 100 percent renewable energy by late 2016 ...Solar Field in 2009. The campus plans to expand its solar farm and install panels on rooftops, which could help the campus get 100 percent of its energy from renewable resources by 2016. UC Merced leaders say the campus could be completely powered through renewable energy by the end of 2016, sooner than originally planned. The campus already gets about 15 percent of its power from its solar panels, and will get 60 percent from a Fresno County solar site in the next couple of years. The University... http://www.modbee.com/2014/10/27/3613986/uc-merced-sets-goal-of-100-percent.html?sp=%2f99%2f1623%2f2307%2f OPINION China Won't Breathe Easy Until Port Pollution Solved As President Barack Obama and Asia-Pacific leaders gather in Beijing for the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, climate change and air pollution will undoubtedly be on the agenda. This summit provides an important opportunity for these leaders to address one of the most significant, and largely unregulated, sources of toxic air pollutants and black-carbon emissions in Asia: ports and shipping systems. http://www.livescience.com/48494-china-considering-cleaning-up-shipping-and-port-pollution.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Livesciencecom+%28LiveScience.com+Science+Headline+Feed%29 BLOGS California Energy Strategists Push for 100% Clean Energy, Without Fossil Fuels or Nuclear Power ...session that could have national and global implications. Many in the assemblage had come to brainstorm about how to leverage California's model energy policies to spur faster Federal action to protect the climate. Predictably, participants sought to boost renewable energy use in California and increase the state's reliance on energy efficiency. Some were determined, however, not just to slash California's greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, but to eliminate them altogether http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-j-berger/california-energy-strateg_b_6051616.html?ir=San+Francisco&utm_hp_ref=san-francisco Will falling gas prices be bad for the climate? ...prices, was trading below $85 per barrel. That translates into cheaper prices at the pump. From Sept. 15 to Oct. 20, average gas prices in the U.S. slid from $3.49 per gallon to $3.21. “Lower oil prices could pose a challenge for the transition to post-carbon sustainability,” says Anthony Perl, a professor at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia who researches the intersection of transportation, cities, and the environment. “I would liken it to hitting the snooze alarm on our wake-up call. http://grist.org/business-technology/will-falling-gas-prices-be-bad-for-the-climate California is in a drought emergency. Visit www.SaveOurH2O.org for water conservation tips.