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newsclips -- Newsclips for December 15, 2014

Posted: 15 Dec 2014 12:19:30
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UN CLIMATE TALKS: LIMA

Paris climate summit faces tougher job after modest Lima deal
A Paris summit in 2015 will face a tougher task to agree a U.N.
deal to slow climate change after the hopes of many that
cooperation between Washington and Beijing would be a magic key
to end global gridlock dissolved in chaotic preparatory talks in
Lima.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/12/15/us-climatechange-lima-idUSKBN0JT0G320141215


Climate Talks Yield Plan to Spread Burden of Emission Cuts
The U.S. and other wealthy countries persuaded their
developing-nation peers to advance a framework that for the first
time would spread the burden of economically painful emission
cuts across all nations. The compromise reached at early Sunday
at climate talks in Lima—part of negotiations aimed at reaching a
final, comprehensive climate pact next year in Paris—would
require every country to submit plans for cutting their carbon
footprints in the coming months. 
http://www.wsj.com/articles/climate-talks-notch-progress-with-plan-for-emission-cuts-1418542019?KEYWORDS=air+pollution


A Climate Accord Based on Global Peer Pressure
Shortly before 2 a.m. on Sunday, after more than 36 straight
hours of negotiations, top officials from nearly 200 nations
agreed to the first deal committing every country in the world to
reducing the fossil fuel emissions that cause global warming.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/15/world/americas/lima-climate-deal.html&assetType=nyt_now

Climate negotiators in Peru 'did the bare minimum,' one critic
says
International negotiators in Peru agreed early Sunday on some
essential building blocks for a global accord to address climate
change, most notably an unprecedented agreement that all
countries commit to cutting heat-trapping emissions.
http://www.latimes.com/world/mexico-americas/la-fg-peru-climate-deal-20141213-story.html


Deal reached at U.N. climate change talks in Peru
...countries who accused rich nations of shirking their
responsibilities to fight global warming and pay for its impacts.
   Peru's environment minister...
http://www.latimes.com/world/mexico-americas/la-fg-peru-climate-deal-20141213-story.html

Gaps Between Rich and Poor Slow Race to a Climate Deal
The path to a climate deal in Paris next year is littered with
obstacles, foremost being how to differentiate between what rich
nations must do to cut pollution and what commitments will be
accepted by developing countries, such as India and Brazil. Last
week, envoys from some 190 countries gathered in Lima took a
first step toward the goal of binding all nations to
greenhouse-gas limits.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-12-15/-monsters-divide-rich-and-poor-on-road-to-climate-deal.html

Lima conference in danger of missing the rainforest for the trees

I applaud the Guardian for taking the lead in covering the UN's
climate change conference in Lima, and for tackling some of its
inherent contradictions. For example, your article Lima climate
talks on track for record carbon footprint (theguardian.com, 10
December) highlights the conference of the parties' (Cop)
surprisingly negative environmental impact this year.
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/dec/14/lima-cop-20-danger-missing-rainforest-for-the-trees-european-union1


'Weak’ deal salvaged at U.N. climate summit in Peru
Climate negotiators salvaged a compromise deal in Lima early
Sunday that sets the stage for a global pact in Paris next year,
but rejected a rigorous review of greenhouse gas emissions
limits. More than 30 hours behind schedule, delegates from more
than 190 countries agreed on what information should go into the
pledges that countries submit for the expected Paris pact.
http://www.sfgate.com/world/article/Weak-deal-salvaged-at-U-N-climate-summit-in-5956815.php


At UN climate talks, a crack in rich-poor barrier	
...Russia's President Vladimir Putin and Japan's Prime Minister
Shinzo Abe during the Climate Change Conference COP20 in Lima
Peru, Friday, Dec. 12, 2014....
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_27134704/deal-reached-at-un-climate-talks-peru


Climate change deal talks head into overtime
Negotiators from around the globe haggled Saturday over the final
elements of a draft climate change deal that would, for the first
time in history, commit every nation to cutting its greenhouse
gas emissions — yet...
http://www.sfgate.com/world/article/Climate-change-deal-talks-head-into-overtime-5955361.php


After 30 hours of overtime haggling, diplomats agree on a new
approach to deal with climate change
A battle over how the world will tackle climate change dragged
into more than 30 hours of overtime ending early today with a
thin agreement that puts governments on a path to a new global
warming accord in 2015 but does little to ensure it is ambitious
enough to avoid the most dangerous impacts.
http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/stories/1060010528/print



CAP AND TRADE

New Campaign Shows How CA Climate Change Laws Help Disadvantaged
Communities
Today The Greenlining Institute launched a new campaign to
highlight how California's climate change and clean energy laws
bring jobs and consumer savings to communities of color and
low-income neighborhoods across California even as they fight
smog and promote health. Centerpiece of the new campaign is a
just-launched website, UpLiftCA.org, with the tagline, "Our Air.
Our Jobs. Our Neighborhoods."
http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/2398991 



AIR POLLUTION

In Navajo country, coal gives life — and takes it, some say
rom her bedroom window, Cynthia Dixon watches the cloud of soot
rise from the coal mine near her sheep spread. Down the road, a
hulking coal-fired electrical plant spews a yellow plume that
stains the horizon. Many days, she finds a layer of black dust
coating the inside of her trailer home. Farmers who have worked
the land for decades say fouled air from the mine and nearby Four
Corners coal-fired power plant has shriveled fruits and
vegetables in the field. And there are fewer eagles and jack
rabbits, which once thrived on the Navajo Reservation, they add.
http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-new-mexico-coal-20141215-story.html#page=1


China’s Coal Addiction Brings Scourge of Black Lung
When the shortness of breath he suffered for months became so
labored that it fractured his sleep, coal miner Ruan Fayou knew
he needed help. It took another year, multiple hospital visits
and repeated shunting between bureaucracies for Mr. Ruan to
determine he was suffering from pneumoconiosis, a disease
commonly known by its most vivid symptom: black lung.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/chinas-coal-addiction-brings-scourge-of-black-lung-1418593741


Coal demand growth will slow through 2019, says International
Energy Agency.  
Growth in demand for coal will slow over the next five years as
the United States and Europe reduce consumption and China
implements air pollution policies, according to the International
Energy Agency. The Paris-based group said China will still
account for three-fifths of global coal growth…
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/coal-demand-growth-will-slow-through-2019-says-international-energy-agency/article/2557388?custom_click=rss

Richmond hosts first forum on Brown's refinery safety task force
In the first of what they hope will be a series of public
information meetings in Richmond and across the state in
communities near California's 13 oil refineries, state and county
officials on Thursday outlined the rapidly changing petroleum
industry's impact in the area and the regulatory framework that
is trying to catch up.  "It takes great cooperation from a range
of agencies and the public to be effective," said county
Supervisor John Gioia, of Richmond, who is also a member of the
Bay Area Air Quality Management District. 
http://www.contracostatimes.com/west-county-times/ci_27121827/richmond-hosts-first-public-meeting-governors-refinery-safety




CLIMATE CHANGE

Poll: Half of Republicans back limits on carbon
...will be undoing environmental regulations they claim will harm
the economy, chief among them President Barack Obama's plans to
limit heat-trapping carbon pollution from coal-fired power
plants. The results of a new poll from the Associated Press-NORC
Center for Public Affairs Research and Yale University...
 http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/article4443102.html


Capturing Carbon as a Byproduct of Running a Fuel Cell 
The more that engineers look, the more they find unexpected ways
to capture carbon dioxide, a gas that scientists say threatens
global climate stability. Until now, most efforts to capture
carbon have been expensive, in dollars and in energy.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/15/business/capturing-carbon-as-a-byproduct-of-running-a-fuel-cell.html?_r=0


Climate Change Takes A Village
It's a Wednesday morning in late August, the first day of classes
at the Shishmaref School. The doors of the pale blue building
haven't opened yet, and the new principal is hurriedly buttering
toast in the kitchen for the students’ breakfasts. Teachers are
scrambling to make last-minute adjustments to their classrooms,
while anxious kids, ranging from pre-K students through high
schoolers, wait on the porch, their jackets zipped against the
chill of the early-morning air. It's all so incredibly normal,
you might not know that, just a few years ago, no one thought
Shishmaref would be here anymore.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/14/shishmaref-alaska-climate-change-relocation_n_6296516.html


Study: Hotter days in US mean less cold cash
Hotter days mean less cold cash for Americans, according to a new
study matching 40 years of temperatures to economics. Days that
averaged about 77 degrees ended up reducing people's income by
about $5 a day when compared with days that were about 20 degrees
cooler. A county's average economic productivity decreases by
nearly 1 percent for every degree Fahrenheit that the average
daily temperature is above 59…
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_SCI_HOT_DAY_ECONOMICS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


Is a Two-Degree Limit on Global Warming Off Target?
After two weeks of grinding meetings in Lima, Peru, the world’s
climate negotiators emerged this weekend with a deal. They
settled on preliminary language, to be finalized a year from now
in Paris, meant to help keep the long-term warming of the planet
below 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/16/science/earth/is-a-two-degree-limit-on-global-warming-off-target.html&assetType=nyt_now&_r=0


Bill Nye Wants To Call Climate Skeptics "Deniers" But Really, We
Should Just Call Them Wrong
...scientific case that human activity is changing the climate.  
 Inhofe's belief that global warming is “the greatest hoax ever
perpetrated on the American...
http://www.forbes.com/sites/fayeflam/2014/12/15/bill-nye-the-science-guy-says-we-should-call-self-described-climate-skeptics-deniers-but-really-we-should-just-call-them-wrong/




DIESEL EMISSIONS

CARB Finalizes Changes
The California Air Resources Board has finalized changes to its
truck regulations. The changes will allow some owner-operators
and small fleet owners extensions for complying with emissions
regulations. The changes are expected to be effective by the end
of the year. 
http://www.gobytrucknews.com/carb-finalizes-changes/123 



FUELS

Will cheap oil kill Keystone? 
Greens who want President Barack Obama to kill the Keystone XL
pipeline are adding a new weapon to their arsenal of protests and
lawsuits — the world’s glut of cheap oil. The same collapse in
oil prices that is pumping dollars into motorists’ wallets also
risks undermining the case for building the 1,179-mile pipeline
in two crucial ways:
http://www.politico.com/story/2014/12/oil-keystone-xl-113551.html#ixzz3Lz4wOi54


California report emphasizes need for renewable gas standard
The nonprofit Bioenergy Association of California published a
report in November detailing why California needs a renewable gas
standard (RGS). The report concludes that the biogas sector needs
an effective regulatory framework and greater long-term certainty
to reach the level of market penetration that will drive down
costs and enable biogas to compete with the historically low cost
of natural gas.
http://biomassmagazine.com/articles/11313/california-report-emphasizes-need-for-renewable-gas-standard


Hydrogen Fueling Arrives in Sacramento, CA
The Ramos Oil Company located in West Sacramento, California is
now offering drivers the ability to fuel their hydrogen powered
vehicles. The new hydrogen station is equipped with
state-of-the-art technology developed by Linde North America.
http://domesticfuel.com/2014/12/12/hydrogen-fueling-arrives-in-sacramento-ca/




VEHICLES

Hybrids A Better, More Cost-Effective Way To Cut Carbon Today,
Study Says
The hydrogen fuel-cell cars being promoted as the future of
zero-emission...	
http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1095694_hybrids-a-better-more-cost-effective-way-to-cut-carbon-today-study-says




GREEN ENERGY

Coal-heavy electric cooperatives take hard line on EPA Clean
Power Plan
The nation's electric cooperatives have choice words for U.S. EPA
and its proposed rule to curb greenhouse gas emissions from
existing power plants. In nearly 200 pages of provocative
comments, the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association
takes EPA to task for what it sees as unlawfully usurping the
states' proper role in regulating the electric sector.
http://www.eenews.net/energywire/stories/1060010539/print 

Native Americans challenge construction of Mojave Desert solar
plant
A federally recognized Indian tribe has filed a lawsuit to block
construction of a solar energy facility that will replace 4,000
acres of ancestral homelands in the Mojave Desert with reflective
photovoltaic panels.
http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-native-americans-solar-20141212-story.html


Batteries That Will Save the Planet
...to make.” This in spite of the recent launch of the Tesla S,
the Nissan LEAF, the Chevrolet Volt and the announcement of a
slew of new hybrid and pure-electric cars across the automotive
spectrum, from econoboxes to two Porsche luxury hybrids.    The
problem Manjoo and others foresaw was several-fold:...	
http://www.newsweek.com/batteries-will-save-planet-291528



MISCELLANEOUS

AM Alert: Tom Steyer, legislative leaders discuss California’s
climate future
California’s legislative leadership joins billionaire
environmental activist Tom Steyer for a forum on climate change
in Oakland today, hosted by his political advocacy group NextGen
Climate America. The California Climate Leadership Forum,
starting at 1 p.m. at the Kaiser Center, will focus on the
state’s climate policy and its impact on local communities, as
well as new approaches to addressing climate change. State Senate
President Pro Tem Kevin de León and Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins
will deliver keynote addresses, as will Steyer, a big political
player who spent $30 million in 2012 to help pass an energy
conservation measure, Proposition 39.
http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article4457312.html#storylink=cpy


Grant to let scientists monitor global warming at UC reserves
Scientists at UC Santa Cruz are creating a statewide “climate
change observatory” where researchers and students will monitor
the impact of global warming on plant and animal life throughout
the university’s statewide network of protected natural reserves
— nearly 40 areas set aside for study in widely varied
environments.
http://www.sfgate.com/science/article/Grant-to-let-scientists-monitor-global-warming-at-5956914.php


At 83, Georgian still leading clean air efforts
Four years after he left office, former Houston County Commission
Chairman Ned Sanders is still performing an important civic duty.
The commission recently reappointed Sanders to another term on
the Middle Georgia Clean Air Coalition, which has a mission of
keeping the region in compliance with federal clean air
standards. That is critically important to Robins Air Force Base
and the prospects of bringing new industry to the area.
http://www.sfgate.com/news/science/article/At-83-Georgian-still-leading-clean-air-efforts-5956314.php




OPINION

The truth about that “hidden gas tax”
The video begins with a white van pulling into a gas station on
Jan. 1, 2015. “Oh, come on, this is ridiculous,” the driver
declares as he looks at the price on the pump. “There goes the
college fund,” he grumbles. “I tried to tell him,” his young
daughter lectures in a video that has drawn 220,000 YouTube
views. A “hidden gas tax” is about to raise prices from 16 to 76
cents a gallon, she warns, citing a 2010 estimate from the
California Air Resources Board.
http://www.sfgate.com/opinion/diaz/article/The-truth-about-that-hidden-gas-tax-5953730.php


Why you should love paying 10 cents more per gallon
California drivers have been delighted to see gasoline prices
dropping lately, down more than a dollar a gallon since early
summer. It's no mystery what's causing it: Crude oil prices have
fallen steeply, lowering the cost for refiners that process crude
into gasoline. In the competitive refining business, when costs
change, prices quickly follow.
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-borenstein-gas-prices-emissions-20141214-story.html


China’s Double-Edged Pact
Whether China is a climate hero or a climate villain is a matter
of polarized debate. At one extreme, the world’s biggest
carbon-emitter is portrayed as a wasteful bogeyman that obstructs
efforts to halt global warming and “steals” clean-tech jobs
through unfair practices. At the other extreme, people see
Beijing’s policies as the planet’s best hope: With its aggressive
plans to green its economy…
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/16/opinion/chinas-double-edged-pact.html?_r=0



BLOGS

At Climate Talks in Lima, Not ‘Same as it Ever Was’?
Longtime readers will recall how I’ve cited the Talking Heads
lyric “same as it ever was” quite often over the years in
assessing negotiations aimed at forging a new global agreement on
slowing global warming and limiting its impacts. Some observers
at the latest round of negotiations, which ran overtime and ended
this morning in Lima, Peru, insist things are no longer the way
they were, and that a new theme song may be in order. I was not
at the talks this year, so I’m drawing on input from a variety of
contacts who were.
http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/12/14/at-climate-talks-in-lima-not-same-as-it-ever-was/?src=twr&gwh=261C0960A42638C1627A539C4D9998DF&gwt=pay&assetType=opinion


Keep talking about climate change, Democrats
Yale University has funded an interesting new Associated Press
poll that goes deep into Americans’ attitudes towards climate
change. Hopefully, its findings will encourage Democrats to talk
as much as possible about the issue. The key findings are that
Americans believe by 56-20 that global warming is happening; 72
percent are very or moderately worried about it; and 50 percent
say human activity is a key cause.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2014/12/12/keep-talking-about-climate-change-democrats/


Black Lung: The Experience in Other Jurisdictions 
China is only the latest country to grapple with black lung. The
U.S. and Britain, among others, dealt with legions of cases
decades ago. In the U.S., the proportion of coal workers
afflicted with black lung reached 7.7% in the 1968-1980 period,
according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention.
http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2014/12/15/black-lung-the-experience-in-other-jurisdictions/?KEYWORDS=air+pollution


Carbon Markets Link In $500 Million Clean Energy Investment
North America’s carbon markets have raised over $500 million for
clean energy projects and successfully completed the first linked
international auction in the past month, highlighting the
potential for expansion and international system linkages to
fight climate change. California’s cap-and-trade market held its
first joint auction with Quebec’s system, raising $407 million
and demonstrating carbon pricing works across international
borders, while the Northeast United States’ Regional Greenhouse
Gas Initiative (RGGI) generated $94 million in its 26th auction.
http://cleantechnica.com/2014/12/15/carbon-markets-link-in-500-million-clean-energy-investment/


New York’s air in decent shape, says EPA, but you need a Ph.D to
figure that out
Thanks goodness the Environmental Protection Agency cut to the
chase Monday when it came to New York State’s air. Sort of. In a
proposed rule filed in the Federal Register, the bible of
government proposals and findings, it informs us of what seems
vaguely understandable in the English most of us speak…
http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dc/epa-good-news-n-y-air-blog-entry-1.2045603

At COP 20 in Lima, tracing a path to cap greenhouse gas and air
pollutant emissions from coal and oil in China
The COP 20 negotiations in Lima, Peru have entered the final
push, with negotiating parties seeking a deal out of Lima that
sets a clear path for reaching an agreement in Paris next year
that puts the globe on a path to rapidly reducing greenhouse gas
emissions. China and the US, through their joint climate
announcement in Beijing last month, have given the talks new
momentum (see here for the backstory on how they reached a deal),
adding to the EU’s 2030 climate commitment to reduce its
emissions by 40% by 2030.
http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/alin/at_cop_20_in_lima_tracing_a_pa.html


New Studies Close in on Methane Leaks and Bolster Calls for
Strong E.P.A. Rules
A new peer-reviewed analysis of sources of leaks in natural gas
drilling and well operations strongly bolsters growing calls for
the Environmental Protection Agency to settle on regulations
cutting wasteful, harmful emissions of methane from both new and
existing oil and natural gas wells. Methane is the main
constituent of natural gas but also a powerful heat-trapping gas
that is often accompanied by other pollutants that can worsen
local air pollution.
http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/12/10/new-studies-close-in-on-methane-leaks-and-bolster-calls-for-strong-e-p-a-rules/?emc=edit_tnt_20141215&nlid=46426900&tntemail0=y&assetType=opinion


Climate change is threatening the existence of the world’s most
amazing bird
"Moonbird," they call him. Or sometimes, just "B95" -- the number
from the band on his leg. Moonbird is the most famous,
charismatic member of a group of mid-sized shorebirds called Rufa
red knots, whose numbers  have plummeted so dramatically in the
past several decades that they just became the first bird ever
listed under the Endangered Species Act with climate change cited
as a "primary threat."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/12/15/climate-change-is-threatening-the-existence-of-the-worlds-most-amazing-bird/


3 Climate Lessons From Lima	
This post was co-authored with Romina Picolotti and V.
Ramanathan.    Climate change cannot be solved without leadership
from heads of...	
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/durwood-zaelke/three-climate-lessons-fro_b_6318156.html?ir=Politics&utm_hp_ref=politics






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