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newsclips -- ARB Newsclips for December 29, 2014
Posted: 29 Dec 2014 13:16:32
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 Washington State Offers Ambitious Cap-and-Trade Plan If Washington’s governor gets his legislative holiday wish, the Evergreen State in 18 months will launch one of the world’s most sophisticated and all-encompassing climate-pollution pricing programs. Draft legislation released last week by the office of Gov. Jay Inslee (D) would — if sufficient support can be mustered from state lawmakers — raise an estimated $1 billion a year through a new levee on greenhouse gas pollution. http://www.climatecentral.org/news/washington-state-ambitious-cap-and-trade-plan-18493 California fuel prices going up as its green-house gas controls hit gasoline, diesel sales After months of seeing gas prices sink ever lower, Californians will ring in 2015 by paying more at the pump as a result of the state's landmark greenhouse-gas emissions law. But how much more we'll pay, and whether it's worth it, remains bitterly debated among oil companies, some state lawmakers and environmentalists. http://www.mercurynews.com/california/ci_27218752/california-fuel-prices-going-up-its-green-house New fuel policy will lead to 10-cent increase California’s long-disputed and often-misrepresented cap-and-trade policy for gasoline and diesel fuel goes into effect Jan. 1, and it will show up quickly as a roughly 10 cent-per-gallon increase at the pump. That follows months of market actions in the United States and around the world that have dropped the global price of crude more than $50 a barrel since June and created the longest recorded consecutive-days fall of fuel prices. http://www.pe.com/articles/trade-756971-cap-gallon.html AIR POLLUTION Power-hungry cell towers poisoning air, says study A day without your smartphone can be demanding. But a new study has thrown up some interesting finds about how energy-guzzling the telecom industry is. Scientists at Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology and Forschungszentrum Julich in Germany have revealed that the Indian telecom sector could be consuming up to 7.5 billion litres of diesel annually to run its mobile towers. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/telecom/power-hungry-cell-towers-poisoning-air-says-study/articleshow/45674502.cms Winter Spare the Air alert issued for Monday A cold-weather spell that has kept dirty air low in the atmosphere will bring with it another Spare the Air day on Monday. The Bay Area Air Quality Management District issued the alert Sunday afternoon, extending an alert that already was in effect, which bans wood burning throughout the Bay Area. It is the fifth of winter season, which runs from November to February. http://www.contracostatimes.com/breaking-news/ci_27219169/winter-spare-air-alert-issued-monday Contractor accused of violating air pollution laws A Sacramento-based contractor is accused of violating air pollution control laws for the unpermitted emission of toxic air contaminants from equipment operated in Yuba City prune and peach orchards. Howe Operations, owned by Gary Howe, operated a tub grinder and a large Caterpillar diesel engine in Sutter County without a permit for several years beyond a 2011 compliance deadline, according to a complaint filed in Sutter County Superior Court on Wednesday on behalf of the Feather River Air Quality Management District. http://www.appeal-democrat.com/news/contractor-accused-of-violating-air-pollution-laws/article_0e5d9832-8f22-11e4-ab33-3feb7ee4e31d.html Despite cold, air board bars wood fires The calm after the storm has brought holiday sunshine and cold, frosty nights — seemingly perfect conditions for a family gathering with hot cider and eggnog by a warm, toasty fire. Not now it isn’t — not if the Bay Area Air Quality Management District has anything to do with it. The district has called a Winter Spare the Air day for Sunday, the season’s fifth alert of the winter season. http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Despite-cold-air-board-bars-wood-fires-5981261.php CLIMATE CHANGE Lost California rangeland is said to pose greenhouse gas risk A comprehensive inventory of Central Valley, Sierra foothills and Central Coast rangelands between 1984 and 2008 found that almost half a million acres of rangeland has vanished from California’s landscape. The disappearance of rangelands – the large and open lands synonymous with the West – will make it harder for the state to reach its greenhouse gas emissions goals and may imperil endangered species, scientists say. http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/environment/article5058240.html FUELS For Energy Policy Makers, Tough Lessons in Downside of Cheap Gas The sharp drop in fuel prices is undermining government policies that bet expensive gasoline would prod Americans to find alternatives to gas-guzzling automobiles. In recent years, the federal government required passenger cars and trucks to become much more fuel-efficient, with a goal to more than double average miles per gallon by 2025. http://www.wsj.com/articles/for-energy-policy-makers-tough-lessons-in-downside-of-cheap-gas-1419873527?KEYWORDS=climate+change VEHICLES Transportation, not environment, tops Inhofe's priorities for 2015 The world comes to an end on Jan. 5. That’s the way many people concerned about climate change and the environment see it, anyway. That’s because on Jan. 5, U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe is expected to become chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/government/transportation-not-environment-tops-inhofe-s-priorities-for/article_129d9551-4686-5357-a40a-6ab55d999ab2.html Metro takes extra-long electric bus for test drive on the Orange Line With a faint hum about as loud as a Toyota Prius, 60 feet of transportation history rounds a corner in a Lancaster parking lot. Fresh from a test run on Los Angeles' Metro Orange Line last week, it is the country's first electric articulated bus. http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-electric-bus-20141227-story.html MISCELLANEOUS Mary Nichols has 'rock star' influence as top air quality regulator A meeting with Gov. Jerry Brown and Chevron executives was ending when an oil company official turned to Mary Nichols, California's top regulator for air pollution. There was only so much Chevron could do to meet the state's rules, he told her. "I know we've told you before that we couldn't do things that you wanted us to do, and then we've turned around and succeeded," he said. "But this time we really mean it." http://www.latimes.com/local/politics/la-me-pol-adv-mary-nichols-20141228-story.html#page=1 Pope Francis’s edict on climate change will anger deniers and US churches He has been called the “superman pope”, and it would be hard to deny that Pope Francis has had a good December. Cited by President Barack Obama as a key player in the thawing relations between the US and Cuba, the Argentinian pontiff followed that by lecturing his cardinals on the need to clean up Vatican politics. But can Francis achieve a feat that has so far eluded secular powers and inspire decisive action on climate change? http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/dec/27/pope-francis-edict-climate-change-us-rightwing?CMP=share_btn_fb Proposed ballot measure means California plastic bag ban likely on hold Plastic bag manufacturers stand to sell 9 billion additional plastic bags simply by gathering enough signatures for a ballot measure to repeal the state’s plastic bag ban, which is scheduled to take effect July 1. http://www.ocregister.com/articles/plastic-646531-bags-ban.html Other related articles: http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article5122236.html BLOGS 2014: The Year Climate Change Undeniably Arrived It was January, and tennis players at the Australian Open were suffering through the scorcher that would be the year 2014. They threw up and they fainted from the record-setting heat. They put on ice vests. The soles of their sneakers and the bottoms of their water bottles softened as the mercury marked 109 degrees Fahrenheit. They were knocked flat by the longest Melbourne heat wave in a century. https://insideclimatenews.org/news/20141229/2014-year-climate-change-undeniably-arrived US Outlook: California unlikely to see radical price movement Despite rising prices on the secondary market, California carbon allowances are unlikely to move significantly off the floor in 2015 as the programme expands to include natural gas and fuel suppliers, traders and brokers said. California’s economy-wide programme will expand to include suppliers who deliver natural gas, gasoline and diesel to end users in 2015. The expansion is expected to increase liquidity in the market, because fuel suppliers will not be freely allocated allowances. http://www.icis.com/resources/news/2014/12/29/9849686/us-outlook-california-unlikely-to-see-radical-price-movement/ All The Electric-Car Charging Connectors In One Great Big Poster Now there's a handy way to keep track of all the different standards, and where they're used globally. The EV Institute recently published an updated version of its "Plug-In Around the EV World" poster of electric-car charging connectors, color-keyed to the regions that use them. http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1096058_all-the-electric-car-charging-connectors-in-one-great-big-poster The Energy Buzzwords People Misuse & Misunderstand You’ve likely heard them all: “clean energy,” “energy independence,” “the war on coal,” and even “sustainable.” But what do these words really mean? We asked a group of energy insiders to name the energy buzzword they loathe most, and let us know why. Their choices are below. This discussion relates to the latest Energy Report and formed the basis of a discussion on The Experts blog in November. http://blogs.wsj.com/briefly/2014/12/29/the-energy-buzzwords-people-misuse-and-misunderstand/?KEYWORDS=air+pollution California is in a drought emergency. Visit www.SaveOurH2O.org for water conservation tips.