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newsclips -- ARB Newsclips for February 2, 2015
Posted: 02 Feb 2015 15:42:34
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 Just how much is Asia's ozone to blame for bad air in the U.S.? High above the Big Sur coast, Ian Faloona is finding pollution on the edge of the continent, a place that should have some of the country's cleanest air. From an astronomical observatory on Chews Ridge in the Santa Lucia Mountains, the UC Davis atmospheric scientist has for the last three years measured ozone, the lung-damaging gas in smog, as it arrives to California. http://www.latimes.com/science/la-me-pacific-smog-20150201-story.html#page=1 Study raises concerns about toxic oil and gas emissions in California air. The infrared video showed an eerie scene: waves of volatile chemicals floating from the vent pipes of an oil-and-gas processing plant in the Lost Hills region of Kern County, Calif. The gas wafting into the air looked like heat shimmering off asphalt on a hot summer's day. The fumes are invisible to the naked eye… http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/environment/article8931848.html#storylink=cpy CLIMATE CHANGE Most Republicans Say They Back Climate Action, Poll Finds. An overwhelming majority of the American public, including half of Republicans, support government action to curb global warming, according to a poll conducted by The New York Times, Stanford University and the nonpartisan environmental research group Resources for the Future. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/31/us/politics/most-americans-support-government-action-on-climate-change-poll-finds.html?emc=edit_na_20150130&nlid=52484965&_r=0 Global Warming: What Should Be Done? The New York Times, Stanford University and Resources for the Future have conducted a nationwide survey about global warming. The poll asked people for their views on whether global warming will be beneficial or detrimental, about how the president and Congress have responded to it, and what they believe government should do about it. http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/01/29/us/global-warming-poll.html?_r=0 Climate change, melting glaciers make Iceland spring upward like a trampoline. Sea levels aren’t the only things rising due to climate change — swaths of land are too, including the nation of Iceland. That’s according to a new study published by a team of geologists from the University of Arizona. According to their research, the melting of Iceland’s glaciers has reduced pressure on the ground beneath them, causing the land to “rebound” from the Earth’s crust. http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/02/02/climate-change-melting-glaciers-make-iceland-spring-upward-like-a-trampoline/ http://www.therecord.com/news-story/5298019-climate-change-melting-glaciers-make-iceland-spring-up-like-a-trampoline/ Obama Proposes $4 Billion Bonus for States Beating Climate Goals. The Obama administration is proposing spending $4 billion to reward states that exceed cuts in greenhouse-gas emissions, and wants Congress to back steeper royalty rates for oil-and-gas drilling on public land. In a mix of measures likely to be greeted skeptically by the Republican majority in Congress, President Barack Obama’s 2016 budget calls for continued tax breaks for wind and solar energy… http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-02-02/obama-proposes-4-billion-bonus-for-states-beating-climate-goals http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/stories/1060012701/print Random Fluctuations May Have Slowed Down Rate of Global Warming. Sceptics who still doubt anthropogenic climate change have now been stripped of one of their last-ditch arguments: It is true that there has been a warming hiatus and that the surface of the earth has warmed up much less rapidly since the turn of the millennium than all the relevant climate models had predicted. http://www.azocleantech.com/news.aspx?newsID=21385 Canada's premiers agree to coordinate climate plan as oil price drop roils politics. Climate and energy infrastructure got top billing during the annual winter meeting of Canadian premiers in Ottawa, Ontario, last week, as the provincial leadership prepared to roll out a national energy strategy that they said would both feed the economy and address the country's carbon emissions. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1060012672/print World cities feel the heat. Cities all around the world experienced increasing numbers of heat waves in the last 40 years, according to a new study from U.S. and Indian universities. Since the 1970s, cities have had fewer cold spells and windy days while dealing with a rise in extremely hot days and nights. Researchers focused on 217 of the world's urban areas with populations over 250,000. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1060012644/print Southern states most challenged by EPA Clean Power Plan – Fitch. Public power and cooperative utilities in states with high electricity costs and a large percentage of generation from coal-fired power plants will be most challenged to preserve financial margins as they comply with U.S. EPA's Clean Power Plan, according to a new index created by Fitch Ratings. http://www.eenews.net/energywire/stories/1060012675/print DROUGHT San Francisco gets no rain in January for first time in 165 years. In another sign California's persistent drought, downtown San Francisco recorded no measurable rain in January for the first time in 165 years. The National Weather Service also said Santa Cruz recorded no rain in January for the first time since 1893. Normal rainfall for that city in January is more than 6 inches. For the Bay Area as a whole, last month was the driest January on record, the weather service said. http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-san-francisco-no-rain-january-california-drought-20150201-story.html FUELS EPA's methane crackdown to come slow and easy. The Obama administration on Jan. 14 announced its long-awaited plan to control the oil and gas industry's emissions of methane, saying it would in the next decade cut in half leaks of the potent global-warming pollutant. The White House called its approach a crucial step to achieving the greenhouse-gas emissions targets… http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/environment/article8895686.html#storylink=cpy GREEN ENERGY New effort launched to connect US businesses with clean energy. Companies struggling to meet their renewable energy goals can now get help from a venture that aims to link up the biggest businesses in the United States with clean power. Nearly two-thirds of Fortune 100 companies have commitments to shift to renewable energy sources such as wind and solar… http://in.reuters.com/article/2015/02/02/energy-corporations-renewables-idINL1N0VC05920150202 Developers, local lawmaker look to 50% clean energy goal. Long a leader in renewable energy, California is gearing up for the next big step in its clean power transformation. In the weeks since Gov. Jerry Brown called for California to get 50 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030, policymakers have been discussing a "clean energy standard" that would replace the state's current Renewables Portfolio Standard. http://www.desertsun.com/story/news/environment/2015/02/02/developers-local-lawmaker-look-clean-energy-goal/22750773/ Wall Street prepared for bad news from the energy companies, but so far it's been worse than expected. Stock prices in the U.S. energy sector have been under pressure in 2015, and there could be more bad news to come when several key players report their fourth-quarter results next week. The group has been falling alongside crude oil prices, which are down about 60 percent since June. http://www.businessinsider.com/r-energy-may-see-further-weakness-as-key-names-report-2015-1#ixzz3QcPjOt92 MISCELLANEOUS State's toxic releases post 50% gain, EPA says. The amount of toxic chemicals released in California jumped 50% in 2013 over the year before because of a surge in disposal by the state's largest polluter, a hazardous-waste landfill in Kern County, according to data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Clean Harbors Inc.'s Buttonwillow landfill reported disposing of more than 11 million pounds of copper and related compounds in 2013, a more than sixfold increase over the previous year. http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-toxic-releases-20150131-story.html OPINIONS The Alarming Thing About Climate Alarmism. It is an indisputable fact that carbon emissions are rising—and faster than most scientists predicted. But many climate-change alarmists seem to claim that all climate change is worse than expected. This ignores that much of the data are actually encouraging. The latest study from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change found that in the previous 15 years temperatures had risen 0.09 degrees Fahrenheit. http://www.wsj.com/articles/bjorn-lomborg-the-alarming-thing-about-climate-alarmism-1422832462?mod=trending_now_4 California should stay on track with standard on cleaner fuels. Legal challenges, political battles and scare tactics have not derailed California’s low-carbon fuel standard. As the state Air Resources Board gets ready to re-adopt the standard, we have one simple message: Keep going. California’s commitment to developing cleaner fuels is paying dividends for companies, the state and the nation. http://www.sacbee.com/opinion/op-ed/soapbox/article8839505.html#storylink=cpy Changing Attitudes on a Changing Climate. Polls show voters are more concerned about climate change, but will it matter? The public – even the Republican public – is getting more worried about climate change, but its growing concern may not be enough to prod Congress to act. Americans swing like a pendulum when it comes to climate change. Between 2000 and 2007, about 60 percent of Americans believed that it was caused by people, according to Gallup’s polling. http://www.usnews.com/opinion/economic-intelligence/2015/02/02/polls-show-global-warming-shift-but-will-it-matter EPA should strengthen the standards for clean air. Before my life as a nurse, my view of illness was likely similar to many others. Disease was either hereditary or just bad luck. It was not until I started my nursing program that I saw the effect our environment has on our health. This connection is why the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is seeking to reduce harmful smog pollution nationwide. http://www.sacbee.com/opinion/op-ed/soapbox/article8589908.html#storylink=cpy Not a snow drop’s chance in hell that global warming is a myth. THE verdict on global warming in 2014 is in. The Japanese, US and UK public institutions that keep a continuous watch on global surface temperatures have now reported their findings. The Japan Meteorological Agency was first off the mark, reporting its finding in the first week of January. http://www.themercury.com.au/news/opinion/not-a-snow-drops-chance-in-hell-that-global-warming-is-a-myth/story-fnj4f64i-1227205245222 In 2015, Companies Address Climate Change through Corporate Sustainability. Eco-sustainability will matter more than ever in 2015; this is the year the US’s leading companies must prove they are finally addressing climate change through corporate sustainability, thanks to two presidents and the Pope. Remember the green marketing wave of 2007? http://www.environmentalleader.com/2015/02/02/in-2015-companies-address-climate-change-through-corporate-sustainability/#ixzz3QcL16E00 BLOGS The Defeat of Climate Denial. Over the past weekend, a poll was released indicating that Americans have conclusively rejected climate denial and understand the reality of climate change. According to New York Times reporters Coral Davenport and Marjorie Connelly: An overwhelming majority of the American public, including half of Republicans, support government action to curb global warming, according to a poll conducted by The New York Times… http://www.huffingtonpost.com/steven-cohen/the-defeat-of-climate-den_b_6593832.html California is in a drought emergency. Visit www.SaveOurH2O.org for water conservation tips.