What's New List Serve Post Display

ARB Newsclips for February 12, 2015. 

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

Cap-and-trade: Transportation fuels on the block. For the first
time, permission slips to sell an array of fuels used in
California – and which account for nearly 40 percent of the
state’s carbon emissions – will be put on the auction block as
part of the state’s landmark law to curb climate-changing
greenhouse gases. The sellers in California of gasoline, diesel,
natural gas, heating oil and other fuels will be able to buy…
http://capitolweekly.net/cap-trade-transportation-fuels-block/ 

California GHG reporting obligations extend to biodiesel.
California has embarked upon the most aggressive greenhouse gas
(GHG) reduction program in the world. As a result of California’s
Mandatory Reporting of Greenhouse Gas Emissions program (MRR),
biofuel producers, position holders and companies that import
biodiesel into California are subject to reporting obligations.
http://www.biodieselmagazine.com/articles/306948/california-ghg-reporting-obligations-extend-to-biodiesel


Governor's cap-and-trade proposal receives House committee
support. Gov. Jay Inslee's proposal for regulating greenhouse gas
emissions has cleared its first of several hurdles in a 6-to-5
party-line vote Tuesday in the Democrat-controlled House
Environment Committee. House Bill 1314, the Carbon Pollution
Accountability Act, would establish a statewide cap on carbon
emissions, requiring Washington's 130 largest polluters to buy
credits… http://www.auburn-reporter.com/news/291708531.html 

Ontario to seek public input on carbon pricing. The Ontario
government is looking for public input on its climate change
strategy, as it weighs whether to implement a cap-and-trade
system or a carbon tax. A 45-day consultation period will see
town hall meetings held across the province and people can give
feedback online and through social media.
http://globalnews.ca/news/1826936/ontario-to-seek-public-input-on-carbon-pricing/

 
As China prepares a national launch of its carbon trading
program, questions proliferate. China plans to kick off a
national carbon market next year, but because many challenges
remain unsolved in its regional carbon trading pilots, the move
has met with a mix of praise and caution.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1060013224/print 

AIR POLLUTION

Premier Performance LLC fined $515,000 for violating air
regulations. Another automotive parts company has been penalized
for running afoul of California air pollution regulations.
Premier Performance LLC of Rexburg, Idaho, has agreed to a
$515,000 settlement with the California Air Resources Board (ARB)
according to an announcement made yesterday by the agency.
http://www.examiner.com/article/premier-performance-llc-fined-515-000-for-violating-air-regulations


Air pollution affects children's memory, IQ. Children living in
cities with significant air pollution are at an increased risk
for detrimental impacts to the brain, including short-term memory
loss and lower IQ, a new study has found. Researchers show that
children with lifetime exposures to concentrations of air
pollutants above the current US standards…
http://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/air-pollution-affects-children-s-memory-iq-115021200654_1.html


CLIMATE CHANGE

Who pays? Who cuts emissions? 5 issues for UN climate deal. World
governments are hoping that this year will mark a breakthrough in
the slow-paced U.N. climate talks. In Geneva this week,
negotiators from more than 190 countries are working on a draft
of a deal that's supposed to be adopted in Paris in December. At
this point it's a wish list reflecting the diverging preferences
of rich countries like the U.S. and Japan, major developing
economies such as China…
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_UN_CLIMATE_TALKS_5_KEY_ISSUES?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


5 crunch issues for UN climate deal. After failing six years ago
to craft a global agreement to fight climate change, world
governments are hoping that this year will mark a breakthrough in
the slow-paced U.N. climate talks. In Geneva this week,
negotiators from more than 190 countries are working on an early
draft of a deal that's supposed to be adopted in Paris in
December.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_UN_CLIMATE_TALKS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


'Our Only World' reflects on people and the environment. "Our
Only World" (Counterpoint), by Wendell Berry. The 10 essays in
"Our Only World" convey outrage over environmental and community
ruin while also expressing hope that the very species that
inflicted such harm is capable of doing better. Stern but
compassionate, author Wendell Berry raises broader issues that
environmentalists rarely focus on.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_BOOK_REVIEW_OUR_ONLY_WORLD?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


In China, a fight to save a forest tests toughened environment
law.  A lawsuit filed against four Chinese mining executives
accused of destroying a stretch of forest is shaping up as a test
of China's strengthened environmental law and the ability of
green groups to make companies more accountable for their
actions. Environmentalists hope the case will prompt a wave of
legal action across China, where discontent is rising over a
growth-at-all-costs economic model that has spoiled much of the
country's water, skies and soil.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/02/12/us-china-environment-lawsuit-idUSKBN0LE2PJ20150212


Oil sector must take lead in climate debate: Shell CEO. The oil
industry needs to take a leading role in the fight against
climate change to introduce "realism and practicality" into the
debate, the head of Royal Dutch Shell will say on Thursday. In
excerpts of a keynote speech due to be given at the International
Petroleum Week dinner in London on Thursday evening, Shell Chief
Executive Ben van Beurden also accuses governments of taking at
times counterproductive steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/02/12/us-shell-environment-idUSKBN0LG01920150212


Vatican mulling new department to tackle environmental issues.
The Vatican is considering setting up an environmental think
tank, a spokesman said on Thursday, which could influence the
opinion of the world's 1.2 billion Roman Catholics on such thorny
issues as climate change.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/02/12/pope-environment-idUSL5N0VM52420150212


Warmer Seas Linked To East Coast Hurricane Outbreaks. Christopher
Columbus explored the New World during wildly tempestuous
seafaring times. In the summer of 1502, during his final American
voyage, for example, Columbus commanded his fleet to the shelter
of an island, now home to Haiti, as a hurricane tore through.
Three of the four ships broke anchor in the walloping winds.
http://www.climatecentral.org/news/warmer-seas-linked-to-east-coast-hurricane-outbreaks-18643


U.S. drought helps increase belief in climate change.  As 2014
came to an end, more Americans believed there was evidence of
increasing temperatures on Earth than when the year began,
according to a new National Surveys on Energy and Environment
(NSEE) poll from the University of Michigan and Muhlenberg
College. The rise in public opinion comes after three years of
declining belief in climate change.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1060013326/print 

EPA hints it may change carbon rule's time frame. Acting
Assistant U.S. EPA Administrator Janet McCabe didn't make any
specific promises during her testimony before the Senate
Environment and Public Works Committee yesterday morning. But
between the lines of her answers, the agency's top air quality
official delivered a clear signal to the state officials charged
with implementing the Obama administration's Clean Power Plan…
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1060013345/print 

Agriculture emissions surge above those from deforestation for
the first time, U.N. report warns. Global emissions from
agriculture appear to have surpassed those from deforestation for
the first time, based on a new data analysis by researchers from
the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
According to the FAO report, agriculture accounted for 11.2
percent of total global greenhouse gas emissions in 2010, while
deforestation was responsible for 8 percent.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1060013314/print 

DROUGHT

Extreme drought in Northern California just got 10% better. In
rare good news on the California drought, extremely dry
conditions in northern parts of the state improved by 10% after a
series of strong storms. This week’s U.S. Drought Monitor reports
extreme conditions dropped from 77% last week to 67%. The
positive change occurred mostly in northwestern California and
the Santa Cruz Mountains between San Francisco and Santa Cruz.
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-california-drought-20150212-story.html


California Reservoirs Benefit From Recent Storms. National
Weather Service forecasters in Sacramento have updated reservoir
totals after the recent storms. 
Meteorologist Michelle Mead with the National Weather Service in
Sacramento says an eight-station index of Northern Sierra
reservoirs has been in a boom-and-bust cycle. 
"December we did quite well, we were 150, at one point, 180
percent of average in those gauges," said Mead.”
http://www.capradio.org/articles/2015/02/11/california-reservoirs-benefit-from-recent-storms/


DIESEL ACTIVITIES

EPA program helps schools purchase cleaner, safer buses.  An
Environmental Protection Agency program is aiming to help schools
across the country retire 210 aging buses, replacing them with
cleaner, safer vehicles with filters that significantly cut
certain types of emissions. The Arlington, Va., school system is
one of the beneficiaries of the school bus replacement rebate
program and will receive $100,000 to help with…
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/local/wp/2015/02/11/epa-program-helps-schools-purchase-cleaner-safer-buses/


CARB offering class this month on complying with emissions
regulations. The California Air Resources Board announced will
hold a half-day seminar Tuesday, Feb. 24, to help truck owners
better understand and comply with the state’s stringent truck
emissions regulations. Lifetime exposure to modern diesel exhaust
does not induce tumors or precancerous changes, according to the
first comprehensive study of the matter.
http://www.overdriveonline.com/carb-offering-class-this-month-on-complying-with-emissions-regulations/#


FUELS

Congress clears Keystone XL pipeline bill, setting up veto. The
Republican-controlled Congress cleared a bill Wednesday to
construct the Keystone XL oil pipeline, setting up a
confrontation with President Barack Obama, who has threatened to
veto the measure. The House passed the bill on a 270-152 vote,
endorsing changes made by the Senate that stated climate change
was real and not a hoax, and oil sands should no longer be exempt
from a tax used to cleanup oil spills.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_CONGRESS_KEYSTONE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


Cheaper gas lowers US retail sales; spending up elsewhere. U.S.
retail sales fell sharply last month as gas prices plummeted and
auto sales slowed. But excluding those volatile categories,
Americans stepped up their spending a bit. Retail sales dropped
0.8 percent in January, the Commerce Department said Thursday,
following a 0.9 percent decline in December. The dollar value of
gas station sales plunged 9.3 percent, the largest drop in six
years.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_RETAIL_SALES?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


Total write downs value of Canadian, US oil fields amid loss.
French energy producer Total wrote down the value of oil and gas
fields in Canada and the United States and said it would slash
investment after the collapse in market prices led to a net loss
of $5.66 billion for the fourth quarter. Total SA said Thursday
its earnings were weighed down by $6.5 billion in charges, mainly
against the value of oil sands in Canada and unconventional gas
fields in the United States.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_FRANCE_EARNS_TOTAL?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


Oil drilling banned in Arctic area that attracts walrus. A
plateau on the Arctic Ocean floor, where thousands of Pacific
walrus gather to feed and raise pups, has received new
protections from the Obama administration that recognize it as a
biological hot spot and mark it off-limits to future oil
drilling.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_ARCTIC_OCEAN_NO_LEASES?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


Big Oil Must Ditch Low Profile in Climate Clash: Shell CEO. Royal
Dutch Shell Plc will call on the oil industry to speak up about
global warming as executives at the world’s second-biggest energy
producer fear losing ground to environmental voices. “In the past
we thought it was better to keep a low profile on the issue,”
Chief Executive Officer Ben Van Beurden said in remarks prepared
for a conference Thursday in London.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-02-12/shell-calls-on-big-oil-peers-to-speak-up-on-climate-change


California oil regulator cites ‘serious concerns’ on data
collection. Pressed by lawmakers about failing to shield
protected aquifers from waste generated during oil drilling,
California’s state regulator overseeing the oil industry conceded
Wednesday that his agency is falling short. “We do have a serious
data management problem,” Dr. Steve Bohlen, appointed last year
to head California’s Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal
Resources…
http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article9767951.html#storylink=cpy


Does a 'carbon bubble' exist, or did somebody invent one? 
Selling fossil fuel stocks in order to spurn coal, oil and
natural gas companies would be a financially foolish act and
would have a negligible or nonexistent effect in targeting carbon
energy companies, according to a report published earlier this
week. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1060013347/print


VEHICLES

Chevy confirms production of 200-mile-range Bolt EV. Coming soon
to a charging station near you: a 200-mile-range electric vehicle
that isn't a Tesla. Chevrolet has confirmed it will begin
production on its Bolt EV, a concept car revealed only weeks ago
in Detroit. It's now headed into production at a GM plant that
currently makes Chevy Sonics.
http://www.latimes.com/business/autos/la-fi-hy-chevy-confirms-bolt-ev-20150211-story.html


Tesla stock plunges after it posts $108-million quarterly loss.
Tesla Motors Inc. continued to report big losses as it invests
heavily in factories and new models to solidify its growth. the
Palo Alto electric car company reported a loss of $107.6 million
in the fourth quarter, up from a loss of $16.3 million in the
same period a year earlier. For all of last year, Tesla lost $294
million compared with $74 million in the prior year.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-hy-telsa-fourth-quarter-earnings-20150210-story.html


Woodland plug-in ceremony highlights electric cars. Electric
vehicle charging stations are now online in downtown Woodland,
ushering in a Yolo County-City of Woodland partnership. “I was
thinking this morning, ‘imagine how people felt when the first
gas station came to town,’” said Mayor Tom Stallard, who spoke at
Tuesday’s plug-in ceremony. “That was a big deal.”
http://www.dailydemocrat.com/technology/20150210/woodland-plug-in-ceremony-highlights-electric-cars


Tesla is close to unveiling a home storage battery, reports $108M
4Q loss. Electric vehicle maker Tesla Motors Inc. will soon
unveil a battery it plans to offer for energy storage in homes
and businesses. Tesla Chairman and CEO Elon Musk said yesterday
that he'll reveal "the Tesla home battery, the consumer battery"
within "the next month or two."
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1060013352/print 

GREEN ENERGY

US stocks rise as technology, energy sectors gain. Stocks rose
Thursday, led by gains in big technology companies. Cisco Systems
was the biggest gainer in the technology sector after reporting
better-than-expected earnings. Energy stocks advanced as the
price of oil rebounded following two days of heavy losses.
European markets got a lift after world leaders clinched a
cease-fire deal…
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/F/FINANCIAL_MARKETS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


China installed wind power capacity hits 7 pct of total in 2014.
China's installed capacity for grid-connected wind power rose
nearly 26 percent to 96.37 gigawatts (GW) in 2014, accounting for
7 percent of the country's total, the National Energy
Administration said on Thursday. The nation is on track to meet a
wind capacity target of 100 GW set in its 2011-2015 "five-year
plan" for the energy sector after a rapid construction programme…
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/02/12/china-power-windpower-idUSL4N0VM3XJ20150212


A bad quarter for Exxon Mobil is still better than a good one for
20 top solar companies — combined. In recent years, growth in the
solar energy industry has been massive. As I reported last week,
just since 2008, U.S. wind and solar capacity have tripled. And
the story continues: On Tuesday, Apple announced it was investing
a dramatic $848 million to partner with First Solar on a huge
California solar farm – Apple’s slice of the farm will be 1,300
acres.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2015/02/11/a-bad-quarter-for-exxon-mobil-is-still-better-than-a-good-one-for-20-top-solar-companies-combined/
 

Google buys Altamont wind energy to power Googleplex. Google has
spent $1.5 billion around the world on clean energy projects
cutting the pollution from millions of users clicking on search
links, watching YouTube videos and sending emails, but now it's
found a powerful electricity source close to home. The company
will announce Wednesday that it is buying power from the Altamont
Pass, one of the nation's oldest, largest and most iconic wind
farms…
http://www.contracostatimes.com/business/ci_27503195/google-buys-altamont-wind-energy-power-googleplex

Lawmaker says California’s solar efforts off-target. California’s
multibillion dollar investments into solar panel and
zero-emission vehicle technologies have heavily benefitted
wealthy, highly educated, Los Angeles and Bay Area residents and
skipped over the Central Valley, says Assemblyman Adam Gray,
D-Merced. Mr. Gray requested an audit of the state’s efforts and
says he is outraged by the findings.
http://www.centralvalleybusinesstimes.com/stories/001/?ID=27756 


Comparing the Costs of Renewable and Conventional Energy Sources.
You can’t get too far in a discussion about the nation’s electric
power sector without running into the question of costs. How do
renewable sources, such as solar and wind, stack up against
fossil fuels, such as coal and natural gas? How much will it cost
utilities and ratepayers to build—and operate—a new power plant?
http://theenergycollective.com/energy-innovation-llc/2192586/comparing-costs-renewable-and-conventional-energy-sources


Energizr & Gridz: New Solar Power + Energy Storage Solutions From
JLM Energy. JLM Energy, based in Rocklin, CA, is selling complete
home (Energizr) and commercial (Gridz) energy solutions, with
each one utilizing solar power panels, a battery system, and a
backup generator, including a grid connection. JLM generously
answered my questions about its systems for this CleanTechnica
article.
http://cleantechnica.com/2015/02/11/energizr-new-solar-power-energy-storage-solution-jlm-energy/


Geoengineering Is No Replacement For Reducing Carbon Emissions. A
National Research Council committee concluded that there is no
substitute for “dramatic reductions” in greenhouse gas emissions
to mitigate the negative consequences of man-made climate change.
MIT uses greenhouse gas technology for low cost concentrated
solar system.
http://cleantechnica.com/2015/02/12/geoengineering-no-replacement-carbon-emissions/


Calif.'s solar industry employs more people than state's
utilities. It's widely known that the solar industry is creating
a lot of jobs, but some figures presented at an energy conference
yesterday put that job performance in a new light. The California
solar industry now employs almost 55,000 people, more than the
state's three major utilities -- Pacific Gas and Electric Co.
(about 20,000), Southern California Edison (more than 13,600) and
San Diego Gas & Electric (about 5,000).
http://www.eenews.net/energywire/stories/1060013353/print 

Tiny lenses and mirrors make concentrating solar power ready for
your rooftop. A new approach for concentrating photovoltaic
systems gets rid of mechanical sun trackers, making this design a
contender for sunny rooftops across the world, a recent report
shows. Current strategies for turning sunlight into electricity
make trade-offs between performance, price and versatility.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1060013348/print 

MISCELLANEOUS

How much lead is in your chocolate? If you (like me) have been
happily snarfing down chocolate in recent years, secure in the
knowledge that those flavonols were at least doing good things
for your heart, today is not your day. Just in time for
Valentine's Day, a California consumer health watchdog group
filed legal notices Wednesday demanding that many of the big
chocolate companies post warnings on their packages that show
their products contain high levels of lead and cadmium.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2015/02/11/lead-and-cadmium-in-chocolate-noooooooooooo/


Sunnyvale: Businesses 99 percent compliant with foam food
containers ban. Foam food containers are nearly extinct in
Sunnyvale. Businesses are reportedly 99 percent in compliance
with the first phase of the citywide ban on expanded polystyrene
[EPS] containers, more commonly known as Styrofoam. "It's a big
plus because this stuff is different from other types of litter
in that it breaks down into smaller and smaller pieces…
http://www.mercurynews.com/sunnyvale/ci_27506591/sunnyvale-businesses-99-percent-compliant-foam-food-containers


US: Midwest states speaking about multi-state programme. Fourteen
Midwest states are actively discussing the feasibility of a
multi-state programme and other ways to comply with the
Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposed rules for
existing power plants, said two sources with knowledge of the
discussions. The EPA released its proposed draft rules for
existing power plants in June (see EDCM 2 June 2014).
http://www.icis.com/resources/news/2015/02/11/9860210/us-midwest-states-speaking-about-multi-state-programme/


OPINIONS

In Climate Change, What’s in a Name? The words are hurled around
like epithets. People who reject the findings of climate science
are dismissed as “deniers” and “disinformers.” Those who accept
the science are attacked as “alarmists” or “warmistas.” The
latter term, evoking the Sandinista revolutionaries of Nicaragua,
is perhaps meant to suggest that the science is part of some
socialist plot.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/17/science/earth/in-climate-change-whats-in-a-name.html?_r=1


COLUMN-Lindsey oil refinery falls victim to UK policy and shale:
Kemp. French oil major Total has announced plans to halve
capacity at its Lindsey refinery on Britain's North Sea coast as
part of an overhaul of downstream activities intended to address
overcapacity in the European refining sector. Total's decision
comes as no surprise. Of the six refineries still operating in
Britain, Lindsey was most at risk of closure or capacity
reduction…
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/02/12/refineries-britain-kemp-idUSL5N0VM44Q20150212


Cheaper Gas? Politicians Want a Tax Fill-Up. The 34% price drop
at the pumps is stirring government appetite for your savings.
American families are enjoying a level of economic relief they
haven’t experienced in six years—and it is largely attributable
to the recent slide in gasoline prices. The average price for a
gallon of gas, according to AAA, has tumbled 34% in the past year
to about $2 a gallon from $3.27.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/carly-fiorina-and-penny-nance-cheaper-gas-politicians-want-a-tax-fill-up-1423700365


The Risks of Climate Engineering. THE Republican Party has long
resisted action on climate change, but now that much of the
electorate wants something done, it needs to find a way out of
the hole it has dug for itself. A committee appointed by the
National Research Council may just have handed the party a
ladder. In a two-volume report, the council is recommending that
the federal government fund a research program into
geoengineering as a response to a warming globe.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/12/opinion/the-risks-of-climate-engineering.html


Gazprom’s Dwindling Clout. At a meeting in Moscow on Jan. 14, the
European Commission’s vice president for energy union, Maros
Sefcovic, was surprised to hear the head of Gazprom, Aleksei
Miller, declare that if the Europeans want continued access to
the Russian natural gas that is currently piped through Ukraine,
Europe would have to build its own pipelines to the Turkish
border.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/12/opinion/gazproms-dwindling-clout.html?_r=0


Letter: How is money is being spent in California? The California
Air Resources Board (CARB), an unelected state bureaucracy with
no taxpayer or legislator oversight, illegally taxed gasoline
sold in California on Jan 1. With the low gas prices, people did
not notice. However, we all know gas prices will be back to $3 or
$4 per gallon. High gas taxes affects business, truckers,
farmers, farmworkers…
http://www.lodinews.com/opinion/letters/article_6ffab0ea-b1c1-11e4-9eb1-27815944252e.html


We don’t know what the state doesn’t want you to know about
water. On Nov. 17, 2014, Weekly Assistant Editor Kera Abraham
sent a highly targeted Public Records Act request to the state
Water Resources Control Board. With the Dec. 31, 2016, deadline
for California American Water to stop overpumping from the Carmel
River – under a state cease-and-desist order…
http://www.montereycountyweekly.com/opinion/local_spin/we-don-t-know-what-the-state-doesn-t-want/article_2b4add0e-b238-11e4-bf87-0b61469962bb.html


The Lumber Man In Charge of Climate Policy. Bay Area billionaire
Robert Fisher profits by logging California's North Coast
forests, even as Governor Jerry Brown has tapped him to help
implement the state's anti-global warming agenda. The world's
largest remaining contiguous stand of old-growth redwood forest
resides in Humboldt Redwoods State Park in Northern California.
http://www.eastbayexpress.com/oakland/the-lumber-man-in-charge-of-climate-policy/Content?oid=4191938


Berkeley Voice letters to the editor: Food waste recycling; post
office building legal battle. I am responding to the Times Feb. 6
article, "'Green' recycling program is wilting." Large public
programs and newspaper stories are great for the majority. But
the minorities also need to be reached. Case in point: My church,
Good Shepherd Episcopal in Berkeley, hosts a lot of groups…
http://www.insidebayarea.com/news/ci_27507753/berkeley-voice-letters-editor-food-waste-recycling-post


BLOGS

Shell CEO Wants Big Oil to Have High Profile on Climate Change.
Royal Dutch Shell PLC Chief Executive Ben van Beurden is
preparing to offer some criticism of the debate over
climate-change policy, and his industry’s approach to it, at a
London oil-industry conference on Thursday night. In a speech —
an excerpt of which the Journal
obtained…http://blogs.wsj.com/corporate-intelligence/2015/02/12/shell-ceo-wants-big-oil-to-have-high-profile-on-climate-change/tab/print/


It’s Hot Days, Not Cold, That Really Chill Labor Productivity. As
snow once again hits the Northeast, new research suggests that
warmer weather is to blame for driving down productivity, even in
an industrialized country like the United States. A working paper
from the National Bureau for Economic Research suggests that hot
days…
http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2015/02/12/its-hot-days-not-cold-that-really-chill-labor-productivity/?KEYWORDS=EMISSIONS


Retail Sales Mystery: Where Are Americans’ Gas Savings Going?
Americans saved at the pump last month as gasoline prices fell to
levels last seen in 2009. But where did that money go? Thursday’s
retail-sales report from the Commerce Department didn’t contain
many answers. Overall sales fell in January for the second
straight month, largely due to a 9.3% decline in sales at gas
stations.
http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2015/02/12/retail-sales-mystery-where-are-americans-gas-savings-going/


What Supply Chain Leaders Need To Know About Planning In An
Unpredictable Environment. With a blizzard on one end of his trip
and the effects of a two-year (and counting) drought awaiting him
on the other, author and green business strategist Andrew Winston
got a firsthand look at the extreme weather battering the US this
January while traveling from his East Coast home to the
drought-ravaged West Coast…
http://www.forbes.com/sites/oracle/2015/02/11/what-supply-chain-leaders-need-to-know-about-planning-in-an-unpredictable-environment/?cid=8989


'Behind The Curve' On Climate Risk. A handful of listed
businesses are showing all the signs of being well ‘behind the
curve’ when it comes to their response to investor and
stakeholder concerns on issues surrounding sustainability and
climate change. In the last year global oil, gas and coal
companies have expanded their reported reserves, even though 80%
of existing reserves…
http://www.forbes.com/sites/dinamedland/2015/02/12/behind-the-curve-on-climate-risk/


Divestment Is An Honored Tradition But Misguided For Fossil
Fuels. With “Global Divestment Day” approaching this weekend,
lots of talk is swirling around the subject of whether attempts
to have investors yank money from oil, natural gas and coal is
worthwhile. While disinvestment in those fossil FOSL +0.58% fuels
is unsound, the concept itself has a cherished history of
exacting change.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/kensilverstein/2015/02/12/divestment-is-an-honored-tradition-but-misguided-for-fossil-fuels/


We did the math on clean coal, and it doesn’t add up. The Kemper
County energy facility in rural Mississippi is a technological
wonder: Among other things, it’s the first coal-fired power plant
in the United States designed to capture its carbon emissions.
But as I discovered during a months-long investigation of the
plant, some aspects are less than wondrous.
http://grist.org/climate-energy/we-did-the-math-on-clean-coal-and-it-doesnt-add-up/


Are Energy Managers Making Progress? Introducing a Tool to Help.
Energy management can be complicated, and the projects
organizations must tackle run the gamut: from small-scale
lighting and HVAC upgrades to whole building retrofits; from
baselining energy consumption to data analysis of enterprise-wide
energy management systems; and from volunteer employee engagement
programs to executive-level goal setting.
http://blogs.edf.org/energyexchange/2015/02/12/are-energy-managers-making-progress-introducing-a-tool-to-help/


Tesla will deliver 70 percent more vehicles in 2015. While
everyone would still like Tesla Motors to announce monthly sales
numbers, at least we now have the latest quarterly delivery
figures from the all-electric automaker. Tesla says it delivered
9,834 vehicles in the last quarter of 2014 and built 11,627
vehicles.
http://www.autoblog.com/2015/02/11/tesla-70-percent-increase-vehicle-deliveries-2015/


XL Hybrids enters installation and distribution partnership with
Lancer Automotive Group for intermountain west. Lancer Automotive
Group, a leader in the intermountain west for alternative fuel
conversions, announced a non-exclusive installation partnership
and distribution agreement with XL Hybrids, a developer of hybrid
electric powertrain technology for commercial and municipal
fleets.
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2015/02/20150212-xlhybrids.html 
 



California is in a drought emergency.
Visit www.SaveOurH2O.org for water conservation tips.