What's New List Serve Post Display

What's New List Serve Post Display

Below is the List Serve Post you selected to display.
newsclips -- ARB Newsclips for February 18, 2015.

Posted: 18 Feb 2015 14:24:23
ARB Newsclips for February 18, 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

Conservation ag may get farmers into “cap and trade” Farmland in
the San Joaquin Valley can be managed with conservation practices
to sequester carbon, something that could give farmers a seat at
the carbon trading table, according to long-term research by
University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources
scientists.
http://www.centralvalleybusinesstimes.com/stories/001/?ID=27780 
 
AIR POLLUTION

China Urges Fewer Fireworks During New Year Celebrations. Setting
off fireworks to celebrate Chinese New Year may be a
centuries-old tradition, but the country's authorities are urging
people to light fewer of them this week as cities fight a losing
battle against relentless, toxic air pollution.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2015/02/18/world/asia/ap-as-china-new-year-fireworks.html


How did the port shutdown affect L.A. air quality? Dozens of
ships backed up off the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports in
recent days, unable to unload cargo because of a protracted labor
dispute. Work resumed at the ports Tuesday, but the slowdown in
shipping traffic raised concerns that emissions from waiting
vessels would degrade Southern California air quality.
http://touch.latimes.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-82847446/ 
 
EPA finalizes state requirements for 2008 ozone standard. U.S.
EPA has finalized long-awaited requirements for states with areas
that exceed the 2008 national ozone limit. Along with setting due
dates for states to submit plans to address ground-level ozone
pollution, the agency's final rule establishes control
technologies for meeting the standard, emissions inventory
requirements and processes for areas to demonstrate compliance.
http://www.eenews.net/eenewspm/2015/02/17/stories/1060013584 

Tighter standards proposed for airplane manufacturing. U.S. EPA
has proposed to tighten toxic air pollutant limits for certain
industrial facilities involved in the manufacture and maintenance
of airplanes. The proposed rule, published today in the Federal
Register, would establish pollution limits for processes that
apply "specialty coatings" to airplane parts, streamline
record-keeping requirements for those facilities…
http://www.eenews.net/eenewspm/stories/1060013580/print 

CLIMATE CHANGE

U.S. EPA chief hints at softening carbon rule interim timeline.
The Environmental Protection Agency said on Tuesday that it may
ease an interim deadline for states to meet tougher carbon
emission standards after regulators and electric utilities
complained a lack of time may destabilize electricity supplies.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2015/02/18/usa-carbon-epa-idUKL1N0VR2ES20150218


Global CO2 emissions to grow at slightly slower rate to 2035: BP.
Global carbon emissions from energy use will grow at 25 percent
between 2013 and 2035, a slightly slower rate than previously
estimated, BP said on Tuesday, but still above the rate
scientists say would avoid the worst effects of climate change.
Emissions are expected to increase at an average rate of 1
percent per year from 2013 to 2035…
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2015/02/17/us-oil-bp-carbon-idUKKBN0LL1EV20150217


Millions at Risk From Rapid Sea Rise in Swampy Sundarbans. The
tiny hut sculpted out of mud at the edge of the sea is barely
large enough for Bokul Mondol and his family to lie down in. The
water has taken everything else from them, and one day it almost
certainly will take this, too. Saltwater long ago engulfed the 5
acres where Mondol once grew rice and tended fish ponds, as his
ancestors had on Bali Island for some 200 years.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2015/02/18/world/asia/ap-as-india-vanishing-islands.html
 

Interior Secretary Jewell Visits Eroding Alaska Village. In
temperatures slightly higher than Washington, D.C.'s, Interior
Secretary Sally Jewell got a firsthand look Monday at the effect
of climate change on an Alaska coastal community. Jewell visited
Kivalina, a village of 370 on a barrier island just off Alaska's
northwest coast, the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
(http://bit.ly/1vTc1dX) reported.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2015/02/17/us/ap-us-interior-secretary-alaska.html


Report: NYC climate to grow hotter, wetter, with more storms. A
new climate report is finding that temperatures and sea levels
are rising in New York City. Mayor Bill de Blasio's office
released the New York City Panel on Climate Change's 2015 report
on Tuesday. The reports said that annual temperatures are
projected to rise between 4.1 and 5.7 degrees by the 2050s. The
sea level is projected to rise 11 to 21 inches by the same
period.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/AP3475cd1ea08f48c39e45fca10a470fdd 

Climate change could bring higher temperatures, much higher sea
levels, and more flooding to NYC: report. The city's future could
be rainy, hot — and underwater. In a new report issued Tuesday,
scientists painted a picture that could be even more frightening
than the damage caused by Hurricane Sandy. Climate change could
hit New York with higher temperatures, dramatically rising sea
levels, more rainfall and flooding, they said.
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/weather/scientists-predict-higher-temps-rising-sea-levels-city-article-1.2119490

 
Sea-level rise will cause more than flooding — these 5 other
impacts of rising oceans are just as bad. We have all heard
terrible stories about how the future will be devastated by a
rise in sea levels. As global temperatures continue to rise, ice
in the polar regions and glaciers will melt, dumping tons of
extra water into the ocean. Warmer water temperatures will also
lead the oceans to expand.
http://www.sfgate.com/technology/businessinsider/article/Sea-level-rise-won-t-just-cause-flooding-6086731.php


Americans Support Action on Global Warming. Reports showing that
global warming and its worldwide effects on human lives have
become more common in recent months and years.  Here, we
summarize the results of some polls of American public opinion on
this subject. Polls concerning the attitudes of the American
public on global warming have appeared recently.
http://theenergycollective.com/henry-auer/2195551/americans-support-action-global-warming
 

BP's two-word fix for global climate change. Oil supermajor BP
says global carbon emissions will continue to rise well above
what most scientists regard as safe levels in the years to come.
While there's no silver-bullet solution to the threat of climate
change, the company endorses one specific policy as a way to
guide efforts.
http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/Energy-Voices/2015/0217/BP-s-two-word-fix-for-global-climate-change
 

Some state electricity regulators still not sure global warming
is human-caused. At a conference dominated by the challenge that
state public utility commissioners will face implementing U.S.
EPA's Clean Power Plan, several electricity regulators had a much
more basic question: whether the climate change that the federal
rule will tackle is even taking place.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1060013590/print 

New Zealand's climate change policy is a failure, former leader
says. Former New Zealand Prime Minister Geoffrey Palmer lambasted
the country's climate change policy as a failure. Speaking at
Wellington's Victoria University law school yesterday, the former
leader, who served from 1989 to 1990, said New Zealand does not
have a credible climate change policy and "seems to have lost its
mojo in looking after the environment generally."
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1060013582/print 

Scientists are pushed to leap the gulf between their findings and
public opinion on climate change. Most scientists are willing and
ready to get involved in public policy debates, finds a poll
conducted by the Pew Research Center, even as communication
experts warned scientists last week of the pitfalls of
communicating about political hot potatoes such as climate
change.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1060013550/print 

Study finds that unregulated VSLS efficient at influencing
climate through depletion of stratospheric ozone. Although
halogens released from long-lived anthropogenic substances, such
as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), are the principal cause of the
recent depletion of stratospheric ozone, recent observations show
that very short-lived substances (VSLS), with lifetimes generally
under six months, are also an important source of stratospheric
halogens.
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2015/02/20150217-vsls.html 

DROUGHT

California Weighs New Drought Rules at Restaurants, Hotels.
Officials are considering new water restrictions as California's
drought drags on, possibly forcing residents to ask for water at
restaurants and for fresh towels and sheets at hotels. The State
Water Resources Control Board floated the ideas at an
informational hearing Tuesday as it considers extending and
expanding mandatory water-use rules.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2015/02/18/us/ap-us-california-drought.html


California water officials eye new restrictions in drought.  As
the California drought drags on, water officials are considering
expanding mandatory outdoor water restrictions on homeowners and
adding new limits on restaurants, hotels and decorative
fountains. At an informational meeting Tuesday, the State Water
Resources Control Board also appeared ready to extend existing
rules imposed last summer to boost water supplies. 
http://www.sacbee.com/news/state/article10540007.html#storylink=cpy


Drought could spur draining of Tulloch Lake. If winter weather
doesn’t return soon with a vengeance, Tulloch Lake – a popular
fishing and boating spot between Oakdale and Jamestown, and one
of California’s few reservoirs lined with thousands of homes –
might look more like a puddle by July. Draining the foothill lake
is one option available to the Oakdale and South San Joaquin
irrigation districts, which haven’t resorted to that
drought-coping measure in more than 20 years.
http://www.modbee.com/news/local/article10559816.html#storylink=cpy


Farms face 2nd year without river water. Growers in the Valley’s
$37 billion farm belt expect zero river water for 3m acres. The
next train wreck in California’s drought is headed for the San
Joaquin Valley this week when federal leaders forecast how much
river water farmers can expect to irrigate nearly 3 million acres
this summer. Most folks in farm country are expecting the same
number as last year.
http://www.modbee.com/news/article10577846.html#storylink=cpy 

Storms Bring Rain, Little Help For California's 'Meager'
Snowpack. The two storms that hit Northern California between
Friday and Monday morning brought the most significant rainfall
to the region since mid-December. However, despite the ample
rain, and from a half-foot to more than a foot of snow at some
Lake Tahoe ski resorts, the National Weather Service Western
Region reported that the Sierra Nevada snowpack saw “small
increases.” 
http://www.capradio.org/articles/2015/02/09/storms-bring-rain,-little-help-for-californias-meager-snowpack

 
DIESEL ACTIVITIES

Diesel Rises for Second Straight Week to $2.86. Fuel prices
continue to recover from their lowest levels in years, with both
diesel and gasoline increasing over the past week, according to
new U.S. Energy Department figures released on Tuesday. The
average cost of on-highway diesel is up 3 cents…
http://www.truckinginfo.com/channel/fuel-smarts/news/story/2015/02/diesel-costs-rise-for-second-straight-week-hitting-2-865.aspx


FUELS

Ohio City Loses Fight for Control Over Oil and Gas Drilling. An
Ohio city lost a battle for control over oil and gas drilling
permits within its borders with the Ohio Supreme Court saying the
authority belongs to the state. The ruling on Tuesday runs
counter to decisions issued by New York’s top court last year and
the highest Pennsylvania court in 2013 as local municipalities
concerned over the effects of hydraulic fracturing…
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-02-17/ohio-high-court-leaves-oil-gas-drilling-rules-in-state-s-hands


An Expensive Sunset for the Brent Oil Field. Cleaning up an oil
field in a forbidding environment like the North Sea may be
almost as formidable a task as developing one, and in the coming
years, those waters are likely to serve as a laboratory for what
happens when the useful lives of oil fields expire.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/19/business/international/royal-dutch-shell-dismantling-brent-oil-field-in-north-sea.html?ref=energy-environment&_r=1


Refinery explosion in Torrance compounds fears of higher gas
prices. An explosion Wednesday morning at the Exxon Mobil Corp.
refinery in Torrance is compounding concerns that limited oil
refining capacity in California could push up fuel prices. Fire
and police officials said a “second-alarm fire explosion”
occurred at the Torrance facility and closed Del Amo Boulevard
between Maple Avenue and Crenshaw Boulevard.
http://touch.latimes.com/#section/1780/article/p2p-82854187/ 

Here's how port labor strife could translate to higher gas
prices. Southern California fuel prices could jump sharply if
local refiners cut back on gasoline production because they can't
get rid of growing stockpiles of a byproduct known as petroleum
coke. The problem is a ripple effect of tense contract talks
between the International Longshore Workers Union…
http://www.scpr.org/news/2015/02/17/49903/here-s-how-port-labor-strife-could-translate-to-hi/

Biofuel from trash could create green jobs bonanza, says report.
Advanced biofuels industry could spur hundreds of thousands of
jobs across Europe, says new report, but key European parliament
vote next week could throw clean fuel ambitions into disarray.
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/feb/17/biofuel-from-trash-could-create-green-jobs-bonanza-says-report


Study challenges climate benefits of U.S. low-carbon fuels. A
recent study on the carbon footprint of biofuels is adding a new
wrinkle to the already corrugated landscape of alternative fuels
policies. University of Michigan research professor John DeCicco
wrote a study finding that the current method of calculating the
carbon emissions associated with transportation fuels is
essentially meaningless.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1060013547/feed 
GREEN ENERGY

UK energy regulation has shaped retail energy market-watchdog.
Britain's regulation of electricity and gas supply has shaped
competition in the retail energy sector, and several elements
will be investigated further, the Competition Markets Authority
(CMA) said on Wednesday. "The supply of electricity and gas is
heavily regulated, and the form that regulation takes has a
profound effect on the shape of competition in retail energy
markets,"…
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2015/02/18/britain-energy-competition-idUKL5N0VS0UM20150218


Dryers: Homes' energy guzzlers just got greener. For the first
time in six years, Energy Star certification, a standard seal of
approval for energy efficiency, has been expanded to include
another major household appliance. Clothes dryers, perhaps the
last of the major household appliances to be included in the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency's program, became available in 45
Energy Star models…
http://www.fresnobee.com/2015/02/18/4384778/dryers-homes-energy-guzzlers-just.html#storylink=cpy


 Community wind farm takes root near Ithaca. A proposed wind farm
in the Southern Tier could indicate something significant about
future of the state's energy grid. For the past eight years,
Marguerite Wells, an organic flower farmer, has quietly raised
more than $1 million to build seven wind turbines on a hillside
outside of Ithaca.
http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/albany/2015/02/8562419/community-wind-farm-takes-root-near-ithaca?news-image


Texas should consider 7 ways to increase energy efficiency –
report. Texas should examine seven approaches to boost energy
efficiency, from aligning electric companies' interests with the
concept to pinpointing a state agency that can develop programs,
a report said yesterday. The document, issued by the
South-central Partnership for Energy Efficiency as a Resource
(SPEER)…
http://www.eenews.net/energywire/stories/1060013607/print 

N.Y. green bank chief says 'near frontier' energy projects worth
$800M are moving ahead. The head of the Empire State's green bank
offered a rosy assessment of the program during an event last
week that examined the organization's first year in operation.
Caroline Angoorly, NY Green Bank's chief operating officer, was
positive about clean energy prospects during a forum hosted by
the New York University School of Law.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1060013606/print 

DOE joins with military to fight climate change with job training
for veterans. The Department of Energy said Friday it has
partnered with three military bases to teach new veterans needed
skills to work in the solar power industry. On Friday at Camp
Pendleton, the marine base north of San Diego, the pilot
program's first class of trainees finished their courses, which
are designed to prepare veterans for careers in sales, system
inspection, panel installation and other solar fields, the
department said.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1060013539/print 

Multi-state coordination needed to revive U.S. offshore wind
industry – report. Following a lackluster several months for
offshore wind in the United States, a new report argues that
interstate coordination is essential if the industry is going to
get back on its feet. Noting that the United States seems to have
entered the "post-Cape Wind" era…
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1060013495/print 

MISCELLANEOUS

US wholesale prices drop 0.8 percent in January. U.S. wholesale
prices fell by a record amount in January, led by the biggest
drop in gasoline prices in six years. The Labor Department said
Wednesday that its producer price index declined 0.8 percent last
month, the biggest drop in a data series that goes back to
November 2009 when the government changed the calculation methods
for its wholesale price index.
http://www.fresnobee.com/2015/02/18/4384772_us-wholesale-prices-drop-08-percent.html?rh=1#storylink=cpy


Noise and light pollution alters ecologies. Human noise and light
are creating fundamental changes in ecological communities --
changing the density, diversity and dependencies of bird species
that are biological barometers of the natural world. But peace
can be restored to the wilderness by enlisting technologies that
create a darker and more silent world, a panel of experts said
Monday in San Jose…
http://www.mercurynews.com/drought/ci_27539608/noise-and-light-pollution-alters-ecologies


Placer County Subsidizes Bicycles To Get Cars Off The Road. The
parking lot at Green Hills Elementary school is almost empty when
Principal Peter Towne pulls off his black helmet and swings his
bike into the rack. "It's a beautiful ride. I mean it's the
sunrise right now. It's gorgeous," says Towne. "I defy anyone
who's commuting in their car to hear a bird sing or make
friends."
http://www.capradio.org/articles/2015/02/17/placer-county-subsidizes-bicycles-to-get-cars-off-the-road/


Is Compostable Cutlery Really Breaking Down? There’s a growing
market for disposable eating utensils. They have names like
taterware or spudware -- forks and knives can be made out of
potato starch instead of plastic. You might buy the tableware
believing its better for the environment. But, that depends on
where you toss it out.
http://www.capradio.org/articles/2015/02/17/is-compostable-cutlery-really-breaking-down/

 
OPINIONS

Boosting renewable energy will improve our national security.
Gov. Jerry Brown’s goal to curb oil use by half and generate half
of California’s energy from renewable sources by 2030 is
laudable. Diversifying our energy sources, however, isn’t just
about creating jobs, investing in innovation or slowing climate
change. It’s really about keeping our industries, businesses and
families safe.
http://www.sacbee.com/opinion/op-ed/soapbox/article10546079.html#storylink=cpy


OTHER VIEWS: Can science solve climate change? What happens if
humans fail to cut carbon dioxide emissions enough to prevent
worsening climate change? A new report from the National Research
Council of the National Academy of Sciences contemplates some
very unattractive -- but potentially necessary -- backup plans. 
Ending deforestation seems like an obvious answer.
http://www.bakersfieldcalifornian.com/opinion/national-voices/x570379434/Can-science-solve-climate-change


Guest Editorial: Backup plans for the Earth on climate change.
What happens if humans fail to cut carbon dioxide emissions
enough to prevent worsening climate change? A new report from the
National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences
contemplates some very unattractive — but potentially necessary —
backup plans. Ending deforestation seems like an obvious answer.
http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/opinion/20150217/guest-editorial-backup-plans-for-the-earth-on-climate-change


BLOGS

Japan Looks to Ocean for Renewable Energy.  As an island nation,
Japan controls large swaths of ocean territory, about the
sixth-greatest expanse of any country in the world, according to
government data. That is stark contrast to its relatively meagre
land area, which ranks near the middle of list, in 60th place. So
it makes sense for Japan to look to the seas for renewable energy
— something it hasn’t done so far.
http://blogs.wsj.com/japanrealtime/2015/02/18/japan-looks-to-ocean-for-renewable-energy/?KEYWORDS=energy


The weird way that climate change could lead to new disease
outbreaks around the world. Climate change could be behind more
than just rising ocean levels, melting polar ice caps, and
extreme weather events – it could also be creating the ecological
basis for infectious diseases to spread to new places and new
hosts.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/innovations/wp/2015/02/18/the-weird-way-that-climate-change-could-lead-to-new-disease-outbreaks-around-the-world/


Can Wind Energy Be Counted On To Help Meet Obama's Carbon Goals?
The wind energy sector is perpetually facing headwinds. But
despite the challenges, those producers say that they are well
prepared to help the country meet carbon reduction goals under
the White House’s Clean Power Plan. That plan, which was unveiled
last summer and which will be finalized this June, will require a
reduction in heat-trapping emissions of 30 percent by 2030.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/kensilverstein/2015/02/18/can-wind-energy-be-counted-on-to-help-meet-obamas-carbon-goals/


Quoted: On Apple, Tesla and making electric cars. “If Apple was
going to make a car, it would be ten times easier to just buy
Tesla. But Apple doesn’t want a single branded experience, it
wants Apple in many, many cars.” — Tim Bajarin, analyst with
Creative Strategies, on reports that Apple is working on an
electric vehicle.
http://www.siliconbeat.com/2015/02/17/quoted-on-apple-tesla-and-making-electric-cars/


Update on the GM-Honda collaboration on Gen 2 Fuel Cell
Propulsion System. Over the past two years, GM and Honda have
been collaborating on next-generation fuel cell and hydrogen
storage systems, aiming at commercialization in the 2020 time
frame. (Earlier post.) At the SAE 2015 Hybrid & Electric Vehicle
Technologies Symposium in Los Angeles last week, Andrew Bosco,
Chief Engineer for fuel cell engineering at GM…
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2015/02/20150217-bosco.html

Britain’s most powerful politicians agree fighting climate change
is a jolly good idea. There’s good climate news from the United
Kingdom. On Saturday, the leaders of the country’s three major
parties — Conservative, Liberal Democrat, and Labor — all signed
a joint pledge to aggressively fight climate change and phase out
the use of coal.
http://grist.org/climate-energy/britains-most-powerful-politicians-agree-fighting-climate-change-is-a-jolly-good-idea/




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

ARB What's New

preload