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newsclips -- ARB Newsclips for April 16, 2015.

Posted: 16 Apr 2015 15:24:46
ARB Newsclips for April 16, 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.

AIR POLLUTION

Some governors push back over McConnell letter to defy EPA.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's call for governors to
defy proposed federal rules to limit pollution has been met with
mostly silence, but leaders in downwind New England states and
drought-stricken areas in the West are pushing back. The Kentucky
Republican wrote to all the nation's governors in March after the
Environmental Protection Agency… 
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_EPA_RULES_GOVERNORS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

How Do You Keep Your Kids Healthy in Smog-Choked China?  On a
recent morning in Arizona, my two young sons padded out into
their grandparents’ garden to marvel at the flowers of a hedgehog
cactus. The spectacular pink and yellow blossoms of this
particular plant burst open once a year and last for only a day.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/16/magazine/how-do-you-keep-your-kids-healthy-in-smog-choked-china.html?_r=0


CLIMATE CHANGE

Court skeptical of challenge to Obama's climate change plan. Two
out of three judges on a federal appeals court panel are
expressing doubts about a legal challenge to the Obama
administration's far-reaching plan to address climate change. The
U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit heard
arguments Thursday in two cases challenging the Environmental
Protection Agency's proposal to cut heat-trapping pollution from
the nation's coal-fired power plants. 
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_CLEAN_AIR_LAWSUITS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

Other related articles:
http://www.latimes.com/nation/sns-tns-bc-env-climatechange-20150415-story.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/17/us/legal-battle-begins-over-obama-bid-to-curb-greenhouse-gases.html?_r=1


Ban Ki-Moon Presses Rich Nations for $100 Billion Climate Plan.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon stepped up pressure on the
richest nations and investors to detail how they will meet a
pledge to provide developing nations $100 billion a year for
climate-related programs by 2020. The United Nations will convene
a meeting on the issue in New York next month and wants clear
commitments on support for the least-developed countries and
islands most at risk of being swamped by rising sea levels, Ban
said on Wednesday.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-04-15/ban-ki-moon-presses-rich-nations-for-100-billion-climate-plan


Vatican Announces Major Summit On Climate Change. Catholic
officials announced on Tuesday plans for a landmark climate
change-themed conference to be hosted at the Vatican later this
month, the latest in Pope Francis’ faith-rooted campaign to raise
awareness about global warming. The summit, which is scheduled
for April 28 and entitled “Protect the Earth, Dignify Humanity.
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/04/15/3647548/vatican-announces-major-summit-climate-change/


Four things Ontario’s cap-and-trade plan must get right.  This
week, Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne made a major announcement in
the battle against climate change: Ontario will join Quebec and
California in a “cap and trade” system to limit greenhouse-gas
emissions. This is an important continuation of the trend to
using carbon pricing to cut such emissions and Ontario’s decision
to move ahead represents a very positive step forward for
Canada.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-debate/four-things-ontarios-cap-and-trade-plan-must-get-right/article23986697/
 

State may have undercounted wildfire emissions when establishing
climate target – study. California's pursuit of greenhouse gas
reductions could be complicated by uncertainty about how much
carbon the state's forests contain. A new study by scientists at
the University of California, Berkeley, and the National Park
Service finds that California regulators may have underestimated
the emissions generated by forest fires and deforestation when
legislators passed the state's 2006 law, A.B. 32, that set a
statewide 2020 target of 1990 emissions levels.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2015/04/16/stories/1060016885 

Support for carbon tax reaches almost 70%. A large majority of
Americans support taxing carbon emissions, according to polling
results released yesterday, and favorability rises to two-thirds
if the tax is used to send money back to households. The survey
by Stanford University and Resources for the Future also found
that efforts by environmental organizations to increase urgency
around climate change by pointing to extreme weather isn't
working, and neither are efforts to erode people's belief in
global warming by questioning the science.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2015/04/16/stories/1060016859

Wildfires emit more greenhouse gases than assumed in state
climate targets.  The findings, published online today
(Wednesday, April 15), in the journal Forest Ecology and
Management, came from a collaborative project led by the National
Park Service and UC Berkeley. The results could have implications
for California’s efforts to meet goals mandated by the state
Global Warming Solutions Act, or AB 32, to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions to 1990 levels by the year 2020. The bill, which passed
in 2006, assumed no net emissions for wildland ecosystems by
2020.
https://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2015/04/15/california-carbon/ 

DROUGHT

California faces fight over historic water rationing plans. More
than 200 letters leveling criticisms at a plan to force
Californians to slash urban water use by 25% make it clear just
how difficult it will be for regulators to enforce Gov. Jerry
Brown's unprecedented mandate. In the week since the State Water
Resources Control Board announced its proposal to cut water use
statewide, tiny rural towns, huge urban water agencies… 
http://touch.latimes.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-83310420/

Heat, drought, swimming pools helped spread record West Nile
disease outbreak in Calif.  Factors like drought, heat and
neglected swimming pools converged to create California's record
West Nile virus outbreak last year, experts say. Last week, the
California Department of Public Health announced that 2014 was
officially the state's worst year for the infection, with 31
fatalities. Health officials detected 801 infections, approaching
the 2005 record of 880 cases. Orange County, which has more than
3 million residents and includes Anaheim, Santa Ana and Irvine,
suffered 263 cases, the highest in the state. 
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2015/04/16/stories/1060016880

VEHICLES

Hydrogen Fuel Cell Cars Return for Another Run.  For decades,
hydrogen has been the Dracula of automotive fuels: Just when you
think a stake has been driven through its zero-emissions heart,
the technology rises from the grave. In 2015, even with gasoline
cheaper than it has been in years, hydrogen is back to haunt
those who insist that battery electric vehicles are the long-term
solution for reducing fossil fuel consumption and carbon dioxide
emissions.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/17/automobiles/hydrogen-fuel-cell-cars-return-for-another-run.html


Scenarios For 2030 Zero-Emissions Cars In CA: Hydrogen Or Not? 
With epic smog in the Los Angeles Basin, the state of California
has led the nation's charge to reduce emissions from road
vehicles for more than half a century. And it is now state policy
to reduce emissions of climate-change gases, primarily carbon
dioxide, from its 30 million-plus road vehicles by a whopping 80
percent by 2050.
http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1097840_scenarios-for-2030-zero-emissions-cars-in-ca-hydrogen-or-not


GREEN ENERGY 

Apple digs in on green with China solar, US forest projects. In a
quest to be more green, Apple says it is investing in Chinese
solar power and preserving forests that make environmentally
friendly paper. The initiatives come as the tech giant this year
met a self-imposed goal of powering all its U.S. operations with
renewable energy to reduce carbon emissions - initiatives that
have won high marks from environmental groups. 
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_TEC_APPLES_FORESTS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


BP dropped green energy projects worth billions to focus on
fossil fuels. Oil firm invested billions of pounds in clean and
low-carbon energy in the 80s and 90s but later abandoned
meaningful efforts to move away from fossil fuels and locked away
the research. BP pumped billions of pounds into low-carbon
technology and green energy over a number of decades but
gradually retired the programme to focus almost exclusively on
its fossil fuel business, the Guardian has established. 
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/apr/16/bp-dropped-green-energy-projects-worth-billions-to-focus-on-fossil-fuels

BLOGS

Climate Action Is Driving Innovation and Our Economy.  Forty-four
years ago this month, EPA announced its first set of national air
quality standards under the Clean Air Act. That's 44 years of
people breathing easier, staying healthier and, for many, knowing
they can walk outside and see the beauty of the mountains and
blue skies that surround them. There's another big benefit of
these standards and other actions we've taken under the Clean Air
Act that we don't talk about enough: They help grow our economy.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gina-mccarthy/climate-action-is-driving_b_7072048.html


How Almonds Became A Scapegoat For California's Drought. You may
have heard by now that it takes one gallon of water to produce
just one almond. And those are considered fighting words in
drought-stricken California, which produces 80 percent of the
world's supply of the tasty and nutritious nut. So when almond
grower Daniel Bays hears that, he just shakes his head. "Almonds
really aren't more thirsty than any of our other crops, " says
Bays, a third-generation farmer in Westley, Calif. It's a small
farming community about 90 minutes southeast of San Francisco
where his family has about 700 acres of almond orchards. They
also grow tomatoes, melons, beans, wheat and apricots.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2015/04/16/399958203/how-almonds-became-a-scapegoat-for-californias-drought



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

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