What's New List Serve Post Display

ARB Newsclips for May 11, 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

Growing California cap-and-trade fund attracts surge of spending
proposals. With California’s growing cap-and-trade program
expected to yield a budgetary bonanza, lawmakers and interest
groups have ample ideas for how to spend the money. Floating
proposals ahead of a pivotal period for budget negotiations, they
say they want to fund port improvements, pay for heavy-duty
trucks and ferries, nurture urban rivers, sponge up carbon in
soil…
http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/state-budget/article20639208.html#storylink=cpy


Subnational Climate Leaders. Will Get Their Day In The Paris Sun.
Figueres, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), has promised officials
from the US state of California, the Canadian province of Québec
and other subnational jurisdictions that they will not be shunted
off to a side event during the upcoming UNFCCC negotiations in
Paris in December. Instead, they will have a place on the main
agenda…
http://www.ecosystemmarketplace.com/pages/dynamic/article.page.php?page_id=10950§ion=news_articles&eod=1
    

AIR POLLUTION

Newport Beach's Hixson has cut emissions of cancer-causing
pollutant, but not enough. A year ago, air district officials
cited Hixson Metal Finishing for high emissions of hexavalent
chromium, a cancer-causing pollutant. Today, chromium levels are
as much as 90 percent lower than a year ago, according to Hixson.
But air regulators say the company needs to do more.
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/hixson-661282-air-emissions.html

Reducing carbon emissions could save lives. Cutting power plant
carbon emissions saves lives, according to new research on the
way pollution affects public health. The study (paywall),
published this week, will become a key talking point for
supporters of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's latest
proposal for carbon pollution standards. Researchers — who began
their work before the EPA announced its plans…
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865628392/Reducing-carbon-emissions-could-save-lives-prevent-heart-attacks-new-research-shows.html
 

Feds, State reach agreement with Tonawanda Coke. Tonawanda Coke
has reached an agreement with The U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency and the New York State Department of Environmental
Conservation to reduce pollution. Tonawanda Coke will pay $2.75
million in civil penalties and $7.9 million to reduce air
pollution and enhance air and water quality.
http://www.wgrz.com/story/news/local/2015/05/11/feds-state-reach-agreement-with-tonawanda-coke/27117127/


These are the 8 air pollutants destroying the atmosphere. Back in
school, you'll have learned that the air in our atmosphere is
composed primarily of nitrogen, at 78%, and oxygen, at 21%, with
a number of other trace gases. It's to these trace gases we're
looking today – more specifically, at how human activity can
result in the release of air pollution in to the atmosphere.
http://www.compoundchem.com/2015/05/05/atmospheric-pollutants/#ixzz3ZqagNoVE


CLIMATE CHANGE

Sea rise threatens Florida coast, but no statewide plan.
America's oldest city is slowly drowning. St. Augustine's
centuries-old Spanish fortress and other national landmarks sit
feet from the encroaching Atlantic, whose waters already flood
the city's narrow, brick-paved streets about 10 times a year - a
problem worsening as sea levels rise.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_FLORIDAS_RISING_SEAS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


French president says UN climate fund could help Caribbean. 
French President Francois Hollande told Caribbean leaders on
Saturday that a planned international green fund could help the
vulnerable, tourism-dependent region mitigate the effects of
climate change. Hollande headlined the Caribbean Climate Summit,
which drew about 40 leaders or top officials from regional
nations including the Bahamas, Trinidad and Cuba…
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/CB_MARTINIQUE_FRANCE_CLIMATE_CHANGE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
    

Rudd in U.K. Energy Post Signals No Backtrack on Climate. Amber
Rudd was named to serve as the U.K. Cabinet minister in charge of
energy and climate, easing concerns that the Conservative
government would quickly backtrack on pledges to reduce
fossil-fuel pollution. Rudd, 51, was promoted from a junior post
at the Department of Energy & Climate Change…
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-05-11/rudd-in-u-k-energy-post-signals-no-backtrack-on-climate


Sea Levels Rose Less Than Thought, But at Faster Pace, Study
Says. Previous research was at odds with evidence of increased
melting from Greenland and Antarctica. Global sea levels over the
past two decades rose slightly less than previous estimates
suggest, though the rate of the rise has accelerated, according
to a new study based on more comprehensive measurements. The
research, published Monday in the journal Nature Climate Change,
may help to resolve an enigma…
http://www.wsj.com/articles/sea-levels-rose-less-than-thought-but-at-faster-pace-study-says-1431360556
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2015/05/11/sea-levels-are-rising-at-faster-clip-as-polar-melt-accelerates-new-data-shows/


Two Guys In Paris Aim To Charm The World Into Climate Action.
Here's a job that sounds perfect for either a superhero or a
glutton for punishment: Get nearly 200 countries to finally agree
to take serious action on climate change. Two men have taken on
this challenge. They're leading some international negotiations
that will wrap up later this year in Paris at a major United
Nations conference on climate change.
http://www.npr.org/2015/05/11/404200241/two-guys-in-paris-aim-to-charm-the-world-into-climate-action

http://www.scpr.org/news/2015/05/11/51599/two-guys-in-paris-aim-to-charm-the-world-into-clim/


Dunkin’ Brands Takes a Bite Out of GHG Emissions. Dunkin’ Brands
Group, the parent company of Dunkin’ Donuts and Baskin-Robbins,
says while overall GHG emissions increased by 8.5 percent between
2010 and 2014, GHG emissions generated by its corporate
facilities dropped 46 percent in the same period.
https://www.environmentalleader.com/2015/05/11/dunkin-brands-takes-a-bite-out-of-ghg-emissions/


New temperature records highlight global warming's continued
rise. New climate change records have come along to remind us
that Earth's thermostat is steadily pushing upward. More exactly,
there are two global high temperature records and a smattering of
climate change low points. March 2015 was the warmest March since
record-keeping began in 1880, says the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration.
http://www.cnn.com/2015/05/09/world/global-warming-record-quarter/index.html


Alameda County’s Climate Action Implementation. Addressing
climate change across an entire government structure isn’t easy.
So when the Alameda County Board of Supervisors decided they
wanted to reduce the county’s carbon footprint 15 percent by
2020, the Sustainability Team drafted a Climate Action Plan—a
blue print if you will, for how they would reach the goal.
http://www.publicceo.com/2015/05/alameda-countys-climate-action-implementation/


DROUGHT

Drought Transcends State Lines as U.S. West Turns Ever-More Arid.
The record drought plaguing California isn’t limited by lines on
a map. Arid conditions caused by dwindling rainfall and snowpack
are stretching across the West. In Washington’s Yakima Valley,
popular for growing wine grapes and beer hops, officials are
cutting off water to about 1,700 farmers for three weeks starting
today.
http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-05-11/drought-transcends-state-lines-as-u-s-west-turns-ever-more-arid


Facing drought cuts, Newport Beach gets tough on water use.
Newport Beach may soon enforce stricter water conservation
measures for local residents and businesses. The City Council is
expected to vote Tuesday on a staff recommendation to move to
Level 3 of the city's conservation plan. Under the proposal,
homeowners would have to restrict their water use in each billing
period to 75% of their average use for that period…
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-facing-drought-cuts-newport-beach-gets-tough-on-water-use-20150510-story.html


Taiwan aims to rein in water use amid unusual drought. As a
subtropical Pacific island, Taiwan normally gets a generous 98
inches of rain a year, keeping water prices so low that people
seldom think twice about taking a long hot shower, let alone
flushing the toilet. But that relaxed relationship with water has
dried up since February as Pacific Ocean temperatures have locked
Taiwan into one of its most severe droughts in decades…
http://www.latimes.com/world/asia/la-fg-taiwan-drought-20150510-story.html


Mormon Temple in West L.A. lets its landmark lawn turn brown. Bob
and Carolyn Millard were married at the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints' palatial Westwood temple more than 50 years
ago. Like many other Mormon brides, Carolyn posed for photos
alongside the temple's lush, green lawn and gardens. When she
visited the temple last
week…http://www.latimes.com/local/westside/la-me-temple-drought-20150511-story.html


Starbucks to cease Ethos bottling in California due to drought.
Starbucks says it will stop producing the bottled water brand
Ethos Water in California due to the drought and will instead
move the bottling operation to Pennsylvania. The change by the
Seattle-based coffee chain comes as some Californians have voiced
concerns about the potential impacts of bottled water plants on
local water supplies during the drought.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2015/05/11/starbucks-ethos-bottling-calif-drought/27105289/


Cellphone Video Captures Caltrans Sprinklers Watering Freeway
Hillsides In The Rain. Cellphone video taken Friday captured
images of California Department of Transportation sprinklers
going full blast along a freeway while a light rain fell and
after a night of showers. The watering of hillsides along the 101
Freeway and Barham Boulevard in Universal City comes at a time
when Californians have been deluged with pleas to save water
during the historic drought.
http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2015/05/08/cellphone-video-captures-caltrans-sprinklers-watering-freeway-hillsides-in-the-rain/


California drought: How the state's new water conservation rules
affect you. The administration of Gov. Jerry Brown last week
enacted historic new water conservation rules in response to
California's drought. The goal is to cut statewide water use by
urban residents 25 percent over the next nine months to help
preserve water supplies in case the drought continues through
next winter. Q Am I affected? A Yes. The rules apply to all 38
million California residents
http://www.mercurynews.com/drought/ci_28084647/california-drought-how-states-new-water-conservation-rules


Would a wild water plan work? Towed icebergs, tapping Columbia
River among suggestions to slake California's thirst.
California's current drought has brought back discussion of some
of the biggest -- or craziest -- ideas on how to save the Golden
State's thirst. These ideas, which circulated through previous
droughts, were never implemented, but also never went away.
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2015/may/09/grand-water-ideas/ 

CA looks to Australia for drought advice. Australia offers
lessons from its 12-year dry spell. Severe dry spells aren’t
unique to California. Just ask Australia, where the Millennium
Drought stretched from 1997 to 2009, devastating the southeastern
portion of the country and forever changing how it uses water.
For months now, water experts in California have asked their
counterparts Down Under for advice on drought management.
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2015/may/09/sacramento-drought-australia-california/


California pool, hot tub filling bans have industries steaming.
It's hard to imagine a California summer without long days
lounging by the pool. But as unprecedented drought sears the
state, the backyard swimming pool has become a target for cities
desperate to save water. As cities and water districts put the
squeeze on water users, even pool lovers are canceling
construction contracts.
http://www.mercurynews.com/drought/ci_28089043/california-pool-hot-tub-filling-bans-have-industries


California drought: Santa Clara Valley officials mull stepped-up
conservation. Think you're doing your part to save water -- and
that the problem is the guy with the lush lawn down the street,
not to mention water-guzzling farms? You're in good company. On
Saturday, local officials gathered to brainstorm how to kick
water conservation into high gear…
http://www.mercurynews.com/drought/ci_28084640/california-drought-santa-clara-valley-officials-mull-stepped


DIESEL ACTIVITIES

Wireless EV charging could slash emissions from idling trucks. In
an article in Transmission & Distribution World, a wireless
electric vehicle charging option could be the answer to slashing
emissions from idling trucks and vans. “Idling increases vehicle
exhaust in the air, which is linked to asthma, other lung
diseases, allergies, heart disease, and other health problems,”
the report said.
http://fleetowner.com/running-green/wireless-ev-charging-could-slash-emissions-idling-trucks


FUELS

Noble Energy's $2 billion Rosetta deal reopens U.S. shale oil
M&A. Noble Energy Inc said on Monday it would acquire Rosetta
Resources Inc. for about $2 billion in stock, marking the first
significant deal among U.S. shale oil producers following a steep
fall in global crude prices. A nearly 50 percent drop in crude
prices since June highs of over $100 per barrel has for months
raised expectations for a wave of mergers and acquisitions in the
highly-fragmented shale oil industry.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/05/11/us-rosetta-resource-m-a-noble-energy-idUSKBN0NW15420150511
 
http://www.wsj.com/articles/noble-energy-to-buy-smaller-rival-rosetta-resources-1431340141


OPEC Sees Oil Price Below $100 a Barrel in the Next Decade.
Pessimistic Assessment May Mean That the Oil Cartel Returns to
Production Quotas. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting
Countries doesn’t see oil prices consistently trading at $100
barrel again in the next decade, a pessimistic assessment that
has the group considering the return of production limits to
influence the market…
http://www.wsj.com/articles/opec-sees-oil-price-below-100-a-barrel-in-the-next-decade-1431347035?KEYWORDS=CLIMATE+CHANGE


Canadian First Nation spurns $1B offer for gas project. In the
second of three votes, band members of the British Columbia First
Nation Lax Kw'alaams unanimously rejected a $1 billion offer for
a liquefied natural gas project. Headed by Malaysian state-owned
energy company Petronas, the Pacific NorthWest LNG joint venture
would have shelled out $1 billion in cash over 40 years to the
3,600-member band alongside…
http://www.eenews.net/energywire/2015/05/11/stories/1060018265 

VEHICLES

Volvo selects South Carolina for new $500-million auto plant. 
Volvo Cars will build a $500-million plant in South Carolina that
will eventually employ up to 4,000 people, the company announced
Monday. The company said its first American plant, to be located
about 30 miles from the Port of Charleston, is expected to make
about 100,000 vehicles a year initially.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-volvo-south-carolina-20150511-story.html


Electric Cars: What's Needed To Eliminate Gasoline, Diesel In 25
Years. More than four years after the first modern electric cars
went on sale in significant numbers, concerted efforts by
carmakers, governments, and assorted advocates have ensured a
modicum of success. But what more would it take to move electric
cars from the small niche they currently occupy to the dominant
form of vehicle?
http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1098230_electric-cars-whats-needed-in-25-years-to-eliminate-gasoline-diesel


HIGH-SPEED RAIL

Doing the math on California's bullet train fares. Riding
California's bullet train from Los Angeles to San Francisco would
cost "about $50 a person," supporters wrote in ballot arguments
seven years ago when voters approved billions in funding for the
project. In the years since, the state high-speed rail agency has
projected the fare would be $83, $105 and, most recently, $86.
http://www.latimes.com/local/politics/la-me-adv-bullet-fares-20150510-story.html#page=1


GREEN ENERGY

Assessing the Energy Efficiency Gap. Global energy consumption is
on a path to grow 30-50 percent over the next 25 years, bringing
with it, in many countries, increased local air pollution,
greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and oil consumption, as well as
higher energy prices.  Energy-efficient technologies offer
considerable promise for reducing the costs and environmental
damages associated with energy use…
http://theenergycollective.com/robertstavins/2225021/assessing-energy-efficiency-gap


Global Energy Trends and Implications for India: Transitioning to
a Low Carbon Energy System. The global energy system is in a
period of rapid transformation: electricity plays an ever more
important role, as do renewables, distributed generation and
electric vehicles. Energy efficiency is improving. Emissions are
a large and growing concern. New technologies and business models
are disrupting and challenging a traditionally risk-averse and
slow-moving industry.
http://theenergycollective.com/tobias-engelmeier/2225316/global-energy-trends-and-implications-india-part-55-transitioning-low-carb


OPINIONS

Promoters of renewable energy failed to account for the return of
cheap oil. The green energy movement in America is dead. May it
rest in peace. No, a majority of American energy over the next 20
years is not going to come from windmills and solar panels. One
important lesson to be learned from the green energy fad’s rapid
and expensive demise is that central planning doesn’t work.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/may/10/stephen-moore-green-energy-movement-dies-failed-to/#ixzz3Zr11aQBz


Jerry Brown's strategy on green energy and fracking. To the
editor: I am no fan of fracking, but I doubt Gov. Jerry Brown is
blind to its many dangers. I suspect that, like President Obama,
he considers this natural gas boom to be an interim step on the
way to clean energy — it's doing good by killing coal, and nobody
is building new nuclear plants. ("Fracking: Jerry Brown's
environmental blind spot," op-ed, May 4).
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/readersreact/la-le-0510-sunday-jerry-brown-fracking-20150510-story.html


Why public opinion on climate change doesn't matter. To the
editor: Stanford political scientist Jon A. Krosnick is puzzled
that legislators ignore popular opinion on climate change. Years
of polling data, he says, show a majority of people acknowledge
climate change and that government needs to control greenhouse
gas emissions.
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/readersreact/la-le-0509-saturday-climate-change-20150509-story.html


Rip out lawns now, or pay later.  It's tough now, but a fifth or
sixth year of drought will force even more difficult choices
between what's most important to Californians personally and
economically — between such things as long showers, lawns,
sanitation, safe drinking water, an agricultural economy that has
already lost 17,000 jobs and urban small businesses that depend
on water.
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/readersreact/la-le-0510-sunday-california-lawns-20150510-story.html


Learning to love global warming. Thank god for climate change. I
realized that global warming is a good thing on Saturday. I was
standing on the edge of a precipice on a cloud enshrouded Dewey
Point at 7,200 feet — some 3,200 feet above the Yosemite Valley
floor. In brief breaks in the misty clouds engulfing sheer
granite cliffs in a fashion more striking than fog rolling across
the Golden Gate Bridge…
http://www.mantecabulletin.com/section/38/article/123812/ 

EDITORIAL: FEMA climate change mandate on states must be dropped.
It is an understatement to say that states and the federal
government have a strained relationship these days. Perhaps the
biggest factor in this worsening relationship is the federal
government’s obsession with bullying the states into doing what
it wants them to do.
http://www.reviewjournal.com/opinion/editorial-fema-climate-change-mandate-states-must-be-dropped


California's drought is Asia's nightmare. California's drought is
big news in Asia. It's partly because, from Hollywood movies to
Silicon Valley high-tech, Asians are interested in all things
Californian. And their diets include grocery bags full of
California products, from walnuts to wine to cheese and cashew
nuts. Just as well, California's drought has become Asia's
nightmare.
http://www.cnn.com/2015/05/11/opinions/clifford-california-asia-water-solutions/


Opinion: How Ontario and Quebec can fight climate change
together. Over the past year, Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard
and Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne have become fast friends.
They’ve got a lot in common, including a conviction to combat
climate change. But if they are sincere about being climate
leaders, they also need to take concrete actions in their own
backyards.
http://montrealgazette.com/news/national/opinion-how-ontario-and-quebec-can-fight-climate-change-together


BLOGS

The Daily Startup: Biofuels Company Joule Pulls In $40 Million.
Biofuels company Joule Unlimited has raised $40 million in a
round that was led by Flagship Ventures, bringing the startup’s
total  funding to $200 million, Yuliya Chernova reports for Dow
Jones VentureWire. Roughly 85% of the round was equity, and the
rest of the funding was debt, according to the company. Joule is
years away from commercializing its process in which bacteria are
injected into outdoor units…
http://blogs.wsj.com/venturecapital/2015/05/11/the-daily-startup-biofuels-company-joule-pulls-in-40-million/

Apple Expands Renewable-Energy Goal — Energy Journal.  Apple Inc.
says its supply chain uses about 60 times as much power as its
own facilities, so it wants to create enough renewable energy to
power that chain, Daisuke Wakabayashi reports. Apple has already
pledged to create sufficient energy through renewable sources to
power its own global operations, and it says it generates
renewable energy equivalent… 
http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2015/05/11/apple-expands-renewable-energy-goal-energy-journal/?KEYWORDS=CLIMATE+CHANGE

Car (Electrification) Trouble? GM Says Demand For Electric Cars
Has Not Met Projections. General Motors GM +0.06% said demand for
electrified vehicles has fallen short of initial projects.  Does
this signal future problems with consumer acceptance of EVs? GM
expects to fall short of its stated U.S. goal of 500,000 vehicles
that have some form of electrification on the road by 2017…
http://www.forbes.com/sites/brookecrothers/2015/05/11/car-electrification-trouble-gm-says-demand-for-electric-cars-has-not-met-projections/


A No Brainer: Strengthen Air Quality Standards Now. Does your kid
have learning problems? Does he have problems concentrating and
he is easily distracted? Is he doing poorly in school? There can
be a host of reasons for these problems. But a recent study is
confirming the notion that pollution coming from fossil fuels,
such as gasoline and coal, can inflict lasting damage on the
human brain development…
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/javier-sierra/a-no-brainer-strengthen-air-quality-standards-now_b_7256360.html


What’s the cheapest new car to drive? Hint: It’s an EV. There is
a common perception that electric cars are really expensive. It
isn’t helped by media fawning over the high-end Tesla Model S,
which has a base price of $71,000. But most EVs cost much less
than that, and measured over a five-year span, the total cost of
owning and operating the more affordable EVs can actually be
lower than the cheapest gas-swilling econo-boxes.
http://grist.org/business-technology/whats-the-cheapest-new-car-to-drive-hint-its-an-ev/




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