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 June 3, 2015.

Posted: 03 Jun 2015 16:16:31
ARB Newsclips for June 3, 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

Factbox: Carbon trading schemes around the world. Europe's top
oil and gas companies this week urged governments around the
world to introduce a pricing system for carbon emissions.While a
global carbon market remains elusive a report published by the
World Bank last week showed 40 nations and over 20 cities, states
and regions now have a price on CO2 emissions, covering around 12
percent of annual global greenhouse gas
emissions…http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/06/03/us-carbontrading-factbox-idUSKBN0OJ24Q20150603


Oil majors' climate call exposes U.S.-Europe rift on carbon
pricing. The failed attempt by the world's oil majors to speak on
climate change action with one voice has laid bare disagreement
between U.S. and European companies on putting a price on carbon.
The world's top oil companies have struggled for years to form a
joint front in the face of growing criticism for not taking
leadership against climate change.
http://www.businessinsider.com/r-oil-majors-climate-call-exposes-us-europe-rift-on-carbon-pricing-2015-6#ixzz3c1IFZx64


Carbon Prices Around the World are Consistently Too Low. Carbon
pricing is spreading rapidly around the world [i].  However
prices almost everywhere are far too low at the moment to price
emissions efficiently.  The chart below summarises carbon prices
in those jurisdictions with pricing.  The horizontal axis shows
volumes, the vertical axis shows prices, as in a conventional
commodity supply curve.
http://theenergycollective.com/onclimatechangepolicy/2235281/carbon-prices-around-world-are-consistently-too-low
 

Big Oil & Gas Embraces Carbon Pricing. Six of the world’s major
oil and gas companies have called for national or regional carbon
pricing. They also propose that governments and the United
Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change work on creating
“clear, stable, ambitious policy frameworks that could eventually
connect national systems.” These actions would reduce global
uncertainty and encourage wide and cost-effective ways to reduce
carbon emissions.
http://cleantechnica.com/2015/06/02/big-oil-gas-embraces-carbon-pricing/


AIR POLLUTION

Appeals court sides with EPA on air pollution limits. A federal
appeals court ruled Tuesday that the Environmental Protection
Agency complied with the law in deciding which areas of the
country failed to meet federal limits on smog-forming pollution
that can cause asthma and respiratory illness. The U.S. Court of
Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rejected challenges
from states, industry and environmental groups that claimed the
agency…
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/6632adb542aa481d8135bf44b87a9817/appeals-court-sides-epa-air-pollution-limits

OTHER RELATED STORIES
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2015/06/02/us/politics/ap-us-epa-smog-enforcement.html?_r=0


E.P.A. to Set New Limits on Airplane Emissions. The Obama
administration is set to announce that it will require new rules
to cut emissions from airplanes, expanding a quest to tackle
climate change that has included a string of significant
regulations on cars, trucks and power plants. The Environmental
Protection Agency is expected to report as early as Friday its
conclusion that greenhouse gas emissions from airplanes…
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/03/business/energy-environment/epa-to-set-new-limits-on-airplane-emissions.html

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/u-s-may-take-first-step-to-curb-airline-emissions-this-week/


China's Air Pollution Is Bad, But India's Is Far, Far Worse.
Discuss countries with the worst air pollution, and China
typically rises to the top of the list like smoke from a chimney.
Maybe it's the high-profile coverage of Beijing's smog-choked
air, or the fact that China is now the world's largest new-car
market, but either way the country is a poster child for
pollution. Yet China doesn't necessarily have the dirtiest air in
the world.
http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1098567_chinas-air-pollution-is-bad-but-indias-is-far-far-worse


Study finds air quality in northern Alberta better than in
province’s big cities. First Nations near oilsands says full
story not told. Levels of three major pollutants in the oilsands
region did not increase much in the past 15 years as open pit
mining expanded, says a professor in the University of Alberta’s
school of public health.A study of 15 years of data beginning in
1998 shows only a “small” change in air quality…
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/edmonton/Study+finds+quality+northern+Alberta+better+than/11105181/story.html


CLIMATE CHANGE

Colorado coal mine appeals climate change court ruling. A
Colorado coal mine at the center of a legal fight over whether
coal's impact on climate change needs to be considered before it
is mined wants to make sure it can keep operating while it
appeals a federal court ruling. On Friday, the Colowyo Coal Co.
asked the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver to
overturn a ruling requiring federal regulators to redo their
environmental review…
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_COAL_MINES_CLIMATE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


OTHER RELATED STORIES
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2015/06/02/us/ap-us-coal-mines-climate.html


Rich states can't meet 2020 climate aid goal alone: researchers.
An international commitment to provide $100 billion a year by
2020 to help vulnerable countries tackle climate change is
unlikely to be met if only government funding from rich nations
is counted towards it, researchers said. At U.N. climate
negotiations, some developing countries have argued the annual
$100 billion should come entirely from developed nations'
treasuries…
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2015/06/03/us-climate-change-finance-idUKKBN0OJ0LV20150603


Exxon CEO Says Europe Should See Climate Benefits of Shale Gas.
Exxon Mobil Corp. CEO Rex Tillerson said Europe should see the
“tremendous environmental benefits” of producing natural gas from
shale, pointing to the U.S. output boom as a model for cutting
greenhouse-gas emissions. “Natural gas and shale have been
instrumental in reducing CO2 emissions to levels not seen since
the 1990s”…
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-06-02/exxon-ceo-says-europe-should-see-climate-benefits-of-shale-gas


Rousseff’s Washington Visit Spurring Talks on Climate Divide.
When Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff visits Washington this
month, the climate-change schism between developing countries
like hers and the U.S. will be front and center on the agenda.
The U.S. and other industrial nations say the entire world must
limit emissions…
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-06-03/rousseff-s-washington-visit-spurs-talks-on-climate-change-divide
      

Climate Deal Badly Needs a Big Stick. Few economists are as
versed in the global diplomatic effort to combat climate change
as Nicholas Stern of Britain. So it was particularly distressing
to hear him say, at a debate in New York a few weeks ago, that
the international effort to achieve a worldwide climate agreement
in Paris next December is already falling short on its most
critical goal.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/03/business/energy-environment/climate-deal-badly-needs-a-big-stick.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&smid=tw-nytimesscience&_r=0


EPA Climate Plan Sent to White House for Review. Obama’s
controversial carbon-emission rules for power plants could be
released by Labor Day. The Obama administration has teed up a
busy summer on climate change, with the final review of its
tentpole climate rule swinging into action. The Environmental
Protection Agency sent its rules on carbon emissions for existing
power plants…
http://www.nationaljournal.com/energy/epa-climate-plan-sent-to-white-house-for-review-20150602


Ahead of COP21, scientists discuss implementable and available
climate solutions. With pressure mounting for governments to
agree in December on an ambitious plan to curb climate change,
scientists are working across disciplines and perspectives to
shed light on the climate solutions are currently implementable
and available. “This conference is really about bringing
different countries…
http://www.trust.org/item/20150602193534-hdzx6/ 

Burning Coal Is Hot; Its Warming Is Far Hotter. Think of a
holiday road trip’s effect on the climate this way: The amount of
heat a car  contributes to the atmosphere because of its carbon
emissions may be 100,000 times greater than the actual heat given
off by its engine. That’s the conclusion of a Carnegie
Institution for Science study published Tuesday that shows two
things: Emissions from burning a lump of coal or a gallon of gas
has an effect on the climate…
http://www.climatecentral.org/news/fossil-fuels-heat-climate-dramatically-19062


Private sector must pay more into $100bn global climate fund,
says report. World Resources Institute advises businesses as well
as governments to increase funding to enable poor countries to
cut emissions and rebuild infrastructure. The global target of
directing $100bn to poor countries to help them cope with climate
change is likely to be missed unless private sector finance is
ramped up significantly, a new analysis has found.
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jun/03/private-sector-climate-change-development-fund


New climate change regulations expected by end of June. 
Alberta's new climate change regulations will be set before the
current regulations expire at the end of June, the province's new
environment minister announced Tuesday. "This government will
take leadership on the issue of climate change and make sure
Alberta is part of crafting solutions with
stakeholders…http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/new-climate-change-regulations-expected-by-end-of-june-1.3097149


US, EU fall flat on cutting forest emissions. Follow Mexico’s
lead, world’s 2nd and 3rd emitter told as emissions pledge for
climate pact freeze out forests, study says. The United States
and European Union are shirking chances to dent greenhouse gas
emissions arising from forests and agriculture, a report charged
on Tuesday.
http://www.rtcc.org/2015/06/02/us-eu-fall-flat-on-cutting-forest-emissions/#sthash.xbgtBjrD.dpuf


Climate change could turn Texas-sized swath of Amazon rainforest
into a savanna – study. Scientists worry that in addition to the
threat of deforestation, climate change-driven shifts in rainfall
could further compromise one of the planet's biggest carbon sinks
by transforming vast swaths of South America's Amazon rainforest
into savannas.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2015/06/03/stories/1060019564

New model shows corals may fare better in a warming world than
previously thought. Researchers have tested a new climate and
coral reef forecasting model assessing how corals respond to
stress and found it to be both more accurate and less doomsday
when it comes to predicting the future of coral reefs under
climate
changehttp://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2015/06/03/stories/1060019565


DROUGHT

Californians Are Encouraged by Sharp Drop in Water Use.
Californians cut their water use in April by 13.5 percent over
the same month two years ago, a big improvement from March and
the first indication of how the state is reacting to mandatory
water cutbacks imposed by Gov. Jerry Brown to deal with the
region’s ongoing drought.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/03/us/californians-are-encouraged-by-sharp-drop-in-water-use.html

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-drought-conservation-20150602-story.html#page=1


The Latest: State to Use Satellites to Eye Unplanted Fields.
State water officials say they will use satellite surveillance
from high above farms in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta
as one way of confirming that fields have been left fallow under
voluntary conservation agreements with farmers. Growers with some
of the strongest water rights in the delta east of San Francisco
offered to reduce their water consumption this summer
by…http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2015/06/02/us/ap-us-california-drought-the-latest.html

http://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/article22934751.html

http://www.sfgate.com/news/science/article/The-Latest-Study-says-drought-cost-to-grow-by-6302083.php


Los Angeles County Orders Water Fees to Reach State Cutback Goal.
Los Angeles County officials voted on Tuesday to charge water
users for over-consumption in areas hit with some of California's
toughest reduction mandates as the state withers from a four-year
drought.
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2015/06/02/us/02reuters-usa-drought-losangeles.html


California's largest lake threatened by drought, water transfer.
Once-bustling marinas on shallow water in California's largest
lake a few years ago are bone-dry. Carcasses of oxygen-starved
tilapia lie on desolate shores. Flocks of eared grebes and
shoreline birds bob up and down to feast on marine life. An air
of decline and strange beauty permeates the Salton Sea: The lake
is shrinking — and on the verge of getting much smaller as more
water goes to coastal cities.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/ct-salton-sea-drying-up-20150603-story.html#page=1


Study Predicts the Drought Will Cost the State $500 Million More
in 2015. A new economic forecast says that the impact of
California's drought will grow by $500 million in 2015 to a total
of $2.7 billion. The study was released today from University of
California at Davis. The study shows a predicted one third
increase in the number of acres that farmers are fallowing for
lack of water. The total acreage of unused land is now at 564,000
acres in the state.
http://www.kgoradio.com/common/page.php?id=127482 

New Growing Technique Relieves Drought Stricken Avocado Farmers.
Farmers are being widely criticized during the California drought
because agriculture uses the majority of the state's water. But
some farmers are cutting back by employing new techniques. A
recent study used half as much water to yield twice as much
fruit. If an avocado was grown in the U.S. it most likely ripened
in California where 90 percent of the nation’s crop originates.
http://www.capradio.org/articles/2015/06/03/new-growing-technique-relieves-drought-stricken-avocado-farmers/


Drought Takes $2.7-Billion Toll on California Agriculture. The
record-breaking drought in California—brought about by a severe
lack of precipitation, especially mountain snows—has exacted a
$2.7 billion toll on the state’s economy because of agricultural
losses, researchers said Tuesday. During a briefing for the
California Department of Food & Agriculture, scientists from the
University of California, Davis, told officials that based…
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/drought-takes-2-7-billion-toll-on-california-agriculture/


VIDEO: The drought message is getting through: California, O.C.
cut back water use. Californians have apparently gotten the
drought message, cutting back their water use 13.5 percent in
April compared with the same month in 2013. All Orange County
water districts reported using less water in April, the latest
numbers reported to the state Tuesday. Water conservation
improved over the previous month.
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/water-664086-use-percent.html


Agriculture losses from drought set to jump 23% this year, but
economy is coping. This year, California farmers will likely
experience worse drought conditions than they did in 2014, but a
preliminary report suggests the economic impacts won't be as
severe as some researchers had anticipated. According to data
collected by researchers at the University of California, Davis,
the amount of available surface water supply will be about 33
percent less on average.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2015/06/03/stories/1060019566 

DIESEL ACTIVITIES

For truck drivers at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach,
it's a waiting game. More than 40 percent of U.S. imports flow
through the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. An army of
14,000 short-haul truck drivers are tasked with hauling that
cargo from the port complex to warehouses and rail yards around
Southern California. But some of those truckers say, despite
their critical role at the
ports…http://www.scpr.org/news/2015/06/02/52126/for-truck-drivers-at-the-ports-of-los-angeles-and/


Green Groups Renew Call For Global Ship Emissions Cap, Wants
Action at MEPC 69. The Clean Shipping Coalition (CSC), the Marine
Conservation Society, and 10 other environmental groups Tuesday
issued a press release urging European Union (EU) climate
ministers to submit proposals for a global ship emissions cap at
the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
(UNFCCC) and International Marine Organization (IMO) levels.
http://shipandbunker.com/news/world/333509-green-groups-renew-call-for-global-ship-emissions-cap-wants-action-at-mepc-69


FUELS

Battles over oil pipelines on 3 fronts in Minnesota. Battles over
climate change and oil pipelines come to a head on three fronts
in Minnesota this week. Environmental groups have high hopes for
a "Tar Sands Resistance March" to the State Capitol on Saturday
with the aim of keeping Canadian crude in the ground instead of
piping it across the state via an expanded Alberta Clipper
pipeline.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_OIL_PIPELINES?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


Oil and gas turn their backs on coal as climate deal nears.
Chemistry books say there are three fossil fuels: coal, oil and
natural gas. Lately you could get the impression that coal is the
only one. As a global agreement to rein in climate-warming carbon
emissions draws closer, oil and gas companies are increasingly
talking about coal as the problem and describing themselves as a
crucial part of the solution…
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_FOSSIL_FUELS_FEUD?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


OTHER RELATED STORIES
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2015/06/03/world/europe/ap-eu-fossil-fuels-feud.html

http://www.sfgate.com/business/energy/article/Oil-and-gas-turn-their-backs-on-coal-as-climate-6303532.php


Big Oil's Plan to Become Big Gas. Oil companies that have pumped
trillions of barrels of crude from the ground are now saying the
future is in their other main product: natural gas, a fuel
they’re promoting as the logical successor to coal. With almost
200 nations set to hammer out a binding pact on carbon emissions
in December, fossil-fuel companies led by Royal Dutch Shell Plc
and Total SA…
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-06-01/big-oil-becomes-big-gas-as-climate-threat-spurs-tussle-with-coal


For Green Activists, Arctic Drilling Could Be the Next Big Thing.
Michael Brune is pleased that activists in kayaks are training
for another "Paddle in Seattle" to confront an expected Royal
Dutch Shell rig on its way to the Arctic to explore for oil. What
makes the head of the Sierra Club just as happy is the effect
Shell's Arctic ambitions are having on his own environmental
organization. Sierra's funding drive against the resumption in…
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2015/06/03/world/europe/03reuters-usa-shell-arctic-insight.html


BP Ceases Production at Australian Bulwer Island Refinery. BP has
ceased production at its 102,000 barrels-per-day (bpd) Bulwer
Island refinery in Brisbane and is preparing to convert the site
into a jet fuel import terminal, a company spokeswoman told
Reuters on Wednesday. The refinery shut its major units
throughout May and has now completely ceased production, the
spokeswoman added.
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2015/06/03/business/03reuters-australia-bp-refinery.html


Enviros jump into fracking rule litigation -- on government's
side. After two months of public speculation over how
environmental groups would respond to the Obama administration's
new regulations for hydraulic fracturing, a coalition of
conservation groups has come out on the government's side --
seeking to defend the rule in federal court. The Wilderness
Society, the Sierra Club, Earthworks, the Conservation Colorado
Education Fund…
http://www.eenews.net/energywire/2015/06/03/stories/1060019569 

EPA's take on 'blend wall' a horror story for all in biofuel
fight. U.S. EPA's handling of the ethanol "blend wall" in its
proposed renewable fuel targets nods to both the ethanol and oil
industries but does little to please either. "It reads a little
bit like 'Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,'" said Geoff Cooper, senior
vice president for the Renewable Fuels Association.
http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2015/06/03/stories/1060019596 

House Dems call for quick crude volatility standards. Top energy
and transportation regulators are facing mounting pressure from
Congress to set crude volatility rules in the wake of recent
fiery oil train derailments. Thirteen House Democrats yesterday
urged Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx and Energy Secretary
Ernest Moniz to expedite standards for making raw crude less
explosive before shipping it across the country in mile-long
trains.
http://www.eenews.net/energywire/2015/06/03/stories/1060019550 

Northern European gas groups join R&D forces for a
renewable-powered future.  A coalition of European groups is
banding together to promote research and development around
forward-looking uses of natural gas, including to support
renewable power systems and for transportation. The European
Research Institute for Gas and Energy Innovation, or ERIG, will
promote joint innovation and development work by participants of
partner groups…
http://www.eenews.net/energywire/2015/06/03/stories/1060019544 

VEHICLES

SMUD unveils fast-charge station for electric vehicles along
I-80. SMUD is activating its second electric vehicle fast-charge
station in the Sacramento region Wednesday to quell “range
anxiety.” The new station, which accommodates most types of EVs,
is one of the first stations in the country installed by a
utility, according to SMUD. SMUD earlier opened the first
fast-charge station in the region at the utility’s headquarters
in the 6200 block of S Street.
http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/transportation/article22991046.html#storylink=cpy


Beijing Adds Another Electric-Car Incentive: Rush-Hour Access To
Any Road. To get more of its residents to switch to electric
cars, the Chinese capital of Beijing has not only offered
incentives, but also privileges. When the city severely
restricted new-car registrations to cut pollution, it gave
electric cars priority for the remaining slots. Now, the
government is offering electric-car drivers another notable perk.
http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1098561_beijing-adds-another-electric-car-incentive-rush-hour-access-to-any-road
 

Could electric cars run on liquid fuel? A sustainable fuel for
electric cars wouldn't require drivers who are used to pumping
gas to alter their habits, and it would sidestep the issues of
battery weight and charging times. Artificial photosynthesis
could be the answer. Electric cars may have made great strides
recently, but thousands of researchers are still searching for a
sustainable liquid fuel.
http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/In-Gear/2015/0602/Could-electric-cars-run-on-liquid-fuel


Changes to California regulation aim to promote electric
vehicles. Zero Emission Vehicle Mandate is being revised in
California. California is making changes to its Zero Emission
Vehicle Mandate. The regulation requires automakers to produce a
portion of clean vehicles alongside their regular production
vehicles. The mandate has made California a very popular market
for electric vehicles and has served to help the state become
more environmentally friendly.
http://www.hydrogenfuelnews.com/changes-to-california-regulation-aim-to-promote-electric-vehicles/8522288/


GREEN ENERGY

Most States on Track to Meet Clean Power Plan 2020 Benchmarks.
The majority of states, 31, have already made commitments that
put them more than halfway toward meeting their 2020 benchmarks
for carbon emissions reductions in the Environmental Protection
Agency’s (EPA) proposed Clean Power Plan, according to new
analysis released today by the Union of Concerned Scientists
(UCS). An examination of current state policies and commitments
such as carbon caps...
http://www.ucsusa.org/news/press_release/most-states-on-track-to-meet-cpp-benchmarks-0500#.VW8vyk1ASUl


Renewable Energy In U.S. Heartland: How States Make It Work. In
the U.S. heartland, where retail electricity costs less than the
national average, states from Iowa to Utah to Nevada are
investing in renewable energy to protect against fossil fuel
price volatility and save customers money. Operating in these
states, Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Energy is a perfect
example, recently announcing goals to double its investment in
renewable energy to $30 billion.
http://cleantechnica.com/2015/06/03/renewable-energy-in-u-s-heartland-how-states-make-it-work/


DoE Finds Wind Energy Will Have Largest Role in Cost-Effectively
Meeting Clean Power Plan. Low-cost, zero-emission wind energy
will become even more valuable as states and utilities develop
plans to cost-effectively reduce carbon pollution to comply with
EPA’s Clean Power Plan, according to new economic analysis from
the Energy Information Administration (EIA), a nonpartisan branch
of the Department of Energy (DOE).
http://theenergycollective.com/michaelgoggin/2234811/doe-finds-wind-energy-will-have-largest-role-cost-effectively-meeting-clean-po


Distributed Solar Helps Lower Peak Demand Electricity Prices.
We’re bullish on rooftop solar, and it’s not only because
residential solar can slash electricity costs, boost property
values, deliver a great return on investment (ROI), and decrease
air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. Sure, those are all
great reasons for considering going solar at home, but it turns
out that rooftop solar can also deliver dividends for everyone on
the grid, regardless of whether or not those other homes are
solar powered. According to the Institute for Energy Economics
and Financial Analysis (IEEFA), a research organization that
analyzes financial and economic issues related to energy and the
environment…
http://cleantechnica.com/2015/06/03/distributed-solar-helps-lower-peak-demand-electricity-prices/


Feds OK three big solar projects in Nevada. Up-front planning
helped speed three big new solar projects through the federal
review process, the U.S. Department of Interior said this week,
touting the administration’s Western Solar Plan as a model for
renewable energy development on public lands. The plan mapped out
solar energy development zones in areas where there was little
potential for conflicts over resources.
http://summitcountyvoice.com/2015/06/03/feds-ok-three-big-solar-projects-in-nevada/


Texas renewable standard survives bumpy session for enviro
groups.  As Texas' 2015 regular legislative session wrapped up
this week, advocates for wind and solar power began to exhale.
The state's renewable energy standard and a related credit
program survived, as did the Competitive Renewable Energy Zone
(CREZ) initiative that has helped link remote power projects to
cities through about $7 billion in infrastructure spending.
http://www.eenews.net/energywire/2015/06/03/stories/1060019551 

N.Y. outlines plan for replacing renewable standard, awards 7
storage grants. Precisely how the Empire State will approach
distributed generation and energy storage under its "reforming
the energy vision" process has begun to take shape with major
announcements this and last week by the New York State Energy
Research and Development Authority on both fronts.
http://www.eenews.net/energywire/2015/06/03/stories/1060019548 

MISCELLANEOUS

OPINION

Holding Your Breath in India. FOR weeks the breathing of my
8-year-old son, Bram, had become more labored, his medicinal
inhaler increasingly vital. And then, one terrifying night nine
months after we moved to this megacity, Bram’s inhaler stopped
working and his gasping became panicked. My wife called a friend,
who recommended a private hospital miles away.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/31/opinion/sunday/holding-your-breath-in-india.html?hpw&rref=opinion&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=well-region®ion=bottom-well&WT.nav=bottom-well&_r=0


Fear of Almonds. I can’t tell you how many times in the last
month someone has come up to me and said something like, “Do you
think I should stop eating almonds?” or “I really miss almond
butter, but I just can’t bring myself to buy it anymore.” It’s
typical: We focus on a minuscule part (almonds) of a huge problem
(water use in California) and see it as the key to fixing
everything: If only we stopped eating almonds, the drought would
end...
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/03/opinion/mark-bittman-fear-of-almonds.html


To lead on climate change, California must also lead on poverty
reduction: Guest commentary. California is adding leadership in
the fight against global climate change to its worldwide resume.
As historic drought ravages the state, that seems like a rational
and righteous priority. The centerpiece of that effort is AB 32,
the 2006 state law that set the goal of reducing the state’s
carbon emissions to 1990 levels by 2020.
http://www.dailynews.com/opinion/20150603/to-lead-on-climate-change-california-must-also-lead-on-poverty-reduction-guest-commentary


Well, Well, Well, Look Who Just Endorsed a Bold Fix For Climate
Change. Oil companies are pretty much the last ally you'd think
of when it comes to advancing big-picture solutions to climate
change. These are the companies, after all, whose product is
responsible for causing a significant amount of climate change in
the first place—and pretty much every proposed fix for global
warming necessarily involves burning less oil.
http://www.motherjones.com/blue-marble/2015/06/guess-who-just-came-out-support-bold-fix-climate-change


BLOGS

Free Solar Power in California: Thanks, Cap-and-Trade!
California’s cap-and-trade program brings in money when carbon
allowances are auctioned.  A lot of money – about $1.49 billion
in the current fiscal year alone, the state said last week. The
law requires that “the state invest at least 10 percent of the
auction proceeds within the most disadvantaged communities and at
least 25 percent of the proceeds be invested to benefit these
communities.”
http://earthtechling.com/2015/06/free-solar-power-in-california-thanks-cap-and-trade/


How LA plans to be a mecca for electric cars. By 2017, the city
of Angles aims to have the most electric vehicle chargers of any
U.S. city, but the industry faces big challenges that will
require businesses and governments to work closer together. A
couple months ago I asked my landlord to install an electric
vehicle charging station in our San Francisco apartment building.
http://fortune.com/2015/06/03/how-la-plans-to-be-a-mecca-for-electric-cars/?xid=timehp-category


Does hydropower make sense in a warming world? In the rush to
decarbonize the world’s economy, there’s one simple, surprising
technology that’s more important than any other: water falling
down a hill. Huge dams fitted with hydroelectric power plants may
seem very 20th century. Their basic technology — falling water
turning a paddle wheel — hasn’t changed much in thousands of
years.
http://grist.org/business-technology/does-hydropower-make-sense-in-a-warming-world/
 

Crop adjustments may lessen climate change's economic effects,
Stanford economist says. Stanford economist Dave Donaldson found
that the impact of climate change might amount for just a .26
percent reduction in global gross domestic product if farmers are
able to switch what types of crops they grow. Farmers like this
one mowing alfalfa in the Central Valley can minimize the
economic effects of climate change if they are in a position to
switch to other crops as necessary…
http://news.stanford.edu/news/2015/june/trade-climate-economy-060315.html

 
Drought-Plagued Farms Will Cost California $2.7 Billion This
Year, Study Predicts. The economic pain caused by California's
relentless drought will cost the state's agriculture industry
$2.7 billion this year, up half a billion from 2014 estimates, a
study released Tuesday predicts. Less rainfall means fewer crops
which translates into less money, a lot less, according to
scientists at the University of California, Davis…
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/02/california-drought-cost_n_7497480.html


Reducing Drilling Pollution—Wyoming Did It, No Big Deal. Will
Texas? The technological advances that led to the “shale
revolution” have undoubtedly had a large economic impact on the
Texas economy – something state leaders and the oil and gas
industry are never shy about pointing out. But the impact
drilling has on air quality and public health, that’s something
energy-friendly Texas has not been so quick to recognize.
http://blogs.edf.org/energyexchange/2015/06/03/reducing-drilling-pollution-wyoming-did-it-no-big-deal-will-texas/


Republican Senators Push 3 Bills to Weaken Clean Air Health
Protections. The U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works
Committee will hold a hearing today on three Republican bills
bent on weakening basic Clean Air Act protections and making the
air less safe to breathe. Each bill takes us backwards by forcing
Americans to suffer unsafe levels of ground-level ozone, or smog
pollution…
http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/jwalke/the_us_senate_environment_and.html


Could electric buses go mainstream faster than electric cars? A
lot of attention is paid to electric cars, but private passenger
vehicles aren’t the only ones that could benefit from
electrification. City buses log countless miles every year, in
congested areas that often have the highest concentrations of air
pollution caused by vehicle emissions. Predictable routes in
confined areas also mean it’s easier to keep buses closer to
charging stations.
http://ecomento.com/2015/06/03/could-electric-buses-go-mainstream-faster-than-electric-cars/


Walmart spews a huge amount of climate pollution with its
shipping, but doesn’t report any of it. At Walmart’s annual
meeting on Friday, shareholders will vote on a measure that would
force the company to reckon with one of the biggest — and best
hidden — sources of climate pollution in its vast global
operations: shipping. No company moves as much stuff across the
world’s oceans as Walmart does. The climate consequences are
immense. Ferrying all those cheap TVs, T-shirts, toasters, and
toys from Asian factories to ports in the U.S. and elsewhere
releases huge amounts of greenhouse pollutants…
http://grist.org/business-technology/walmart-spews-a-huge-amount-of-climate-pollution-with-its-shipping-but-doesnt-report-any-of-it/
   



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

ARB What's New

preload