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newsclips -- ARB Newsclips for June 12, 2015

Posted: 12 Jun 2015 13:27:47
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.

UN CLIMATE TALKS

Trust improving in complex UN climate talks, officials say.
The latest round of U.N. climate talks in Bonn helped build trust
among countries and kept the long trek to a new global climate
deal on track, despite a lack of substantive progress over the
past two weeks, officials and experts said. At the meeting which
ended on Thursday, negotiators slimmed down the cumbersome
90-page text of a draft deal by a few pages as the language was
edited - but no options were weeded out.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/06/12/climate-change-un-idUSL5N0YY1JT20150612


CAP AND TRADE

Partisan divide stalls ideas for boosting California road-repair
funding.  
State lawmakers are busy this week cobbling together a state
budget plan that's due on Monday — but that isn't all they are
wrestling with. Among big issues still looming is how to fix
California’s roads. Everyone agrees that deteriorating highways
are becoming more hazardous. The Brown administration reports the
state has deferred some $59 billion in road maintenance. But
partisan divisions may block allocation of additional funding for
road repair.
http://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/news/2015/06/11/partisan-divide-stalls-ideas-for-boosting.html


CLIMATE CHANGE

The Weird Effect Climate Change Will Have On Plant Growth.
Add the hindering of plant growth to the long and growing list of
the ways climate change may affect life on our planet. The number
of days when plants can grow could decrease by 11% by 2100
assuming limited efforts to stall climate change, affecting some
of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people, according to a
new study in PLOS Biology.
http://time.com/3916200/climate-change-plant-growth/

Oil bosses break long climate silence with urgent initiative.
For an industry used to cautious, long-term evolution, the speed
at which leaders of Europe's biggest oil and gas companies moved
to take a joint stand in the climate debate speaks volumes.
Discrete talks in the eyrie of Davos in January led to a
spontaneous, light bulb moment on a stage in Oslo in February.
The result: a joint statement two months later. The executives
agreed they had to go public, and with alacrity.
http://www.businessinsider.com/r-oil-bosses-break-long-climate-silence-with-urgent-initiative-2015-6


DIESEL ACTIVITIES

Study Finds Health Problems From Diesel Fuel.  
Emissions from ships that switch from fuel oil to cleaner-burning
diesel may still cause health problems, according to a new study.
Scientists studying the effects of maritime ship emissions on
lung cells observed a stronger “biological response” to
diesel-fuel emissions than heavy fuel oil exhaust.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/study-finds-health-problems-from-diesel-fuel-1434036637

Order Reefers Now for CARB Upgrade.  
Owners of transport refrigeration units may need to think about
upgrading their reefer units, says the California Air Resources
Board. Model year 2008 units dominate the roads, and those units
must be replaced by the end of the year.
https://www.gobytrucknews.com/order-reefers-now-for-carb-upgrade/123


DROUGHT

Dying trees may force a new outlook on irrigation during
drought.
The needles on the redwoods that welcome visitors to Griffith
Park have faded to brown over the last two years. Laura
Bauernfeind has watched the trees slowly die and workers
eventually arrive, chain saws buzzing, to fell the husks one by
one. "I would be lying if I said it was not disheartening," said
Bauernfeind, principal forester with the Los Angeles Department
of Recreation and Parks. "We dedicate our careers here to
sustaining our park trees."
http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-drought-trees-20150612-story.html#page=1


'Extreme Drought' Expands In California.  
The latest U.S. Drought Monitor report shows that conditions
worsened in two California counties in the midst of a fourth year
of drought. The report released Thursday, June 11, shows the
moisture from the remnants of Pacific Hurricane Andres "triggered
showers and thunderstorms in the Four Corners region ... and with
much of the region experiencing an unseasonably cool May and wet
spring, some impacts have been observed."
http://www.capradio.org/51111

Surprise storm means 48-hour sprinkler ban.  
Vicky Kearsey got out of bed when she heard rain this week and
reprogrammed the sprinklers at her Moraga home to take advantage
of the unexpected wet weather, to save water — and to comply with
state law. Gov. Jerry Brown’s emergency drought regulations
prohibit outdoor watering within 48 hours of rain, with fines of
up to $500 for violators. That restriction applied to nearly
everywhere in the Bay Area after Wednesday’s rainfall, which
brought a quarter-inch or more to many locations.
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Surprise-storm-means-48-hour-sprinkler-ban-6322145.php


FUELS

U.S. fracking rules to face early legal test.
Energy industry groups and states that oppose new U.S. rules for
hydraulic fracturing on public lands are headed to court this
month to try to block the regulations a day before they are to
take effect. Foes of the regulations will go before a federal
judge on June 23 to seek a preliminary injunction. The Interior
Department rules, slated to take effect on June 24, would require
companies to provide data on chemicals used in hydraulic
fracturing, or fracking, and to take steps to prevent leakage
from oil and gas wells on federally owned land.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/06/11/us-usa-fracking-injunction-idUSKBN0OR2QQ20150611

VEHICLES

Used Electric Cars: Which Hold Their Value Best? Which Is Worst?.
 
Used electric cars starting to enter the market in higher
numbers, letting advocates suggest that if the purchase price of
a new plug-in car is too high, buyers can look at used options.
The usual metric of retained-value calculations can be tricky for
plug-ins, though because most buyers take advantage of Federal
income-tax credits of $2,500 to $7,500.
http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1098663_used-electric-cars-which-hold-their-value-best-which-is-worst


GREEN ENERGY

Can Solar Panels Help Solve California's Drought?  
From a distance, they almost look like a massive mosaic
swimming-pool cover. They are photovoltaic panels,
half-millimeter thick silicon wafers that are erected over
reservoirs. Their function: Generate power while also conserving
water.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-06-11/got-lots-of-sun-not-enough-water-there-s-a-solar-panel-for-you


Clean Power Plan: Utility Industry Says It Will Do The 'Right
Thing'. 
Despite their disparate interests and diverse geographies, U.S.
utilities have locked shoulders, especially when it comes to
federalenergy policies. At the core of their communique is the
will to work with the Obama administration to reduce carbon
emissions.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/kensilverstein/2015/06/11/clean-power-plan-utility-industry-says-it-will-do-the-right-thing/


California moves closer to zero net energy for buildings.  
Buildings built in California starting in 2016 will have to
comply with the nation’s toughest energy conservation standards.
The California Energy Commission has unanimously approved
building energy efficiency standards that it says will reduce
energy costs, save consumers money, and increase comfort in new
and upgraded homes and other buildings. 
http://www.centralvalleybusinesstimes.com/stories/001/?ID=28492 

MISCELLANEOUS

Before Francis, Long Line of Popes Voiced Environment Alarm.
Anxiety has gripped American conservatives over Pope Francis'
upcoming encyclical on the environment. So much so that you might
think a pope had never before blamed fossil fuels for global
warming. Or accused energy companies of hoarding the Earth's
resources at the expense of the poor. Or urged the rich to
consume less and share more.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_REL_VATICAN_POPE_ENVIRONMENT?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


BLOGS

In San Diego and Elsewhere, Cleaner Driving and Cleaner Air
within Sight.
Recently, Politico announced what we at Sierra Club have long
known: across the country, King Coal is on the ropes. In a
long-form piece detailing the Sierra Club's Beyond Coal Campaign
strategy and history of success, the numbers spoke for
themselves. Sierra Club and our allies have, through grassroots
organizing, lobbying, litigation, and media engagement, secured
the retirement of one dirty coal-fired power plant every 10 days
on average for the last five years--and are on track to have
secured the retirement or announced retirement of one third of
the coal fleet by year's end. 
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gina-coplonnewfield/in-san-diego-and-elsewher_b_7571150.html


Climate Change and the Road to Paris: It's All About that Trust.
The year of 2015 holds a promise to change the world. The United
Nations is orchestrating a politically challenging agenda that
counts among its goals the adoption of a framework for disaster
risk reduction (achieved in March 2015), the agreement of
long-term financing for international development, the creation
of a post-2015 development agenda and concomitant sustainable
development goals (known as the SDGs), and perhaps most
importantly, settling once-and-for-all on how to tackle climate
change during the UNFCCC climate negotiations scheduled for Paris
in December.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nicole-de-paula/climate-change-and-the-road-to-paris-its-all-about-that-trust_b_7568302.html





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

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