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ARB Newsclips for July 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.

CAP AND TRADE

Runner trying to halt high speed rail funding. Senator Sharon
Runner, R-Antelope Valley, announced Wednesday she is authoring
legislation to prohibit Cap and Trade funds from being used for
high speed rail. Introduced in the First Extraordinary Session on
Transportation Infrastructure, Senate Bill 1X 6 would instead
require Cap and Trade dollars be used to fund existing
transportation projects.
http://www.desertdispatch.com/article/20150715/NEWS/150719930 

Funds granted to bring solar power, jobs to ‘underserved’ areas
like Vallejo.
Pacific Gas & Electric Co. is giving $100,000 to Grid
Alternatives to make sure solar power makes inroads in
“underserved areas” in Northern and Central California, like
Vallejo and other parts of Solano and Napa counties, a
spokeswoman said. GRID Alternatives is a national nonprofit that
makes renewable energy technology…
http://www.timesheraldonline.com/general-news/20150715/funds-granted-to-bring-solar-power-jobs-to-underserved-areas-like-vallejo


US Northeast Cap & Trade Has Added $1.3 Billion In Economic
Activity, Saved Consumers $460 Million. A report from the
Analysis Group claims the cap & trade program called the Regional
Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) involving 9 New England and
Mid-Atlantic states has added $1.3 billion in economic activity
to the region since 2011, while lowering carbon emissions by 15%.
http://cleantechnica.com/2015/07/16/us-northeast-cap-trade-has-added-1-3-billion-in-economic-activity-saved-consumers-460-million/


AIR POLLUTION

L.A. in talks with oil producer about reopening facility near
USC.  AllenCo Energy is trying to negotiate a settlement with the
Los Angeles city attorney's office as part of an effort to resume
operations of an urban oil field that prompted hundreds of
complaints of nosebleeds and respiratory ailments due to its
emissions, officials confirmed Wednesday.
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-allenco-20150715-story.html


CLIMATE CHANGE

Hotter, Wetter, Stormier: Study Says 2014 Climate Melted Records.
Global sea levels swelled to a high, tropical cyclones continued
to multiply and the world’s thermometer set a record in 2014,
according to a new report tracking the earth’s climate. The
report, an “annual physical” for the world’s climate, found
evidence of warming around the globe, from shrinking glaciers…
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-07-16/hotter-wetter-stormier-study-says-2014-climate-melted-records


Millions more people will likely suffer a nutrient deficiency by
2050 — and you can blame our carbon emissions. Humans’ greenhouse
gas emissions have caused nothing but trouble for the environment
— this much is obvious. From the public health problems caused by
heavy air pollution to the myriad problems associated with
climate change, there have never been more reasons to cut down on
our carbon emissions.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2015/07/15/millions-more-people-will-likely-suffer-a-nutrient-deficiency-by-2050-and-you-can-blame-our-carbon-emissions/

Vatican keeps up eco-pressure, invites mayors to see pope. The
Vatican is keeping up the pressure on world leaders to listen to
Pope Francis' dual mantras of fighting climate change and human
trafficking by inviting mayors to a Vatican meeting next week
devoted to battling the exploitation of the Earth and its poorest
people.
http://www.latimes.com/nation/sns-bc-eu-rel--vatican-climate-20150715-story.html


Senate rejects climate change education measure. Republican
senators rejected an amendment to a No Child Left Behind reform
bill Wednesday that looked to establish a federal climate change
education program. The measure, from Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.),
would have created a grant program for school districts to
“develop or improve climate science curriculum…
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/248068-senate-rejects-climate-change-education-amendment?utm_content=buffer159df&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer


ExxonMobil gave millions to climate-denying lawmakers despite
pledge. Under pressure from shareholders, company promised eight
years ago to stop funding climate denial – but financial and tax
records tell a different story. ExxonMobil gave more than $2.3m
to members of Congress and a corporate lobbying group that deny
climate change and block efforts to fight climate change…
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jul/15/exxon-mobil-gave-millions-climate-denying-lawmakers


Suck it up: Carbon capture technologies may be able to remedy
climate change.
Scientists are developing new devices that can literally suck
carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. They say that this carbon
capture and storage is a necessary tool for avoiding catastrophic
climate change.
http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2015/0715/Suck-it-up-Carbon-capture-technologies-may-be-able-to-remedy-climate-change


States are polluting less and their economies are doing just
fine. Even as America’s economy started to rebound from the
recession between 2008 and 2013, climate change–causing power
plant emissions in the majority of American states did not,
according to a new study. Earlier this year, environmentalists
celebrated the news that, while the world’s economy continued to
grow, CO2 emissions remained flat in 2014.
http://grist.org/news/states-are-polluting-less-and-their-economies-are-doing-just-fine/


Climate change threatens fish critical to Lake Erie economy –
study. The yellow perch, a fish native to North America and
Canada, may not benefit from climate change after all, new
research suggests. A new study in Nature Communications shows
that shorter and warmer winters -- which are becoming
increasingly frequent in the region -- may be detrimental to the
survival of juvenile yellow perch.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2015/07/16/stories/1060021901 

ConEd reports 45 percent drop in GHGs over 9 years. Consolidated
Edison Inc. cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 45 percent
between 2005 and 2014, according to its annual sustainability
report. The reduction, led by a 7 percent drop in 2014, is
largely due to energy efficiency programs that helped ConEd
customers eliminate over 750,000 megawatt-hours of electricity
demand, the company said.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2015/07/16/stories/1060021877 

DROUGHT

House passes another bill to stem California drought. The House
on Thursday passed GOP-led legislation designed to bring more
water to California's farm belt amid a severe and lengthy
drought. Similar legislation has failed in the last two
congressional sessions, and the White House and Democrats remain
opposed.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_CALIFORNIA_DROUGHT_CONGRESS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


OTHER RELATED STORIES
http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-house-drought-bill-20150716-story.html

http://www.pe.com/articles/water-773465-california-drought.html 
http://www.ksl.com/?nid=151&sid=35523187&title=house-passes-another-bill-to-stem-california-drought

http://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/248188-house-approves-gop-california-drought-bill
 

State softens approach to curtailing water use in drought.  State
water officials on Wednesday softened their approach to telling
thousands of California farmers to stop pumping from rivers to
irrigate crops during the drought but warned that stiff penalties
still await anybody who takes water they don't have a right to
use.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_CALIFORNIA_DROUGHT_WATER_CUTS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


California drought gives new impetus to wastewater recycling. In
the sprawling Orange County suburbs south of Los Angeles, home to
Disneyland and upscale beach towns, much of the drinking supply
for more than 2 million people originates from the sewer. And
that number is about to grow - on purpose. The recycling of
wastewater for human consumption is gaining greater credence in
drought-stricken California.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2015/07/16/us-usa-wastewater-california-idUKKCN0PQ12N20150716


California Drought Spurs Technology on the Farm. Growers are
quicker to invest in water-saving products, once a hard sell. It
has been two decades since Willie Hartman started making farm
equipment that helps growers conserve water, but sales didn’t
take off until the past four years. Credit goes, in part, to
California’s worst drought in at least half a century.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/drought-is-the-mother-of-invention-on-the-farm-1437041211
 

After Years of Drought, Wildfires Rage in California. The hotshot
crew from Big Bear, Calif., pushed along the steep, smoky ridge
after a long night battling a blaze that spread fast, burned hot
and just would not die. Their beards dripped with sweat and ash.
They lumbered ahead with fatigue and concern: The fire was just a
few miles from their hometown.
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/07/15/us/california-fire-season-drought.html?ref=earth&_r=0


To save water, new California homes will have less lawn. The
sprawling suburban lawn — a symbol of the good life in postwar
California — moved a step closer Wednesday to being consigned to
the history books. The California Water Commission, responding to
a fourth year of drought, approved sharp new limits on the amount
of water that can be used on landscapes surrounding newly
constructed buildings…
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-lawns-20150715-story.html

http://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/water-and-drought/article27301948.html

http://www.visaliatimesdelta.com/story/news/local/california/2015/07/16/california-drought-water-rules-grass-lawns-vote/30244995/

http://www.kfbk.com/articles/california-news-489209/new-landscaping-rules-adopted-during-california-13769368/


How to keep your car sparkling clean, or not, during a drought.
Jake Sands drives around town in a dirty light-blue 15-year-old
Honda Civic. He calls it a symbol for water conservation. Sands
is one of about 14,000 drivers who have signed the
#DirtyCarPledge from Los Angeles Waterkeeper, a nonprofit
environmental organization.
http://www.latimes.com/business/autos/la-fi-hy-drought-car-wash-20150715-story.html


Experts discuss the drought and water policy at Modesto summit. A
four-year drought has brought California’s monumental water
challenges sharply into focus. Experts who spoke at Wednesday’s
Valley Water Summit in Modesto covered most of the bases,
including groundwater, the need for more storage, desalination
and the proposed delta tunnels.
http://www.modbee.com/news/state/california/water-and-drought/article27378292.html#storylink=cpy


California Drought: Forecast To Persist, Intensify Through
October. Thunderstorms during the past week helped decrease
exceptional drought in one county in California as exceptional,
extreme and severe drought conditions dominate the state,
according to the U.S. Drought Monitor released July 16.
http://www.capradio.org/articles/2015/07/16/california-drought-forecast-to-persist,-intensify-through-october/


Farmers turn to pricey technology to survive drought. Farmers
once hard-pressed to adapt water-saving measures are now
embracing the technology as a way to survive California's worst
drought in the last half-century. Such measures can be expensive.
The On Target Spray Systems, which electrically charge mists of
pesticides and nutrients and cause them to stick to plants and
use less water, cost between $20,000 and $50,000.
http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2015/07/16/stories/1060021912 

FUELS

U.K. Proposes Rules to Let Fracking Under National Parks. The
U.K. proposed new rules for hydraulic fracturing that would allow
drillers to frack for oil and gas under national parks and UNESCO
sites, drawing criticism from environmentalists who called the
plan “outrageous.” The draft regulations would ban wells at the
surface in national parks while allowing explorers such as
Cuadrilla Resources Ltd. to drill…
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-07-16/u-k-proposes-rules-to-let-fracking-under-national-parks


U.S. fracking linked to higher hospitalization rates:
researchers. People who live in areas near hydraulic fracturing
are more likely to be hospitalized for heart conditions,
neurological illnesses and cancer, according to researchers from
the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia University. Fracking
is an oil and gas extraction technique using a mixture of water…
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/07/16/us-usa-fracking-health-idUSKCN0PQ1IQ20150716


Shell expects oil price recovery to take several years. Royal
Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) expects oil prices to recover gradually over
the next five years, with progress slowed by persistent global
oversupply and receding Chinese demand growth. The Anglo-Dutch
energy giant is betting on crude rising to $90 a barrel by 2020…
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/07/16/us-shell-oil-prices-idUSKCN0PQ14M20150716?feedType=RSS&feedName=businessNews


California gas prices up; Fresno area rises 11 cents in a week.
California’s gasoline prices rose quickly in a short time, with
the average price of regular unleaded in the Fresno metro area up
11 cents from a week ago. Fresno’s unleaded average rose from
$3.38 to $3.49 in the last week, according to AAA of Northern
California. Prices in the Visalia-Tulare-Porterville area rose 8
cents in the last week to an average of $3.42.
http://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/article27319444.html#storylink=cpy


VEHICLES

The electric car owner's conundrum: Where are the chargers? In
May 2013, Kristen House, her husband and their three children
packed up their Nashville, Tenn., home, strapped their Nissan
Leaf to the back of the moving truck and hit the road to foggy
San Francisco. Whenever they'd stop somewhere, House would pull
the Leaf off the moving truck and the family would drive it
around town, running errands or grabbing a bite to eat.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2015/07/16/stories/1060021897 

GREEN ENERGY

Vestas Wind Systems Wins 26-Megawatt Wind Project in South Korea.
Danish wind turbine maker Vestas Wind Systems A/S won an order to
build 13 two-megawatt turbines in South Korea. The buyer and
value of contract weren’t disclosed. The plant will be in South
Korea’s northeastern Gangwon Province, Aarhus, Denmark-based
Vestas Wind said in a statement Thursday on its website.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-07-16/vestas-wind-systems-wins-26-megawatt-wind-project-in-south-korea


Solar plane pilots: Rapid climb, descent stressed batteries. The
pilots of a grounded solar-powered airplane say they put too much
stress on the batteries of their aircraft as they were leaving
Japan for a five-day record-breaking flight to Hawaii. The pilots
then discovered they had too much insulation around the batteries
for them to adequately cool down during the flight through
tropical skies.
http://www.latimes.com/nation/sns-bc-us--solar-plane-20150716-story.html


Small Power Providers Are Going Renewable Much Faster Than Their
Bigger Rivals. Here’s Why. The top electricity providers in the
country are going renewable much more slowly than smaller
companies, according to data reported Tuesday by sustainability
group Ceres.  The biggest 100 companies account for 85 percent of
America’s electricity — and emissions are even more consolidated…
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/07/16/3680943/benchmarking-emissions-2015-report/


Amid a solar boom, batteries draw attention and dollars. As the
market for energy storage emerges, startups, Valley investors,
big solar companies and Tesla are looking for a way in. Enough
solar panels are now bolted to rooftops and installed on the
ground in the deserts of the Southwest to supply solar energy for
over 4 million American homes.
http://fortune.com/2015/07/16/batteries-solar-funding/ 

OPINIONS


Cheap Oil Is Bad for the Economy (at Least, So Far). Goldman
finds that a decline in energy investment has outweighed gains
from consumer spending.  It's been about a year since oil prices
started their historic drop, falling from above $100 a barrel to
a bottom of about $45 in March. After creeping back to around
$60, prices are shaky again amid news of a nuclear deal with Iran
and record Saudi production.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-07-15/cheap-oil-is-bad-for-the-economy-at-least-so-far-


Is it wise to give regulators the power to impose cuts in state's
gasoline use? The biggest bill still moving through the state
Legislature this summer is backed by the Senate leader, the
governor and essentially the pope. So opponents — mainly oil
companies — don't have a prayer. The measure, which attempts to
fight global warming by significantly reducing greenhouse gas
emissions in California…
http://www.latimes.com/local/politics/la-me-cap-climate-change-20150716-column.html


Op-Ed Who should pay the price of clean energy?  It's an
environmental truism — the coal industry must be shut down to
save the planet. But shuttering mines and coal-fired power plants
carries with it a heavy human toll: It will crush the livelihoods
of hundreds of thousands of people and impoverish scores of
communities.
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-tasini-the-realistic-cost-of-ending-the-carbon-economy-20150716-story.html


Campaign to stop fracking sacrifices nature for ideology: Column.
It is hard to remember now, but it wasn't so long ago that
natural gas was seen as one of the most important solutions to
global warming and a cleaner environment. That's one reason a new
report released this month shows that natural gas has eclipsed
coal as the largest U.S. source of electricity for the first
time.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2015/07/16/natural-gas-renewable-fuels-fracking-column/27089397/


Editorial: A Pothole Strategy to Raise Taxes? Call me a
conspiracy theorist, but something is rotten with road funding in
California. Sacramento is flush with billions in unanticipated
revenue. Yet a record $115 billion budget spending plan signed by
Gov. Jerry Brown shortchanges the state’s transportation and
infrastructure needs. The only real funding boost goes to
high-speed rail.
http://www.hometownstation.com/santa-clarita-news/editorials/editorial-a-pothole-strategy-to-raise-taxes-156823


Canada no carbon paragon. Re: Don’t be a sucker, Canada, Letter
July 13. Re: Making climate a common cause, Letter July 9. Don’t
be a sucker, Canada, Letter July 13. I agree with reader Warren
Adamson that cap-and-trade is wrong. However, from there, Mr.
Adamson has everything wrong. A carbon tax “fee-and-dividend”
would be faster, more effective, cheaper to institute and
operate…
http://www.thestar.com/opinion/letters_to_the_editors/2015/07/16/canada-no-carbon-paragon.html
 

BLOGS

It's Not Just You: 2014 Was The Hottest Year On Record. A report
published today has determined what climate scientists already
suspected: 2014 was the warmest year since such records have been
kept. This report, put together by the National Oceanographic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), is based on the work of 413
researchers in 58 nations.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/matthewfrancis/2015/07/16/2014-was-the-hottest-year-on-record/

Humans’ Rising Impact on the Oceans.  A new global study
identifies areas of promise but also many more areas of concern.
Human impacts on the oceans have increased in more than
two-thirds of the world during the past five years. Some areas
remain lightly impacted; others are improving.
http://www.news.ucsb.edu/2015/015761/humans-rising-impact-oceans#sthash.vWP3678U.dpuf




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