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ARB Newsclips for August 5, 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

Unsettled July weather helps San Joaquin Valley air quality. The
San Joaquin Valley had three weeks of healthy air in July for the
first time in 20 years. The Fresno Bee reports
(http://bit.ly/1hhS1vl ) that for 21 days last month, the air
didn't exceed the eight-hour federal health standard for ozone —
a harmful gas that attacks the lungs, skin and eyes. The Valley
averages only five or six good air days a month.
http://www.montereyherald.com/environment-and-nature/20150805/unsettled-july-weather-helps-san-joaquin-valley-air-quality


CLIMATE CHANGE/CLEAN POWER PLAN 

Obama’s Power Plan May Be Historic But It Won’t Save the World.
President Barack Obama’s plan to reduce carbon pollution --
acclaimed by supporters, reviled by opponents -- won’t be enough
to save the planet. That’s the view of scientists, including
European researchers who study climate policies. It’s a numbers
game: Even if the U.S., China, Europe and other nations meet
their commitments on cutting carbon…
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-08-04/obama-s-power-plan-may-be-historic-but-it-won-t-save-the-world

Jerry Brown calls on GOP candidates to detail climate change
policies.  Gov. Jerry Brown tried to elbow his way into
presidential politics Wednesday morning by calling for Republican
candidates to detail plans to address climate change. “Continuing
to question the science and hurl insults at ‘global warming
hoaxsters’ and ‘apostles of this pseudo-religion’ won’t prevent
severe damage to our health and economic well-being," Brown wrote
in a letter.
http://www.latimes.com/local/political/la-me-pc-jerry-brown-climate-change-republican-president-20150805-story.html

http://onpolitics.usatoday.com/2015/08/05/california-governor-challenges-gop-candidates-on-climate-change/


Next step for Obama's climate rules: A court debate over wording
'glitch'.  President Obama’s climate-change plan will face a
fierce challenge in the courts this fall, when lawyers for at
least 15 states join the coal and power industries to block the
carbon-reducing rules before they take effect. They will argue
the 1970s-era Clean Air Act did not authorize a national attack
on greenhouse gases…
http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-obama-climate-legal-20150805-story.html


What Do GOP Presidential Candidates Do When Their Voters Support
Obama’s Climate Plan? A recent poll of Republican presidential
primary voters in the early voting states of New Hampshire and
South Carolina finds an unexpected result for the 17 candidates
campaigning there. Most of these voters support regulating carbon
pollution — even using President Obama’s Clean Power Plan (CPP).
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/08/05/3687684/gop-primary-voters-vs-candidates/


Clean Power Plan: Reasonable, Achievable State Targets for
Cutting Power Plant Pollution. The historic Clean Power Plan
finalized this week to limit carbon pollution from power plants
allows each state to design its own cost-effective pathway toward
a cleaner electricity system that will protect our health and
help safeguard future generations from the worst impacts of
climate change.
http://www.theenergycollective.com/nrdcswitchboard/2257467/clean-power-plan-reasonable-achievable-state-targets-cutting-power-plant-pol


EPA rule includes 'panoply' of changes to help states trade
carbon emissions.  U.S. EPA's Clean Power Plan does far more than
the draft proposal to support states pursuing carbon trading,
offering a "panoply" of tools, in the rule's words. States can
still choose to write plans to direct individual carbon-cutting
actions, from burning more natural gas to building renewable
power. Or they can tell power plants to meet emissions rates…
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2015/08/05/stories/1060023009 

DROUGHT

Drought-fueled fire we’ve been dreading is here. This is the
blaze that firefighters have braced for all year, the ferocious
Rocky Fire burning near Clear Lake that has destroyed more than
two dozen homes and hit with the kind of force long-dreaded
because of California’s historic drought. On Wednesday, it had
grown to more than 68,000 acres — bigger than Sacramento at 103
square miles…
http://www.dailydemocrat.com/general-news/20150805/drought-fueled-fire-weve-been-dreading-is-here

Amid California drought, fears rise of trees dying, falling. As
Californians and the communities they live in cut back water use
and let lawns turn brown, arborists and state officials are
worrying about a potentially dangerous ripple effect: City trees
going neglected and becoming diseased or even falling. With
cities ordered to reduce water use by 25 percent during the
state's four-year drought…
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_28584201/amid-california-drought-fears-rise-trees-dying-falling


Small fish could be big causality in drought water battle.
California’s historic drought could wipe out a tiny, endangered
fish that’s played an outsized role in the state’s water wars.
The delta smelt lives in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta,
the West Coast’s largest estuary that supplies water to Central
Valley farms and millions of Southern California residents.
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/smelt-675841-delta-water.html


FUELS

Inside Shell’s Extreme Plan to Drill for Oil in the Arctic. A
global oil glut has tanked prices and cut profits—so why won’t
Shell give up on the north? In a windowless conference room in
Anchorage, a dozen Royal Dutch Shell employees report on the
highest-profile oil project in the multinational’s vast global
portfolio. Warmed by mid-July temperatures, Arctic ice in the
Chukchi Sea, northwest of the Alaskan mainland, is receding.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2015-08-05/inside-shell-s-extreme-plan-to-drill-for-oil-in-the-arctic


Can California Cut Gasoline Use In Half In 15 Years? Probably
Not. One sunny Saturday in Stockton, Mary Serrano climbed into
the driver’s seat of a bright-red, all-electric Chevrolet Spark.
A retiree who normally drives a 20-year-old Toyota Camry, she was
curious about the new technology on display at the local
fairground. "I feel like I’m going to outer space…
http://www.capradio.org/articles/2015/08/04/can-california-cut-gasoline-use-in-half-in-15-years-probably-not/


VEHICLES

Tensions over U.S. electric vehicle mandates spill into the open.
 A long-simmering dispute between automakers and U.S. regulators
over policies to promote electric vehicles spilled into the open
on Tuesday, in the high stakes struggle over the future of
automotive technology. The heads of two major lobby groups told
hundreds of attendees at an industry conference in Traverse City,
Michigan…
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/08/05/us-autos-electric-idUSKCN0QA01R20150805


Tesla's push for tougher emission standards would boost its
bottom line. Tesla Motors Inc. is pushing for tougher
auto-emission regulations even as major carmakers are launching
initiatives to water down state and federal mandates to increase
fuel economy and the number of zero emission vehicles on U.S.
roads.
http://www.latimes.com/business/autos/la-fi-tesla-credits-20150805-story.html#page=1


Tesla exec: Competitor's vehicles resemble appliances. Tesla
would share its charging stations if other vehicles could handle
the power and wants to open up to 10 stores in Michigan.  An
executive for electric automaker Tesla Motors used a Michigan
seminar Tuesday to take more shots at the traditional auto
industry, describing competitive vehicles as…
http://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/2015/08/04/tesla-charging-stations-michigan-sales-styling-car-seminar/31119523/


Car buyers aren't being educated when it comes to electric cars.
Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) rules require carmakers to
achieve a U.S. fleet average of 54.5 mpg by 2025--meaning about
40 mpg on the window sticker. That has automakers working to
improve their vehicles' fuel efficiency dramatically, including
many more plug-in hybrids. But that may be only half the battle.
http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1099390_car-buyers-unprepared-for-coming-wave-of-plug-in-hybrids-electric-cars#ixzz3hxW97BYY


Vehicle to Grid Energy Storage Experiment Underway in California.
 BMW drivers will get paid $1,000 to delay charging i3 electric
cars when utilities need to lessen energy demand. In a new pilot
program, a California utility is paying drivers of BMW electric
cars to delay charging their vehicles when the power grid is
under pressure.
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/articles/2015/08/vehicle-to-grid-energy-storage-experiment-underway-in-california.html


Oil Hauler Brings Electric Cars To Heart Of Oklahoma Oil Country.
The event that started out as National Plug-In Day has now
expanded into National Drive Electric Week. Every year, advocacy
group Plug-In America collaborates with the Sierra Club, the
Electric Auto Association, and numerous smaller entities to host
a national electric-car awareness event.
http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1099426_oil-hauler-brings-electric-cars-to-heart-of-oklahoma-oil-country


GREEN ENERGY

U.K. Allows Consortium to Build Biggest Offshore Wind Project.
The U.K. authorized the Forewind consortium of four European
utilities to build the joint-largest offshore wind project in the
world. The two 1.2-gigawatt wind farms, called Dogger Bank
Teesside A&B, total almost four times the capacity of the largest
operational project. They won development permission from the
Department of Energy and Climate Change…
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-08-05/u-k-permits-dogger-bank-teesside-a-b-offshore-wind-farms


Smithfield Joins Green Groups as Pigs Fly in Clean-Energy Fight.
With North Carolina’s renewable energy mandate under assault from
Republican legislators, green groups seeking to save it have
found an unlikely ally: the state’s hog industry.  Smithfield
Foods Inc. and other companies that raise and slaughter pigs have
put aside decades of disagreements and united -- for the moment…
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-08-05/smithfield-joins-green-groups-as-pigs-fly-in-clean-energy-fight


Four Lessons Obama Should Learn From Merkel’s Energy Revolution.
World leaders seeking to clean up their energy industries could
do worse than turning to Germany's chancellor for advice.
Germany’s “Energiewende” is managing the biggest transformation
away from fossil fuels and nuclear power and toward renewables of
any advanced economy. It hasn’t all gone smoothly.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-08-05/four-lessons-obama-should-learn-from-merkel-s-energy-revolution


UPDATE 1-Siemens picks German port for new wind power plant.
Siemens has chosen the German coastal town of Cuxhaven as the
location for a new wind power components plant, creating up to
1,000 new jobs in its home country where it is axing more than a
thousand elsewhere at its gas turbines unit. The German
industrial group will invest 200 million euros ($217 million) in
the factory…
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/08/05/siemens-windpower-plant-idUSL5N10G1R120150805?feedType=RSS&feedName=financialsSector


SolarCity Expands Into Mexico in First International Acquisition.
SolarCity Corp., the biggest U.S. provider of rooftop solar
power, agreed to buy a Mexican developer in its first
international expansion. SolarCity is buying the commercial solar
unit of Iliosson SA for $10 million and will pay another $5
million for assets related to energy storage, Marco Krapels,
SolarCity’s head of global expansion, said in an interview
Tuesday.
http://washpost.bloomberg.com/Story?docId=1376-NSKVUVSYF01S01-6E8JCU642AU7PFHGUMH5V5FQT2


How the growth of wind and solar let EPA toughen up its carbon
rules. The Obama administration’s new Clean Power Plan, released
Monday, is being heralded as a “game-changer.” In fact, a better
description is that it’s trying to cement changes already
occurring in how we get electricity, and in particular, the
stunning recent boom in solar energy — as well as in wind.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2015/08/04/how-the-clean-energy-boom-let-epa-toughen-up-its-carbon-rules/


See-Through Solar Could Turn Windows, Phones Into Power Sources.
"It's a whole new way of thinking about solar energy," says
startup CEO about using transparent solar cells on buildings and
electronics.  Anyone who has sweltered in a south-facing office
during the summer knows the power of solar energy streaming
through a window. In fact, no reputable urban architect today
would design such a workspace without…
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/energy/2015/08/150805-transparent-solar-could-turn-window-phones-into-power-generators/


Utilities and rooftop solar companies ally to push bill to boost
Calif.'s renewable energy goals. California's pursuit of
ever-more renewable energy is pushing odd partners into a debate
over the role of rooftop solar. The past few years have brought
bruising fights between utilities and small-scale renewables
companies over policies that compensate rooftop solar systems for
putting power back into the grid.
http://www.eenews.net/stories/1060022992 

MISCELLANEOUS

New Building Material Twice as Strong as Concrete, Low Carbon
Footprint.  Watershed Materials, a California-based building
materials technology startup, has developed technology to produce
high-strength masonry with a low carbon footprint using natural
mineral-based geopolymers.
http://www.environmentalleader.com/2015/08/05/new-building-material-twice-as-strong-as-concrete-low-carbon-footprint/#ixzz3hxQ4Jrbp


OPINIONS

New climate rules mean cleaner air, better health. Why is this
controversial?  To the editor: Cutting carbon emissions from
power plants is not just about partisan politics; it is, more
importantly, about our health. ("How Obama's new emissions rules
will likely shape the White House race," Aug. 2). The changing
climate is expected to increase air pollution, causing more
problems with asthma and other lung conditions.
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/readersreact/la-le-0805-wednesday-obama-climate-20150805-story.html


Time for a Modern Energy System. In 2007, the Supreme Court
defined greenhouse gasses as air pollutants under the 1970 Clean
Air Act and required the Environmental Protection Agency to
develop rules to reduce the generation of these pollutants. This
week, President Barack Obama issued the regulations for reducing
greenhouse gas emissions from America's power plants.
http://www.usnews.com/debate-club/is-obamas-clean-power-plan-a-good-idea/time-for-a-modern-energy-system


BLOGS

An Open Letter to Every Climate Change Denier. We know that
certain things trap heat. We can test that very easily. In the
case of at least one greenhouse gas, you yourself probably
confirm this every day without even realizing it. We know that we
are pumping billions and billions of tons of these heat-trapping
gases into the atmosphere. We know that, as we have done this,
global temperatures have increased.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/larry-womack/an-open-letter-to-every-climate-change-denier_b_7936070.html


Obama's Got a Climate Plan, Where's the GOP's? President Obama
has developed a concrete and achievable plan for confronting the
threat of climate change. In a powerful speech on Monday, he
announced the first-ever national limits on carbon pollution from
power plants and laid out how it will shield future generations
from climate chaos, make the air safer to breathe and save
Americans money on energy bills.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/heather-taylormiesle/obamas-got-a-climate-plan_b_7939644.html


Opinion The Clean Power Plan: An Industrial Nightmare. The Obama
administration is finally trying to deal with climate change in a
comprehensive way. Distracted in his first term by the recession
and health care the President did not have the capacity to push
the Waxman-Markey bill through the Senate. It is only in his
second term that the President has returned to climate change as
a key issue to be faced by the United States…
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/forest-trends/opinion-the-clean-power-p_b_7938566.html

Civic Disobedience and Climate Change. On July 30, the whole
world watched as 13 Greenpeace activists dangled from ropes tied
to the St. John's bridge in Portland, Ore., red and yellow
streamers catching the wind. They were blocking the exit of the
Fennica, Shell's ice breaker headed to the Arctic to facilitate
drilling. These young activists hung there for 40 hours in
makeshift platforms…
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marilyn-sewell/civic-disobedience-and-cl_b_7935984.html

The Obama Clean Energy Plan Moves Us Past the False Debate Over
Climate Change. There is a lot of opining about the Obama
Administration's plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from
power plants. Most of these comments deal with the details; what
does the plan do and how, does it do enough (the reviews are
decidedly mixed), and why does it prefer some forms of clean
power…
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-ropeik/the-obama-clean-energy-pl_b_7941242.html


Don't Like The New Climate Rules? Thank Congress.  Legislators
could have passed a climate change law to supplant Obama's
regulations, but they didn't. Critics of the Obama
administration's new rules for power plant emissions have been
quick to describe them as "government overreach" and "flagrantly
unlawful."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/congress-climate-rules-emissions_55c127b8e4b0b75c1c8c79a6


Lights will stay on with new power plant pollution rules. Find
out why. The Clean Power Plan is designed with reliability in
mind, a fact detractors tend to ignore. The specter of grid
failure is a frightening image, one that critics of the new power
plant pollution standards have fixated on, but it’s just that: a
specter, an illusion not grounded in reality.
http://blogs.edf.org/energyexchange/2015/08/05/lights-will-stay-on-with-new-power-plant-pollution-rules-find-out-why/




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