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ARB Newsclips for August 12, 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

Chevron's Richmond refinery to pay $146,000 in air pollution
penalties.  Chevron U.S.A. is paying $146,000 in civil penalties
for more than 20 air quality violations over two years at its
Richmond refinery as part of a settlement announced Tuesday by
the Bay Area Air Quality Management District. The settlement
covers 22 violation notices issued by the district against
Chevron for incidents that occurred between 2012 and 2014.
http://www.mercurynews.com/my-town/ci_28621551/chevrons-richmond-refinery-pay-146-000-air-pollution


Wind is blowing China's air pollution 'straight across' to the US
West Coast. A new study links the increase in ozone precursor
emissions in Asia to increased levels of ozone over the US's West
Coast. In the study, published Monday, a team of six researchers
from US and Dutch universities found that ozone concentrations
over China increased by about 7% between 2005 and 2010…
http://www.businessinsider.com/china-pollution-is-causing-high-ozone-in-the-us-2015-8#ixzz3icyykBdF

http://www.dailydemocrat.com/environment-and-nature/20150811/china-air-pollution-affecting-california

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/08/12/3690724/china-exporting-air-pollution/
http://www.eenews.net/stories/1060023284 

Air quality warning issued for Capay Valley. Those high
temperatures you’ve been reading are about to arrive, but for
people living in the Capay Valley it won’t take 100-degree days
to keep from going outside. As a result of the heat, but also
because of the recent fires throughout the region, the
Yolo-Solano Air Quality Management District and the Yolo County
Health Department…
http://www.dailydemocrat.com/health/20150812/air-quality-warning-issued-for-capay-valley


States challenge air pollution ‘loophole’ rule. Seventeen states
filed a lawsuit challenging the Environmental Protection Agency’s
(EPA) crackdown on air pollution from power plants during
exceptional periods. Led by Florida, the states said that the EPA
improperly shifted the federal-state balance that the Clean Air
Act sets with the EPA’s rule for startup, shutdown and
malfunction pollution.
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/250960-state-challenge-air-pollution-loophole-rule
 

17 states launch legal assault against startup-shutdown rule.
Seventeen states are challenging U.S. EPA's recent rule that
changed the way states are required to address excess air
pollution that occurs during plant startups and shutdowns or
industrial equipment malfunctions. In a petition for review, the
states argue that EPA "erroneously concluded" that their plans to
reduce pollution were "inadequate"…
http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2015/08/12/stories/1060023356

CLIMATE CHANGE

Sea-level rise prompts Coastal Commission action. The California
Coastal Commission today will consider adopting recommendations –
aimed at local governments and development planners – for dealing
with sea level rise. The commission, which controls development
along the state’s coastline, has proposed a “policy guidance” to
warn planners and people proposing projects about how sea level…
http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article30795804.html#storylink=cpy


How wildfires, climate change conspire to change plant
communities. Researchers have long wondered how the plants that
carpet forest floors in California's woods will fare as the
ecosystem copes with drier conditions, exacerbated by climate
change. Simultaneously, higher temperatures and prolonged drought
are also increasing the threat from forest fires.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2015/08/12/stories/1060023328

Melting ice is a top concern for Antarctic researchers. The
melting ice in West Antarctica is an urgent research priority for
the National Science Foundation and deserves more funding,
scientists said yesterday. Speaking in a Web conference,
researchers from the National Academy of Sciences, commissioned
by NSF, presented a report pooling input from hundreds of
scientists to establish research…
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2015/08/12/stories/1060023329 

DROUGHT

San Jose Lawn Busters program aims to help homeowners
drought-proof their yards. As the drought continues to diminish
California's bodies of water, including San Jose's iconic
Guadalupe River, the City of San Jose announced that it is
introducing another incentive to help conserve water. On Friday,
the city launched Lawn Busters, a pilot program that enables
residents to convert their lawns to more drought-tolerant…
http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/lifestyle/20150812/san-jose-lawn-busters-program-aims-to-help-homeowners-drought-proof-their-yards


FUELS

Keystone XL review drags on 5 times longer than average. For six
and a half years, the White House has had a quick comeback to
questions about its yet-to-be-announced decision on the proposed
Keystone XL pipeline: Talk to the State Department. Under a
George W. Bush-era executive order, oil pipelines crossing U.S.
borders require a presidential permit, setting off a
government-wide review that the State Department coordinates.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_OBAMA_KEYSTONE?SITE=MOJOP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


U.S. Coast Guard sees added burden in Shell's Arctic quest. The
U.S. Coast Guard has been forced to divert resources - including
a vessel that fights cocaine trafficking - to the Arctic this
summer to ensure that Royal Dutch Shell's exploratory oil
drilling meets its environmental and safety commitments, its top
officer said.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/08/11/us-usa-coastguard-arctic-idUSKCN0QG1VK20150811?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews


Even as banks walk away, coal on the rise in Australia. Standard
Chartered has become the second bank in a week to walk away from
a multi-billion dollar Australian coal project, leading
environmentalists to claim a major victory in one of the world's
top coal-producing nations. But while coal becomes increasingly
viewed as a "sunset" business in many developed countries…
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/08/11/us-australia-coal-idUSKCN0QG11K20150811


UPDATE 1-Polish utility Energa's profit falls, renewable energy
to hit 2015. Polish utility Energa reported below forecast
second-quarter net profit due to softer revenue from renewable
power generation and said it expected lower full-year earnings.
Energa's second-quarter net profit was 178 million zlotys ($47
million), 24 million zlotys lower than the average forecast of
nine analysts and down from 284 million zlotys in the same
quarter last year.
http://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFL5N10N26220150812


AAA says gas price decline could continue through Labor Day.
Gasoline prices throughout California are falling amid a perfect
storm of positive circumstances, a comparative rarity in Golden
State fuel markets. Statewide, the average price of unleaded
regular was $3.56 a gallon, according to AAA’s monthly gas price
survey, released Tuesday. That was down 24 cents from the July 14
survey.
http://www.sacbee.com/news/business/article30728694.html#storylink=cpy


U.S. Senate bill would increase fuel taxes to pay for
transportation.  Taxes on gasoline and diesel have funded federal
highways and bridges since Dwight Eisenhower was president. But
it’s been 22 years since the taxes were last increased by an act
of Congress. A U.S. senator has introduced a bill that would
increase fuel taxes by 4 cents a gallon for each of the next four
years to fix up and modernize transportation infrastructure.
http://www.landlinemag.com/Story.aspx?StoryID=29578#.VcuRb02D6Uk

Study questions climate benefits of corn ethanol. University of
Michigan researchers today raised questions about the greenhouse
gas benefits of producing ethanol from corn. In a study, the
researchers looked at how carbon dioxide moves between land and
the air and found that, in a best-case scenario, substituting
ethanol for gasoline produces no significant net changes in
emissions.
http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2015/08/12/stories/1060023360 

How Japan pushes coal on the world. While the U.S. backs away
from its dirtiest power source, its closest ally in Asia is
building, selling and financing coal plants worldwide. The
world’s attention fell on a Japanese power plant yesterday, as
technicians turned on a nuclear reactor for the first time since
it was shut down following the catastrophic 2011 Fukushima
disaster.
http://www.politico.com/agenda/story/2015/08/japan-exporting-coal-plants-000195


Revealed: Canadian government spent millions on secret tar sands
advocacy.  Conservative government used public money on outreach
campaign to counter criticism of controversial Alberta tar sands.
Canada’s Conservative government spent several million dollars on
a tar sands advocacy fund as its push to export the oil faltered,
documents reveal.  In its 2013 budget, the government invested
$30 million…
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/true-north/2015/aug/11/canadian-government-spent-millions-on-secret-tar-sands-advocacy


VEHICLES

Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Cars In Germany: Getting Worse,
Actually. Germany is one of several countries with aggressive
plans to curb transportation-related carbon emissions. Over the
past few years, its large domestic car industry has worked to
improve fuel efficiency--and even launched several plug-in
electric models.
http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1099550_greenhouse-gas-emissions-from-cars-in-germany-getting-worse-actually
 

GREEN ENERGY

UC Irvine tops list of greenest colleges. For the second year in
row, the Sierra Club's magazine has ranked UC Irvine the greenest
university in the nation.  The ranking – released Tuesday and
calculated from a 200-page questionnaire submitted by 153
colleges and universities nationwide – measured schools based on…
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/uci-333385-ocprint-schools-sierra.html


Montreal Plan: 2,000 Electric Taxis By 2019 To Compete With Uber,
Lyft. Several cities have experimented with electric taxis, but
Montreal could soon have one of the largest fleets in operation.
A company operating in the Canadian city is undertaking a plan to
put 2,000 electric taxis in service by 2019. That's the vision of
Alexandre Taillefer, one of the "dragons" …
http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1099544_montreal-plan-2000-electric-taxis-by-2019-to-compete-with-uber-lyft


MISCELLANEOUS

L.A. will add bike and bus lanes, cut car lanes in sweeping
policy shift. Over the decades, Los Angeles has bulldozed homes,
paved through tranquil canyons, toppled countless trees and even
flattened some hillsides, all in the name of keeping automobile
traffic flowing as fast as possible. On Tuesday, city leaders
decided to slow things down. They endorsed a sweeping policy that
would rework some of the city’s mightiest boulevards…
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-mobility-plan-20150811-story.html#page=1


OPINIONS

Australia to remain climate laggard amid policy vacuum: Russell.
The only thing that's completely predictable about carbon
emissions policies is that nobody will be satisfied. The latest
case in point is Australia, where the conservative government of
Prime Minister Tony Abbott on Tuesday announced a target of
cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 26-28 percent of 2005 by
2030.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/08/12/us-column-russell-climatechange-australi-idUSKCN0QH14H20150812


Rich nations' climate plans fall short of hopes for Paris summit.
Developed nations are on track to cut their greenhouse emissions
by almost 30 percent by 2030, Reuters calculations show, falling
far short of a halving suggested by a U.N. panel of scientists as
a fair share to limit climate change. Australia became on Tuesday
the last big developed nation to submit its strategy for cuts in
the run-up to a U.N. summit in…
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/08/12/us-climatechange-plans-idUSKCN0QH1XV20150812


We couldn't save Cecil the lion, but can we save the planet? or
someone bent on keeping the planet as a going concern, the Nature
Conservancy is a formidable place to be. But its renowned chief
scientist, Peter Kareiva, is leaving that job to come to UCLA.
The potent stew of students, research and the urban laboratory of
L.A. enticed him to become director of the Institute of the
Environment and Sustainability…
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-morrison-kareiva-20150812-column.html#page=1

Another View: Fracking threatens our children’s health. They were
clearly planted as a buffer, if only a visual one – a stand of
trees, side by side, separating a children’s playing field, a day
care center and grammar school from an extensive gas and oil
field. On one side of the trees there are oil pump jacks, trucks
and an elaborate pipe system.
http://www.sacbee.com/opinion/op-ed/soapbox/article30737859.html#storylink=cpy


Dan Walters: Tom Steyer's attack on gas prices. Tom Steyer is
obviously an intelligent and rational man, given his demonstrated
ability to amass great wealth through capitalistic investments.
But since it's difficult to rationally grasp his periodic rants
about California's gasoline prices, they only make sense in a
purely political -- i.e., illogical -- context.
http://www.mercurynews.com/opinion/ci_28626860/dan-walters-tom-steyers-attack-gas-prices


Cher Gilmore: Warning: Global Warming bad for your health.  We
can easily see the direct effects of global warming on our
environment here and around the world: ongoing drought;
widespread flooding; more severe storms, hurricanes and cyclones;
increasing frequency and intensity of wildfires…
http://www.signalscv.com/section/33/article/140993/ 

How the Midwest's Corn Farms Are Cooking the Planet. I've been
thinking a lot recently about how fertilizer from the Midwest's
big corn farms seeps into streams and causes trouble—fouling
water supplies in Columbus, Toledo, Des Moines, and 60 other
towns in Iowa, and generating a Connecticut-sized dead zone at
the heart of the…
http://www.motherjones.com/tom-philpott/2015/08/how-midwests-corn-farms-are-cooking-planet
 

BLOGS

Why Misleading Americans About Climate Change Is Dangerous. Even
as the Pope and some conservatives call for action on climate
change, it remains common among Republican politicians to claim
that the science on the issue is murky or inconclusive. The
latest to take this position is Gov. John Kasich of Ohio.
http://takingnote.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/08/11/why-misleading-americans-about-climate-change-is-dangerous/


Why California's Drought Policies Are Wrong-headed and Won't
Work. Much has been written, a good deal of it on the front page
of the San Diego Union Tribune and some even in the review
section of the New York Times about California's four-year
drought, the shortages it will cause, and what to do about it.
Much of it is not particularly sensible. But they're only
reporting what the policy makers have determined.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rf-hemphill/california-drought-policies_b_7972306.html


Sucking CO2 from the Air Would Not Halt Effects of Global
Warming. Sans reduced emissions, using extreme geoengineering to
remove atmospheric carbon dioxide would not protect the oceans,
models show. As nations repeatedly fail to make major cuts in
their greenhouse gas production, scientists and others have begun
to wonder if climate change might be halted not by emissions
cuts…
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/sucking-co2-from-the-air-would-not-halt-effects-of-global-warming/


Climate Change Reforms Must Continue, But More is Needed to
Protect Working Class Communities.  As Pope Francis prepares to
visit the United States next month, the media's fixation on him
is continuing to increase. This is especially true in California,
where the Pope's acknowledgement of human impact on climate
change, as articulated in his anticipated encyclical, has created
a substantial stir.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arturo-carmona/climate-change-reforms-must-continue_b_7973382.html




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