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newsclips -- ARB Newsclips for October 5, 2015.
Posted: 05 Oct 2015 16:09:17
ARB Newsclips for October 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. CAP AND TRADE Poland to sell sovereign carbon permits to Italy for $5.3 mln. Poland will sell some its surplus government-held emission permits to Italy for 20 million zlotys ($5.3 million), Poland's environment minister Maciej Grabowski said on Monday. Nations comfortably below their greenhouse gas targets in the first phase of the Kyoto Protocol (2008-12) could sell excess emission permits… http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/05/poland-italy-emissions-idUSL8N12521220151005?feedType=RSS&feedName=rbssEnergyNews Calif. likely to rely on cap and trade to show compliance with EPA rule, but interstate trading remains unclear. California is facing a potential surplus of emissions reductions resulting from U.S. EPA's Clean Power Plan, but officials are still unsure how or whether to take advantage of them. California is an outlier compared to the rest of the country in that it has been pursuing economywide emissions reductions for the past decade. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2015/10/05/stories/1060025829 AIR POLLUTION Smog-shrouded Malaysia shuts schools for 2 days. Malaysia on Monday shut most schools nationwide for two days to protect children from a thick, noxious haze caused by smoke from burning forests in neighboring Indonesia. The haze, which has shrouded parts of Malaysia and Singapore for about a month, also spread to Thailand on Monday, the first time it has reached hazardous levels so far north. http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/environment/2015/10/05/asia-haze/73367038/ Researchers try freezing CO2 emissions to curb coal emissions. A team at Brigham Young University has developed a cryogenic carbon capture technology capable of eliminating the carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fired power plants. The researchers said that in tests, between 96 and 98 percent of the emissions was captured. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2015/10/05/stories/1060025775 CLIMATE CHANGE Six experts vie for top U.N. climate science job. Six candidates are vying to become head of the U.N.'s top authority on climate change science this week, seeking to narrow down uncertainties about future warming to guide a trillion-dollar shift to greener energies. http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/04/us-climatechange-science-idUSKCN0RY0CH20151004 Toughen climate action every five years, U.N. draft suggests. All nations should agree to toughen curbs on greenhouse gas emissions every five years under a U.N. accord to combat global warming due in December, according to a first suggested text of a U.N. agreement on Monday. The 20-page accord, slashing a previous text of more than 80, is a step towards a deal due at a summit in Paris from Nov. 30-Dec 11… http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/05/us-climatechange-summit-draft-idUSKCN0RZ1WT20151005 India's Global Climate Pledge Has Hefty Price Tag. The renewable energy targets in India's pledge to fight climate change most likely underestimate the drop in carbon intensity that could play out in the country with the world's fourth-highest emissions of greenhouse gases, analysts told Bloomberg BNA Oct. 2, a day after the document was submitted to the United Nations. http://www.bna.com/indias-global-climate-n57982059082/ EIB Links Green Bonds to Projects in Push for Climate. “Ahead of the Paris climate conference, the EIB is supporting EU’s leadership in climate policy also through innovation in the green bond market,” said Bertrand de Mazieres, director general of finance at the EIB. “Green bond issuance has grown substantially, and has the potential to contribute significantly to addressing the 2 degree Celsius target.” http://washpost.bloomberg.com/Story?docId=1376-NVQPK86K50XW01-4G98NPV4ECR4ABBQRJ4R98N61O Alaska Seeks Federal Money to Move a Village Threatened by Climate Change. One of the most eroded Native Alaskan villages on the state’s coast is being considered as a possible national model for moving entire communities whose futures are threatened by natural disasters escalated by climate change. The state is hoping to kick-start an exodus from the village of Newtok, about 500 miles west of Anchorage… http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/04/us/alaska-seeks-federal-money-to-move-a-village-threatened-by-climate-change.html?ref=us&_r=0 UN releases a draft for potential agreement on climate. The United Nations on Monday released a first draft of the negotiating text for the major conference on climate taking place in Paris in December. The document is a step forward for the talks, slimming down the text from more than 90 pages earlier this year to just 20. http://www.sacbee.com/news/nation-world/article37783959.html#storylink=cpy Warming helps spur odd side effect in Northwest Passage: more ice. A new study is serving as a reminder that despite dramatic warming in the Arctic, the ice trend in the region is not straight downward in all locations, and some areas are showing surprising resiliency. Sea ice in the Northwest Passage -- a sea route connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans along the Canadian archipelago… http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2015/10/05/stories/1060025789 When will rising seas and storm surges make an island uninhabitable? Many atoll islands may become uninhabitable in just a few decades, due to the combination of rising sea levels and flooding caused by storm waves, according to new research by the U.S. Geological Survey. Both threats are growing due to climate change. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2015/10/05/stories/1060025785 DROUGHT Will El Niño ‘solve’ drought? Not if the rain falls in Southern California. In recent weeks, conditions have gelled for what forecasters say could be one of the strongest El Niño weather patterns in recorded history. Will it substantially ease California’s historic drought? If the storms center on Southern California, the answer is probably not. Experts stress that El Niño is notoriously unpredictable… http://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/water-and-drought/article37743690.html#storylink=cpy Dust and desperation: How the drought is hurting health. Four years of drought in California is wearing on the bodies and minds of the people who live in the San Joaquin Valley. State health officials say they have not seen anything to link the drought to changes in residents’ health. But local doctors and health experts, and a drive south on Highway 99 from Sacramento to Tulare County, tell a different story. http://www.sfchronicle.com/health/article/Dust-and-desperation-How-the-drought-is-hurting-6544787.php?t=6bed1c6c6d1210a92f&cmpid=fb-premium California drought: San Jose's tough conservation rules have few appeals so far. When San Jose Water Company, which provides water to 1 million people in San Jose and nearby cities, held a public meeting to announce its summer water conservation rules in May, more than 350 people -- most of them angry -- turned out. At the time, people complained that the company's rules were unfair… http://www.mercurynews.com/drought/ci_28920105/california-drought-san-joses-tough-conservation-rules-have Salton Sea risks 'falling off a cliff' as drought diverts attention, officials warn. The Salton Sea in Southern California risks "falling off a cliff environmentally," with devastating impacts on public health and the local economy, in a couple of years, officials there warned. But getting attention and resources has been made more difficult with the drought gripping the state. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2015/10/05/stories/1060025776 Panel to debate long-awaited drought measures. After months of quiet backroom discussions, efforts to pass Western drought legislation are getting ready for prime time. Sen. Lisa Murkowski's (R-Alaska) Energy and Natural Resources Committee this week will hold a long-awaited legislative hearing on the two lead California-specific relief measures, as well as several other bills dealing with Western water issues. http://www.eenews.net/stories/1060025813 DIESEL ACTIVITIES FUELS Oil Patch Braces for Exploration Chill After Canada's Election. As Canada’s oil patch grapples with a price shock, pipeline delays and rising tax rates, the federal election could add another barrier to recovery by reining in a key incentive for development of new wells. Two of the three major parties jostling for power in the Oct. 19 vote are campaigning against “fossil fuel subsidies” … http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-10-05/oil-patch-braces-for-exploration-chill-after-canada-s-election Canada Can Halve Methane Emissions for $555 Million, Study Says. Canada can almost halve emissions of methane from oil and natural gas production for about C$726 million ($555 million) using off-the-shelf technology, a study said. Methane pollution from oil and gas production accounts for 6 percent of Canada’s total greenhouse gas emissions, according to a study by the Pembina Institute and the Environmental Defense Fund… http://washpost.bloomberg.com/Story?docId=1376-NVM4KK6JTSE901-66740CB6UT6EPN4B9JQLLKFC35 Aemetis harvests demo crop of optimized biomass sorghum in California for advanced biofuels; ~90 days from planting to harvest. Aemetis, Inc., an advanced renewable fuels and biochemicals company, has harvested 12- to 15-foot tall biomass sorghum grown in Central California that was produced using proprietary seed genetics from Nexsteppe, a provider of optimized sorghum feedstock solutions. http://www.greencarcongress.com/2015/10/20151005-aemetis.html VEHICLES Plug-In Electric Car Sales In Sep: Waiting On Better 2016 Models. Sales of plug-in electric cars in the U.S. had a low-to-average month in September, with the sole bright spot being the astounding sales of the BMW i3 electric hatchback. Two new 2016 models, the entirely redesigned Chevy Volt and the longer-range 107-mile Nissan Leaf… http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1100333_plug-in-electric-car-sales-in-sep-waiting-on-better-2016-models VW RECALL AP analysis: Dozens of deaths likely from VW pollution dodge. Volkswagen's pollution-control chicanery has not just been victimless tinkering, killing between five and 20 people in the United States annually in recent years, according to an Associated Press statistical and computer analysis. The software that the company admitted using to get around government emissions limits allowed VWs to spew enough pollution… http://bigstory.ap.org/article/a6925f0af82e44aaa1a1ed4b55d030f6/ap-analysis-dozens-deaths-likely-vw-pollution-dodge Volkswagen admits rigging of 8 mln cars in EU. Volkswagen has admitted that 8 million vehicles were fitted with software capable of cheating diesel emissions tests in the European Union, a German newspaper said on Monday, citing a letter the carmaker sent to members of parliament. The letter - dated Oct. 2 and cosigned by the former government spokesman and current VW chief lobbyist Thomas Steg… http://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFL8N12548G20151005 Volkswagen Emissions Investigation Zeroes In on Two Engineers. Company investigation focuses on two men elevated after Winterkorn was made CEO. Two top Volkswagen engineers who found they couldn’t deliver as promised a clean diesel engine for the U.S. market are at the center of a company probe into the installation of engine software designed to fool regulators… http://www.wsj.com/articles/vw-emissions-probe-zeroes-in-on-two-engineers-1444011602?mod=trending_now_1 Race is on to file suits against VW. Volkswagen's stunning admission that it rigged its diesel cars to pass emissions tests is setting up one of the largest, costliest legal cases in U.S. history. And it could all be played out in a federal courtroom in Los Angeles. More than 230 federal class-action lawsuits have been filed against the German automaker in courts across the United States. http://www.latimes.com/business/autos/la-fi-volkswagen-legal-20151003-story.html From Italy to California, Volkswagen scandal was eight years in the making. Volkswagen’s diesel pollution scandal began unfolding with a series of road tests in the hills of northern Italy eight years ago. The automaker’s dirty secret was finally exposed when a team of California scientists devised a way to trick the company’s stealth software at a state-run laboratory off the San Bernardino Freeway. http://www.sacbee.com/news/business/article37570722.html#storylink=cpy Dirty secrets. Volkswagen’s falsification of pollution tests opens the door to a very different car industry. EMMISSIONS of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and other nasties from cars’ and lorries’ exhausts cause large numbers of early deaths—perhaps 58,000 a year in America alone, one study suggests. So the scandal that has engulfed Volkswagen (VW) this week is no minor misdemeanour or victimless crime (see article). http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21666226-volkswagens-falsification-pollution-tests-opens-door-very-different-car VW exec to face grilling at emissions scandal hearing. A top Volkswagen executive could be pressed for a detailed accounting of the automaker's emissions-cheating scheme at a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee hearing Thursday. Michael Horn, president and CEO of Volkswagen's American arm, will be a witness at the hearing by the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee… http://www.eenews.net/eedaily/2015/10/05/stories/1060025803 GREEN ENERGY Germany offers India $2.25 billion for solar, clean energy. German will provide India more than 2 billion euros ($2.25 billion) for developing a clean energy corridor and solar projects, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday after talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel. Modi has made ambitious renewable energy targets a key part of his development agenda and climate change mitigation commitments ahead of a landmark international summit in Paris at the end of this year. "I admire German leadership in clean energy and commitment to combating climate change," Modi told journalists after meeting Merkel, who was on a three-day visit to India. Austin backs 300-MW solar push while delaying review of bigger expansion. The City Council in Austin, Texas, endorsed a major expansion of renewable energy last week by authorizing the local electric utility to enter into agreements for as much as 300 megawatts of solar power. But council members delayed a decision on whether to boost solar exposure even further amid lingering questions about costs and implications. http://www.eenews.net/energywire/2015/10/05/stories/1060025810 OPINIONS COLUMN-U.S. motorists opt for larger vehicles, lower fuel economy: Kemp. U.S. motorists are opting for larger, more powerful cars with worse fuel economy in response to the sharp drop in gasoline prices. The average fuel economy for vehicles sold in the United States in September was 25.2 miles per gallon, down by 0.6 mpg since August 2014, according to the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute. http://af.reuters.com/article/commoditiesNews/idAFL8N12539Q20151005 Jeb Bush’s energy plan. JEB BUSH laid out an energy plan last week that hardly addresses climate change. Given what passes for climate debate in the Republican Party, maybe we should be grateful that Mr. Bush didn’t use the rollout to indulge in climate know-nothingism. By any reasonable measure, however, it’s breathtakingly irresponsible…https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/jeb-bushs-energy-plan/2015/10/04/77aef22e-66ed-11e5-9223-70cb36460919_story.html Dan Walters: Electrical power tripping. When California’s electric power system went into a virtual meltdown 15 years ago, one might think it would have cured politicians’ urges to fiddle with its operations. After all, it was caused by a know-it-all overhaul of the system four years earlier by then-Gov. Pete Wilson and the Legislature, and successor Gray Davis’ mishandling of the crisis contributed… http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/dan-walters/article37438068.html#storylink=cpy Collaborative approach needed after failure of fuel-reduction mandate. Pundits proclaimed that the petroleum industry was the big winner coming out of the most recent legislative session. But the real winners were the millions of Californians who believe we can protect the environment without sacrificing our economy and middle class. The fuel-reduction mandate in Senate Bill 350 would have restricted the use of gasoline… http://www.sacbee.com/opinion/op-ed/soapbox/article37010571.html#storylink=cpy Rep. Charles Rangel: Let's slow down the next superstorm. The news last week that New York City faces Superstorm Sandy-level flooding every 25 years, instead of every 500 years, is a wet blanket after such a banner week bolstered by presidents, prime ministers and the pope talking about sustainability and climate change. What a serious wake-up call after all the positive pomp and circumstance. http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2015/10/05/joaquin-hurricane-noreaster-superstorm-sandy-flood-column/73161698/ BLOGS Let’s Talk Health: EPA takes steps to improve air quality, but is it enough? The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has tightened its restriction on ground-level ozone standards, and while that may be good news for public health in the San Joaquin Valley and elsewhere, the change met complaints from industry, which sees it as burdensome and a threat to businesses and jobs. http://www.mercedsunstar.com/living/liv-columns-blogs/article37419576.html#storylink=cpy San Francisco's Innovative Step to Save Water. After four years of drought, dwindling reservoirs and overdrafted aquifers, California's water woes are prompting dire predictions and desperate measures. In some places in the Central Valley, entire communities are at risk of drying up. Many are pinning their hopes to wet weather predictions from a coming El Niño. Others communities… http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tara-lohan/san-franciscos-innovative-step-to-save-water_b_8236072.html Overcoming Fear: Women and Climate Change. Threatening hurricanes like Joaquin churn up waves of speculation. When a doozy of a storm is eminent -- dumping boatloads of rain and destruction -- I fearfully follow a steady stream of hurricane alerts on social media. Normally, the wild weather choir would swallow me up… http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ronnie-citronfink/overcoming-fear-women-and_b_8241472.html California is in a drought emergency. Visit www.SaveOurH2O.org for water conservation tips.