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ARB Newsclips for January 20, 2016. 

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

Rice growers on the front lines of U.S. carbon markets. Dan Hooks
isn't one to take chances with his rice crop, but that hasn't
stopped him from being a pioneer of sorts.
The Arkansas native is one of a small group of rice farmers in
the United States who are changing the way they grow their crops
to cut back on methane emissions from their fields. In exchange,
they will be eligible for the first-ever carbon credits for crops
through California's cap-and-trade program. 
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2016/01/20/stories/1060030839 

AIR POLLUTION

Obama to Force Oil, Gas Companies to Pare Potent Methane Leaks. A
massive natural gas leak in southern California that has forced
thousands of residents from their homes is giving momentum to the
Obama administration’s plan to clamp down on methane emissions
from oil and natural gas wells.  The proposal, set to be unveiled
by the Interior Department within days, takes aim at wells on
federal and tribal lands…
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-01-20/obama-to-force-oil-gas-companies-to-pare-potent-methane-leaks


The Wharton Grad Sensing a Fortune in the World's Most Toxic Air.
Murky air means money for New Delhi businessman Jai Dhar Gupta.
The 43-year-old Wharton graduate began selling pollution masks
last year in India, home to some of the planet’s most toxic
cities. Gupta reckons he’ll sell 70,000 from January to March --
as much as the whole of 2015 -- and may buy an equity stake in
the U.S. company that owns the rights to the products.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-01-20/the-wharton-grad-sensing-a-fortune-in-the-world-s-most-toxic-air


Erin Brockovich appeals to Porter Ranch residents as law firms
push gas leak suits.  Movie-famous activist Erin Brockovich stood
in front of 400 Porter Ranch residents on a recent weeknight and
told a disturbing personal story. "When I first came to Porter
Ranch I couldn't believe it," she said of her visit to the
community closest to Southern California Gas Co.'s leaking well.
http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-porter-ranch-lawyers-20160119-story.html


Businesses in Porter Ranch struggling as customers relocate. Reem
Naaman cried as she broke the news to the operators of a Porter
Ranch preschool that has been a second home to her children. "We
won't be able to keep our two little girls in your school any
longer," she said. "We're relocating." For the owners of the
school, Douglas and Barbara Packard, the loss of yet another
customer has them wondering how much worse things can get.
http://www.latimes.com/science/la-me-porter-ranch-economy-20160120-story.html


Air Quality Regulators Conduct Hearing on Porter Reach Gas Leak.
Although Southern California Gas Co. has abandoned plans to
capture and incinerate gas leaking from a Porter Ranch well since
October, Southland air-quality regulators will meet again
Wednesday morning to discuss a wide-ranging enforcement order
aimed at minimizing the leak. A South Coast Air Quality
Management District hearing board will meet for a…
http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/AQMD-Hold-Hearing-Order-Abatement-in-Porter-Ranch-Gas-Leak-365890251.html


Massive leaks are an everyday occurrence in gas fields.
California’s Aliso Canyon is a reminder that methane emissions
are widespread, poorly regulated — and ongoing. After one of the
many attempts to plug the methane-leaking well at the Aliso
Canyon natural gas storage facility in the Los Angeles suburbs,
the thing erupted like a geyser, spewing not only natural gas,
but also the muddy slurry that company technicians had pumped
into the well.
http://www.hcn.org/articles/massive-california-gas-leak-is-an-everyday-occurrence-in-the-gas-fields


CLIMATE CHANGE

California to investigate whether Exxon Mobil lied about
climate-change risks.  California Atty. Gen. Kamala D. Harris is
investigating whether Exxon Mobil Corp. repeatedly lied to the
public and its shareholders about the risk to its business from
climate change — and whether such actions could amount to
securities fraud and violations of environmental laws.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-exxon-global-warming-20160120-story.html


2015 was the hottest year on record, according to new data. 2015
was Earth's hottest year on record, according to new data
released Wednesday by NOAA and NASA. For the last 12 months the 
average surface temperature across the globe was 58.47
Fahrenheit, a 0.23-degree increase from 2014's record-breaking
average temperature of 58.24, the two agencies reported.
http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-2015-hottest-year-20160119-story.html


DROUGHT

Researchers test a possible drought solution by flooding an
almond farm. The El Niño rainstorm had already turned Nick Blom's
almond orchard into a quagmire. Still, he wheeled open the lid of
a massive irrigation pipe. Fifteen minutes later, a gurgling
belch heralded a gush of water that surged over the lip of the
pipe and spread across five acres of almond trees.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-almonds-flooding-20160120-story.html


Rain, snow making a dent in California’s historic drought. The
rain and snow falling across Northern California in recent days
is by no means extraordinary. In the Sacramento region,
precipitation remains below normal for the season. But inch by
inch, forecasters say, it’s doing the work necessary if
California is to reverse years of epic drought.
http://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/water-and-drought/article55551045.html#storylink=cpy


9 Californians who play key roles in water policy. After four
years of a crushing drought, Californians are hoping El Niño
storms bring relief this winter. But whether they replenish the
state's reservoirs and rebuild its crucial snowpack remains to be
seen, with many experts cautioning that the state's water deficit
is too severe to be resolved in one rainy year. So 2016 promises
to be another critical year in California water policy centering
on politically charged… http://www.eenews.net/stories/1060030797


FUELS

U.S. refiners brace for possible glitches amid first winter test.
Jan 20 U.S. refineries along the East Coast and the Midwest are
facing their first major test of the winter season since last
year's blistering cold set off a string of outages, sending
gasoline and diesel prices soaring. Freezing temperatures have
descended upon the U.S. Northeast and Midwest ahead of a
potentially historic storm…
http://www.reuters.com/article/refinery-operations-winter-idUSL2N1532FX?feedType=RSS&feedName=industrialsSector


Northwest tribes unite against giant coal, oil projects. On this
last bit of undeveloped coast between a smelter and two oil
refineries, SSA Marine wants to build the biggest coal export
terminal in North America, to load up some of the largest ships
afloat arriving up to 487 times a year, mostly from Asian ports.
The blockbuster $665 million proposal is one of many fossil fuel
transport projects…
http://www.latimes.com/nation/sns-tns-bc-tribes-coalprojects-20160120-story.html


Navy launches carrier group powered partly by biofuels. The Navy
is launching a carrier strike group to be powered partly by
biofuels. Officials are calling it a milestone toward easing the
military’s reliance on foreign oil. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus and
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack are inspecting the ships
Wednesday before they set sail off San Diego. At the head of the
pack is the nuclear-powered USS John C. Stennis supercarrier.
http://www.freep.com/story/news/nation/2016/01/20/navy-green-fleet/79046602/
 

VEHICLES

RPT-INSIGHT-Electric vehicle sales fall far short of Obama goal.
Jan 20 Back in 2008, with gas prices averaging nearly $4 a
gallon, President Barack Obama set a goal of getting one million
plug-in electric vehicles on the roads by 2015. Since then, his
administration has backed billions of dollars in EV subsidies for
consumers and the industry.
http://www.reuters.com/article/autos-electric-obama-idUSL2N154036?feedType=RSS&feedName=marketsNews

Brown’s transportation budget celebrates the car. Weeks after
returning from the Paris summit on climate change where he was
hailed as a leader in the movement to limit greenhouse gases,
Gov. Jerry Brown has proposed a new transportation budget that
celebrates the car. In 2016-17, Brown wants to spend $16 billion
on transportation, and most of that would go toward making it
easier for people to drive.
http://www.calhealthreport.org/2016/01/19/browns-transportation-budget-celebrates-the-car/


Ricardo and GTI partner on new lower-emissions medium- and
heavy-duty natural gas engine technologies for California.
Ricardo will partner with Gas Technology Institute (GTI) on two
major contracts to enable natural gas engines to provide a
viable, fuel-efficient, and less polluting alternative to diesel
power for medium and heavy-duty commercial vehicles on the
highways of California. Despite California’s substantial progress
in reducing emissions…
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2016/01/20160120-ricardo.html 

Regulators Pushing Electric Cars Today, But Consumers Will Pull:
Nissan CEO.  While there are already a number of enthusiastic
owners, electric cars are still receiving a significant amount of
market support from governments across the globe. They encourage
people to buy electric cars through incentives like tax credits,
rebate checks, and solo access to crowded carpool lanes.
http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1101963_regulators-pushing-electric-cars-today-but-consumers-will-pull-nissan-ceo


VW RECALL

N.M. sues Volkswagen over emissions scandal. New Mexico Attorney
General Hector Balderas (D) late yesterday filed a lawsuit in
state district court over the Volkswagen AG emissions cheating
scandal that has affected millions of cars globally. The Democrat
alleges in the lawsuit that Volkswagen and its subsidiaries
violated New Mexico's air quality regulations…
http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2016/01/20/stories/1060030880 

GREEN ENERGY

Renewable Stocks Drop After Oil's Plunge Spurs Global Selloff.
Renewable energy company shares dropped following a plunge in
crude oil to a 12-year low that rattled stock markets around the
globe. Wind and solar power companies in the U.S. and Europe
fell, including REC Silicon ASA, which makes the raw material for
solar panels, and Nordex S.E., a wind turbine maker in Germany.
U.S., clean energy companies Vivint Solar Inc. and Solarcity
Corp…
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-01-20/renewable-stocks-drop-after-oil-s-plunge-spurs-global-selloff


Gulf Countries Savings Put at $87 Billion With Renewable Energy.
Gulf countries stand to save as much as $87 billion from lower
oil and natural gas consumption if they achieve goals for
renewables use by 2030, according to the International Renewable
Energy Agency. Meeting Gulf Cooperation Council targets for solar
and other renewable energy could also create an average of
140,000 jobs a year, with 207,000 people employed in 2030…
http://washpost.bloomberg.com/Story?docId=1376-O16YHE6S972O01-4B24LPIDV4Q8GF9LU85OSHITPB

South Korea to File Charges Against Audi Volkswagen Head.
Environment Ministry says recall plan submitted by car maker is
‘unacceptable’. South Korea’s Ministry of Environment is turning
up the heat on Volkswagen AG over its emissions scandal, saying
the car maker’s local unit and its chief will be brought up on
criminal charges.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/south-korea-to-sue-audi-volkswagen-head-1453175077


UN Climate Chief Says Low Oil Prices Can Boost Renewables. Low
oil prices can be a boon to renewable energy, United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change head Christiana Figueres
said Jan. 18. Speaking during the first large multilateral
climate talks since the UN's historic Paris climate agreement
last month, Figueres called low oil prices “an amazing
opportunity”… http://www.bna.com/un-climate-chief-n57982066379/ 

Danish wind power breaks world record in 2015. Wind turbines
produced 42 percent of the electricity in Denmark last year,
setting a world record. Danish wind energy generation in 2015
increased 3 percent from 2014, which previously held the record.
"Hopefully, Denmark can serve as an example to other countries
that it is possible to have both ambitious green policies with a
high proportion of wind energy and other renewables in the energy
supply…
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2016/01/20/stories/1060030818 

Storage may help utilities embrace distributed solar. Storing
electricity may be the sweetener utilities need to swallow
distributed renewable energy. Researchers and utility companies
are looking at what would happen if they integrated energy
storage with solar power as a unit in the hope of turning an
energy liability into an asset.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2016/01/20/stories/1060030860 

OPINIONS

Global warming in 2015 made weather more extreme and it’s likely
to get worse. For those still unconvinced about the reality of
climate change, the year that just ended should erase any doubt.
Climate data from the air, land and water all reveal an
indisputable portrait of a warming world. On Wednesday, the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and NASA jointly
announced that 2015…
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/weather-in-2015-was-warmer-and-more-extreme-than-ever-and-its-likely-getting-worse/2016/01/20/8d698620-be2b-11e5-9443-7074c3645405_story.html


Op-Ed Bill McKibben: How to drive a stake through the heart of
zombie fossil fuel.  When I was a kid, I was creepily fascinated
by the wrongheaded idea that your hair and your fingernails keep
growing after you die. The lesson seemed to be that momentum was
hard to kill. The same thing is at work right now with the fossil
fuel industry. Even as global warming makes it clear that coal,
natural gas and oil are yesterday's energy…
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-0119-mckibben-how-to-kill-the-zombie-fossil-fuel-industry-20160119-story.html


Op-Ed Smug about your solar roof? Not so fast. f you've installed
solar panels on your roof and feel aglow with environmental
virtue, you may be in for a rude awakening. There's a good chance
someone else has purchased your halo and is wearing it right now.
In most states (including California), rooftop solar panels earn
Renewable Energy Certificates, which quantify how much clean
electricity they produce.
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-0120-borenstein-solar-energy-credits-20160120-story.html

Editorial: Brown should focus on water storage, not tunnels and
trains. Gov. Jerry Brown has a grand stage and likely has some
time to kill in his State of the State address Thursday. We’re
here to help. We urge the governor to spend some time talking
about a topic that polls show the voters are interested in —
drought and how to deal with it. He can use current events as an
illustration.
http://www.chicoer.com/opinion/20160119/editorial-brown-should-focus-on-water-storage-not-tunnels-and-trains


BLOGS

How Climate Change Endangers Microbes--and Why That's Not a Good
Thing. People worry about the threat to polar bears, not
microorganisms, but that's shortsighted. With another year of
record-breaking warmth just over, the passage of a new climate
treaty is definitely timely. But even if these new diplomatic and
legislative efforts are successful the planet is ensured some
amount of long-term warming—enough that around 8% of species…
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/how-climate-change-endangers-microbes-and-why-that-s-not-a-good-thing/


Global Warming's Inconvenient Electoral Math. Four years ago, the
author and climate activist Bill McKibben published a seminal
article in Rolling Stone called "Global Warming's Terrifying New
Math," laying out the stark cold numerical case for a carbon tax.
To avoid a catastrophic 2 degrees' Celsius increase in global
temperatures…
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/justin-zorn/global-warmings-inconveni_b_9031060.html



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