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ARB Newsclips for February 2, 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.

AIR POLLUTION

Port of L.A. terminal fails to comply with pollution-reduction
mandates, officials say.  The Port of Los Angeles has failed to
meet pollution-reduction requirements at another shipping
terminal, city officials said Monday, their second such admission
in recent months. The TraPac terminal near Wilmington did not
comply with air quality…
http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-0202-port-pollution-20160202-story.html


ALISO CANYON

Expanded air monitoring in Porter Ranch finds no health risks so
far, but residents skeptical. Results from expanded air
monitoring in Porter Ranch, where natural gas continues to leak
from a breached well show evidence of high methane levels and
some benzene, but pose no increased risk for longterm health
effects, health officials said Monday.
http://www.dailynews.com/environment-and-nature/20160201/expanded-air-monitoring-in-porter-ranch-finds-no-health-risks-so-far-but-residents-skeptical
 

Private company offers real-time community air monitoring in
Porter Ranch.  Amid a 3-month-old gas leak, a Washington
state-based company is now providing real-time community air
monitoring of the greenhouse gas methane and will soon be
measuring carcinogens such as benzene in Porter Ranch. The
company, Argos Scientific, is using state-of-the art monitoring
systems that sample the air continuously while reporting the
results online.
http://www.dailynews.com/environment-and-nature/20160201/private-company-offers-real-time-community-air-monitoring-in-porter-ranch
  

CLIMATE CHANGE

Climate change could alter New England soil – study. New
England's forests are bracing for a transformation above ground
and in the soil below as the climate changes. New research finds
that as warmer temperatures shift where tree species' ideal
habitat is -- deciduous species such as oak and maple are
expected to move into higher elevations, replacing coniferous
evergreen pines, cedars and firs…
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2016/02/02/stories/1060031627 

2014 U.K. floods made more likely by climate change. Man-made
climate change contributed to recent floods in the south of
England, an Oxford University-led study finds. The study,
published in the journal Nature Climate Change, found that the
downpours that caused the 2013 and 2014 flooding resulted from
two factors associated with global warming: an increase in the
atmosphere's water-holding capacity…
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2016/02/02/stories/1060031628

DROUGHT

Studying the Heart of El Niño, Where Its Weather Begins.  A
thousand miles south of Hawaii, the air at 45,000 feet above the
equatorial Pacific was a shimmering gumbo of thick storm clouds
and icy cirrus haze, all cooked up by the overheated waters
below. In a Gulfstream jet more accustomed to hunting hurricanes
in the Atlantic, researchers with the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration were cruising this desolate…
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/02/science/where-el-nino-weather-begins-pacific-ocean-noaa.html


Study: Drought could worsen fires, feed insects, spur plant
die-offs. Worsening drought conditions may be doing more damage
to forests in California and throughout the West than their
ecosystems can handle, causing a spiral of death that could have
a devastating impact on land managers, a U.S. Forest Service
study concludes. The 300-page report issued Monday -- "Effects of
Drought on Forests…
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/forest-702373-drought-forests.html


California weighs extending drought conservation orders. 
Following a welcomed parade of El Nino storms drenching
drought-stricken California, state officials on Tuesday will
decide whether to extend emergency conservation orders, and
reveal how much water Californians saved in December.  The
figures are expected to show that for a third straight month,
Californians missed a mandate to use 25 percent less water.
http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/nation/2016/02/02/california-drought/79684428/


Feds should step up coordination amid drought – report. The
federal government should take a handful of "modest and
programmatic" steps that would greatly aid the West's ability to
cope with drought, a leading California-based think tank said
today. Public Policy Institute of California researchers laid out
five areas of reform that would improve federal coordination of
programs that manage the West's limited water resources.
http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2016/02/02/stories/1060031654 

Drought could devastate Calif. ecosystems – USFS. Worsening
drought conditions in California could be causing more damage to
the state's forests than the ecosystems can handle, according to
a U.S. Forest Service study released yesterday. Drier, hotter and
more extreme weather fluctuation could cause insect outbreaks,
tree and plant die-offs, devastating wildfires, and timber
habitat damage, the study found.
http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2016/02/02/stories/1060031648 

FUELS

Think Crude's Cheap? Biodiesel's Going for Free in Some Places.
Biodiesel’s become so cheap in the U.S. that some refiners are
being paid to use it. Midwest refiners are paying as little as
64.5 cents a gallon for the fuel after factoring in a $1-a-gallon
tax subsidy and other credits. Add further incentives offered by
California into the mix and some customers are effectively
getting biodiesel for free in the Golden State.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-02-01/think-crude-s-cheap-biodiesel-s-going-for-free-in-some-places


Cheap Oil Won't Juice the U.S. Economy This Time: Reuters Poll.
U.S. consumers are cautious about spending their windfall from
cheap gasoline and are saving more, according to a Reuters/Ipsos
poll and official data, suggesting low oil prices are less of a
boon for the U.S. economy than in the past. Commerce Department
data shows that the crude's 70 percent drop since mid-2014 cut
households' annual spending on gasoline…
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2016/02/01/business/01reuters-usa-economy-oil.html?_r=0

VEHICLES

German transport min says not opposed to electric car incentives.
 German Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt said on Tuesday he
was not opposed to incentives to promote sales of electric cars
but said expanding charging infrastructure should be a priority.
"I don't have any ideological reservations against any
consideration or model to promote the ramp-up of electric cars,"
Dobrindt told reporters at a Volkswagen dealership in Berlin.
http://www.reuters.com/article/autos-electric-germany-incentives-idUSB4N14400H?feedType=RSS&feedName=marketsNews


EU Automakers’ Political Muscle May Sway Pollution-Test Vote.  A
loophole-filled European plan to test cars’ smog-causing
pollution under real driving conditions may survive a veto threat
this week, signaling that the Volkswagen AGcheating scandal has
done little to diminish the auto industry’s political clout. 
http://washpost.bloomberg.com/Story?docId=1376-O1WOTJ6VDKHT01-109P5G28640FA3O72USI7EI86Q


Top Six Trends In Plug-In Electric Cars Through 2020. Five years
after the first mass-market electric car hit the market, cars
with plugs haven't lived up to the most optimistic projections
for their adoption. They are at least pacing the rate of hybrid
cars over their first five years, but numerous factors have
challenged what advocates see as an obvious evolution. Many of
those challenges reside in the automakers themselves, many of
which still largely view plug-in electric cars…
http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1102160_top-six-trends-in-plug-in-electric-cars-through-2020


Plug-In Electric Car Trends, VW Diesel Report, Electric-Car
Sales: Today's Car News. Today, we have the top six trends in
plug-in electric cars through 2020, Volkswagen's confirmation
that it will release a report on its diesel cheating in April,
and our monthly plug-in electric car sales report, which will be
updated frequently over the next day or so.
http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1102175_plug-in-electric-car-trends-vw-diesel-report-electric-car-sales-todays-car-news

Fuel-cell vehicles hindered by charging station challenge.  A
trip with a hydrogen-powered car from Detroit to New Orleans
would require three refueling stops -- similar to a
combustion-engine vehicle -- and emit around 40 percent less
greenhouse gases.
That's one of the scenarios laid out in a University of Michigan
Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI) paper released
yesterday.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2016/02/02/stories/1060031630 

VW RECALL

Volkswagen Brand's U.S. Sales Drop 15%, Missing Estimate.
Volkswagen AG’s namesake brand reported a decline in U.S. sales
for the third straight month as the automaker continues to face
fallout from cheating on government emissions tests.
The brand’s deliveries slid 15 percent in January, Volkswagen
said in a statement Tuesday, after dropping 9.1 percent in
December…
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-02-02/volkswagen-brand-s-u-s-sales-drop-15-missing-estimate

http://www.wsj.com/articles/volkswagen-car-sales-in-germany-fall-8-8-in-january-1454440256

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2016/02/02/volkswagen-january-sales-emissions-scandal/79693908/


Fiat Chrysler to Improve Diesel Emissions Performance. Car maker
acts as EU considers improving emissions testing after VW’s
cheating. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV on Tuesday said it would
reduce the emissions of its vehicles as the Italian-American car
maker moves to get ahead of the debate on European regulations
following the Volkswagen AG cheating scandal.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/fiat-chrysler-to-improve-diesel-emissions-performance-1454414998


Volkswagen Bank Profits May Be Endangered by Diesel Scandal.
Volkswagen is more than just a scandal-plagued automaker. It is
also one of Europe’s largest banks, and its loan portfolio
appears vulnerable to the emissions-cheating crisis that has
engulfed the company. Volkswagen Financial Services, the
company’s in-house bank, has been an important element in
Volkswagen’s rise to…
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/02/business/international/diesel-scandal-also-raises-concerns-for-volkswagens-bank.html?_r=0


VW To Release Diesel Cheating Report At April Annual Meeting.  As
it continues to fight a losing public-relations battle over the
ongoing diesel-emissions scandal, Volkswagen is preparing to
release the results of an internal investigation of the matter.
The report on the use of "defeat device" software to cheat on
emissions tests will be released at the company's annual
shareholder meeting on April 21.
http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1102159_vw-to-release-diesel-cheating-report-at-april-annual-meeting


Calif. deadline looms for Volkswagen emissions fix. Volkswagen
continued today to play a game of brinksmanship as it has yet to
file a repair plan for 80,000 diesel SUVs and cars, equipped with
3.0-liter V-6 powerplants. With the deadline swiftly approaching,
the automaker yesterday had still not responded publicly to a
California Air Resources Board (CARB) ruling.
http://www.examiner.com/article/calif-deadline-looms-for-volkswagen-emissions-fix

GREEN ENERGY

Brexit May Lose U.K. Billions in Funding for Climate, Renewables.
The U.K. risks losing out on billions of pounds of investment in
renewable energy projects such as wind farms and grid upgrades if
it quits the European Union and ditches its stake in the European
Investment Bank. Britain is the biggest recipient of the EIB’s
Climate Awareness Bond Project, taking 24 percent of the 7.2
billion euros ($7.9 billion) invested…
http://washpost.bloomberg.com/Story?docId=1376-O1VPHX6TTDSF01-4VPILUFCRMLLUAN1AOSLMB3VAV

CORRECTED-France's Total buys stakes in solar power start-ups.
(Corrects in paragraph 1 to say TEV has $150 million under
management, not $100 million). Feb 2 French oil and gas company
Total said on Tuesday that it had taken stakes in two solar power
start-ups via its $150 million Total Energy Ventures venture
capital fund as it expands in renewable energy.
http://www.reuters.com/article/total-renewables-startups-idUSL8N15H3KF


California saves $45 million in power costs in new energy market.
California’s participation in a growing network of power
utilities and operators in the western U.S. called the Energy
Imbalance Market has yielded savings of $12 million in the fourth
quarter of 2015, state power officials said Monday.
http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article57812653.html#storylink=cpy


Amendment to energy bill would broaden popular cleanup program.
Lawmakers on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee
today lauded the addition of an amendment reauthorizing U.S.
EPA's brownfields program to an energy policy bill under
consideration. The amendment by EPW Chairman James Inhofe
(R-Okla.) to S. 2012, or the "Energy Policy Modernization Act of
2015,"…
http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2016/02/02/stories/1060031658 

MISCELLANEOUS

High Court's FERC Ruling Good for EPA, Analysts Say. The Federal
Energy Regulatory Commission's recent victory before the U.S.
Supreme Court bodes well for the Environmental Protection Agency
when the justices eventually consider substantive challenges to
the Clean Power Plan, legal analysts told Bloomberg BNA.
http://www.bna.com/high-courts-ferc-n57982066829/ 

Mayors Get Creative as Competition for 'Coolest City in
California' Heats Up. A competition that began in October, the
CoolCalifornia Challenge, is motivating Californians in 22
participating cities to reduce their water and energy
consumption. The cities are competing for a share of $150,000 to
put towards local sustainability projects and the coveted title
of “Coolest City in California,” …
http://www.sustainablebrands.com/news_and_views/behavior_change/sustainable_brands/mayors_get_creative_competition_coolest_city_calif


OPINIONS

COLUMN-China tackles smog with help from the World Bank: Kemp.
China's capital has become notorious for its smog but the biggest
contributors to local air pollution are industrial furnaces,
district heating systems, residential fires and trucks rather
than power plants. Industrial firms, heating plants and
residential fires in the capital and neighbouring provinces
consume 240 million tonnes of coal per year…
http://af.reuters.com/article/commoditiesNews/idAFL8N15H3PP?pageNumber=2&virtualBrandChannel=0&sp=true


Dan Walters: Gas prices drop, gas taxes also. California gasoline
prices have been dropping sharply of late – below $2 a gallon in
some areas. That’s still somewhat higher than those in many other
states, and some self-described consumer groups are still trying
to portray California motorists as victims of oil industry greed.
http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/dan-walters/article57802198.html#storylink=cpy

  
BLOGS

Here's How Enormous The Methane Blowout Is In California. The gas
is invisible, so we visualized it for you.  The “invisible
tsunami” of natural gas that has been spewing from a broken well
in the backyard of an affluent Los Angeles suburb has caused
illness and losses to businesses, and driven thousands from their
homes.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/california-gas-leak-infographic_us_56aff98ce4b09214b14f54b9




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