What's New List Serve Post Display

ARB Newsclips for March 3, 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

U.S. top court denies bid to block mercury air pollution rule.
The U.S. Supreme Court sided with the Obama administration on
Thursday in rebuffing a bid by 20 states to halt an Environmental
Protection Agency rule to curb emissions of mercury and other
toxic pollutants from power plants. The action came about a month
after the high court put on hold federal regulations to curb
carbon dioxide emissions mainly from coal-fired power plants…
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-court-mercury-idUSKCN0W523N


'Winter Spare the Air' season ends. Only one wood-burning ban
issued during entire season. The Bay Area "Winter Spare the Air"
season ended this week with only one wood-burning ban issued
during the entire season, according to the Bay Area Air Quality
Management District. More frequent storm systems moving through…
http://mv-voice.com/news/2016/03/03/winter-spare-the-air-season-ends


Long Beach Port Improves Air For 11 Years. Shipping lines calling
at the Port of Long Beach cut thousands of tons of air pollution
last year by voluntarily participating in the Port's Green Flag
Program, which offers financial rewards for ships that reduce
their speed near the harbor to decrease emissions. The program,
initiated 11 years ago as part of Long Beach's Green Port Policy,
gives participants…
http://www.marinelink.com/news/improves-beach-years406054.aspx 

ALISO CANYON

At $2 million a day, Porter Ranch residents get to keep their
temporary housing. Southern California Gas Co. will have to
continue paying for temporary accommodations for Porter Ranch
residents who do not believe it is safe to move home in the wake
of the largest methane leak in U.S. history, an appeals court
ruled Wednesday.
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-porter-ranch-appeal-20160302-story.html


CLIMATE CHANGE

Oil gears up for another climate fight.  A Harvard economist
known globally for his work on climate change policy sat in the
Sacramento office of the oil industry’s lobbying firm recently,
making the case that California is fighting global warming the
wrong way. The state has a good cap and trade system, Robert
Stavins said, but some of its other environmental policies are
weakening it.
https://calmatters.org/articles/oil-gears-up-for-another-climate-fight/?utm_source=Sac+Aggregators&utm_campaign=9d7a4bfc6c-News_Analysis_22_aggregators&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_000c574d3b-9d7a4bfc6c-123389401


Palo Alto to tackle climate change, block by block. Palo Alto
will be part of a three-city experiment to get residents to work
block by block on sustainability and climate change goals in
their daily lives. Climate change often is discussed broadly, but
the Cool Block pilot program takes a "bottom-up" approach, said
Sandra Slater…
http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_29588857/palo-alto-tackle-climate-change-block-by-block

DROUGHT

El Nino leaves much of drought-stricken California in dust. Ed
Heinlein surveys the steep mountainside that has repeatedly
unleashed tons of mud into the backyard of his Southern
California home since a 2014 wildfire and still hopes the
drought-stricken state gets more rain. "We have to have the
rain," said Heinlein, whose home east of Los Angeles has become a
poster child for the region's cycle of fire and flood.
http://www.sfgate.com/news/us/article/El-Nino-has-left-much-of-drought-stricken-6868085.php


Desert Water Agency steps up conservation enforcement. If you
live in Palm Springs or certain parts of Cathedral City and
aren't following the water conservation rules, you could pay the
price. A new ordinance passed by Desert Water Agency on Tuesday
outlines a tougher enforcement plan for violators of water
conservation regulations imposed by both the utility agency and
the state.
http://www.scpr.org/news/2016/03/02/58166/desert-water-agency-steps-up-conservation-enforcem/


After a dry February, ‘March miracle’ on the way. After a very
dry February and a Sierra-Nevada Mountain snowpack that has
fallen below average, March could make up for both. A series of
storms is expected to hit California late this week and continue
into next week, with the Central Coast and Central Valley
expected to experience the strongest effects.
http://www.thecalifornian.com/story/news/local/2016/03/02/dry-february-march-miracle-way/81248220/


March Storms Needed To Build Sierra Snowpack. California
reservoirs are 'stable' with help from above-average January
precipitation, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. But March
is needed to build Sierra Nevada snowpack, counted on for water
supply in the spring and summer. "In northern and central
California, after experiencing decent December and January
precipitation and mountain snows…
http://www.capradio.org/articles/2016/03/03/march-storms-needed-to-build-sierra-snowpack/


OPINIONS

The Climate Change 1%. The well-paid professor who wanted to
punish climate skeptics.  Remember the university professor who
wanted the government to use the RICO law created to prosecute
mobsters as a tool against global-warming dissenters? Well,
taxpayers may be the ones calling for an investigation after
examining the nonprofit venture that…
http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-climate-change-1-1456886481 

Is AQMD easing up on smog? Less than a month after the California
Coastal Commission booted its executive director, raising fears
that agency would allow more development on the coast, leaders of
another key regulatory body are contemplating a personnel change
that's raising similar questions about the future of
environmental regulation in the state.
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/editorials/la-ed-0303-aqmd-leadership-20160303-story.html




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