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newsclips -- ARB Newsclips for March 8, 2016.
Posted: 08 Mar 2016 12:18:54
ARB Newsclips for March 8, 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 China Navigation Fined for Air Pollution. The China Navigation Co. Pte., deep-sea ship owning and operating arm of the Swire group, has been fined USD 129,500 by the California Air Resources Board for failure to switch its engines over from heavy diesel “bunker” fuel to cleaner, low-sulfur fuel when close to the California coast. http://worldmaritimenews.com/archives/184821/china-navigation-fined-for-air-pollution/ Court pauses proceedings on challenges to refinery rules. At U.S. EPA's request, a federal appellate court has placed a four-month hold on proceedings in competing legal challenges to updated emissions standards for refineries. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit approved EPA's motion yesterday to hold the case "in abeyance" until July 8 while agency employees… http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2016/03/08/stories/1060033628 CLIMATE CHANGE Obama administration pays out $500m to climate change project. The first chunk of a $3bn commitment made at the Paris climate talks ‘shows the US stands squarely behind climate commitments’, the State Department said. The Obama administration has made a first installment on its $3bn pledge to help poor countries fight climate change – defying Republican opposition to the president’s environmental plan. http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/mar/07/obama-administration-pays-out-500m-to-climate-change-project?utm_source=Inside+Climate+News&utm_campaign=c2033483ee-Today_s_Climate12_10_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_29c928ffb5-c2033483ee-327747457 China denies claims that the nation's emissions peaked in 2014. Economists suggested that the world's top emissions producer may have achieved climate goals 16 years ahead of schedule, in a paper published Monday. China's climate change envoy begs to differ. http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/2016/0307/China-denies-claims-that-the-nation-s-emissions-peaked-in-2014?utm_source=Inside+Climate+News&utm_campaign=c2033483ee-Today_s_Climate12_10_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_29c928ffb5-c2033483ee-327747457 Warming Brings Increasing Flood Risk And Heavier Rain. Umbrella and galosh manufacturers may do well as the planet continues to warm — if they can find somewhere dry to build their factories. Findings of a new analysis of storm data and model projections warn that flooding is going to be a worsening problem around the world, with a warmer atmosphere already leading to heavier downpours in both arid and wet climates. http://www.climatecentral.org/news/warming-increasing-flood-risk-heavier-rain-20108?utm_source=Inside+Climate+News&utm_campaign=c2033483ee-Today_s_Climate12_10_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_29c928ffb5-c2033483ee-327747457 When it rains it pours: Global warming could bring flash flooding to dry regions. Climate change could spell increased precipitation for both dry and wet climes alike, according to analysis of 60 years of weather observations in the wettest and driest regions of the globe. http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/2016/0308/When-it-rains-it-pours-Global-warming-could-bring-flash-flooding-to-dry-regions Climate change doesn't bleed, 2015 big network study shows. Is Kim Kardashian sexier than ocean acidification? For network executives, the answer is a resounding yes. Top networks devoted even less time last year to covering climate change than they did in 2014, according to Media Matters for America's annual study on how broadcast networks covered climate change. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2016/03/08/stories/1060033605 DROUGHT California storms send billions of gallons of water into reservoirs. This weekend's soaking rains delivered just what drought-weary Northern California needed: billions of gallons of water pouring into the state's major reservoirs -- and more predicted for later this week. With rain totals reaching 10 inches or more in some mountain areas, 46 of the largest reservoirs in California… http://www.mercurynews.com/drought/ci_29607725/california-drought-storms-send-billions-gallons-water-into Water-poor Saudi Arabia moves farming venture to drought-stricken California. Almarai, the largest dairy business in Saudi Arabia, has purchased land in California to grow alfalfa for its cattle – and it’s rubbing some people the wrong way. If you are the largest dairy producer in Saudi Arabia and you are running out of water to grow cattle feed, there’s only one thing to do if you want to stay in business: go shopping. http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2016/mar/08/saudi-arabia-alfalfa-california-drought-almarai FUELS Brent crude oil passes $40 mark. Oil prices continued an uptick that's several weeks in the making, with Brent crude, the global benchmark, rising above $40 amid signs that inventory buildup rates may be ebbing. The price of Brent closed up 5.5% to $40.84 on Monday, while the price of West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark, also rose 5.5% to close at $37.90. http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2016/03/07/brent-crude-oil-prices/81437582/ Oil Prices Perk Up, Suggesting a Rebound Has Taken Hold. After a prolonged slide that took oil prices within sight of the $20-a-barrel threshold last month, sentiment in commodity markets seems to have turned, raising the question of whether oil prices have finally bottomed out. Whether it will prove lasting or not remains to be seen, but the recent rebound in the oil market comes as investors focus on declines in oil drilling… http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/08/business/energy-environment/oil-prices-perk-up-suggesting-a-rebound-has-taken-hold.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=1&utm_source=Inside+Climate+News&utm_campaign=c2033483ee-Today_s_Climate12_10_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_29c928ffb5-c2033483ee-327747457 We can convert to propane faster, Alliance says — then proves it. In the fastest recorded alternative fuel conversion to propane autogas — indeed, beating the company's own target time by a significant margin — Alliance AutoGas technicians converted a Ford F-150 in 1:32:25 last week at the NTEA Work Truck Show.Alliance technicians Stephen Holland and Stacey Snyder installed the company's new engineered conversion system on a bi-fuel… http://fleetowner.com/equipment/we-can-convert-propane-faster-alliance-says-then-proves-it EPA study reviewers still debating definition of 'fracking'. Six years into a massive U.S. EPA study of hydraulic fracturing, key players are still debating what the term "hydraulic fracturing" means. In a conference call yesterday, a panel of science advisers reviewing the agency's draft study differed on what they and the agency meant when they talked about fracking. http://www.eenews.net/energywire/2016/03/08/stories/1060033588 Researchers make fuel from waste gas. Researchers have developed a cheap way to turn waste gases into liquid fuel using microbes. Scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology outlined a system that makes diesel precursors by harnessing yeast and bacteria in a study published yesterday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2016/03/08/stories/1060033607 VW RECALL German Prosecutors Widen Investigation at Volkswagen. Investigators have 17 suspects on their list, up from six previously. German prosecutors widened their criminal investigation of Volkswagen AG ’s diesel emissions-cheating scandal to cover 17 people, but have still found no evidence directly linking former or existing board members to fraud or a possible coverup. http://www.wsj.com/articles/german-prosecutors-investigate-more-suspects-at-volkswagen-1457431389 VW Seeks to Mend Rift With Workers as Emissions Probe Widens. Volkswagen AG’s leaders appealed to workers to back restructuring efforts, seeking to mend an internal rift as the carmaker faced a widening probe into the emissions- cheating scandal by German prosecutors. Europe’s biggest carmaker is struggling to find a way out of the crisis that began last September when it admitted to using software to fudge emissions tests. http://washpost.bloomberg.com/Story?docId=1376-O3O5VT6JIJUS01-4D7IQ4P76FE3GQK88991Q5HBNC Volkswagen may cut jobs to pay for emissions scandal. CEO Matthias Müeller told staff that crisis would inflict ‘substantial and painful’ financial damage on the company. Volkswagen may have to cut jobs in the US and Europe, depending on how much it is fined for manipulating diesel emissions tests, a company official told workers at its German headquarters. http://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/mar/08/volkswagen-may-cut-jobs-to-pay-for-emissions-scandal Volkswagen just got more bad news about the emissions scandal. German prosecutors have widened their investigation of Volkswagen's diesel emissions cheating scandal and are now investigating 17 employees, up from six previously, prosecutor Klaus Ziehe said on Tuesday. "This is part of the diesel investigation; the number of suspects has risen, although none are from the management board… http://www.businessinsider.com/r-vw-faces-more-bad-news-from-emissions-scandal-lower-saxony-pm-2016-3 GREEN ENERGY Tata Motors joins RE100 clean energy movement. Tata Motors is aiming to source 100 per cent of its electricity from renewables as part of the RE100 initiative of international organisations transitioning to clean energy. The Indian automotive giant is the second major Indian company to join the RE100 movement in recent days. Currently, 8 per cent of Tata Motors’ electricity is covered by renewable energy with wind power and solar photovoltaic… http://www.climateactionprogramme.org/news/tata_motors_joins_re100_clean_energy_movement OPINIONS Partisan politics on air pollution are helping to make L.A. smoggy again. Last Friday was a bad day for clean air. First, the board of the South Coast Air Quality Management District voted to fire its longtime executive officer. Then, it reconfirmed its support for a plan to let oil refiners, power plants and other major polluters keep spewing emissions. The two votes weren't exactly a surprise. http://www.latimes.com/opinion/editorials/la-ed-0308-scaqmd-20160308-story.html BLOGS Southern California air-quality watchdog is protecting Big Oil. Los Angeles is the place that first made smog a household word, and year after year, the L.A. region ranks as the smoggiest in the nation. That’s why the region’s air quality watchdog, the South Coast Air Quality Management District, was created 40 years ago. The agency’s mission is to make sure the entire region gets the clean air it deserves. http://grist.org/politics/southern-california-air-quality-watchdog-is-protecting-big-oil/ The Pentagon Just Added "Climate Change" to Its Official Dictionary. Military vocabulary warms to an emerging threat. The Department of Defense has long acknowledged the threat to global and national security posed by climate change. But last week, the DoD officially included "climate change" in its official glossary for the first time. The addition was first noticed by the Federation of American Scientists. http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2016/03/department-defense-climate-change-dictionary?utm_source=Inside+Climate+News&utm_campaign=c2033483ee-Today_s_Climate12_10_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_29c928ffb5-c2033483ee-327747457 Tesla Model S fined for excessive emissions in Singapore. Elon Musk has already discussed the issue with the prime minister. In the US, buyers of a Tesla Model S electric vehicle get a tax credit from the federal government worth $7,500. In Singapore, apparently, buyers get fined about $11,000. Joe Nguyen shelled out about $400,000 for his Model S in Hong Kong (around $51,000 US)… http://www.autoblog.com/2016/03/08/tesla-model-s-fined-for-excessive-emissions-in-singapore/ Diesel option signals plenty of life left for GM's aging commercial vans. It’s rare for an automaker to allow a vehicle to stick around for two decades without a major redesign. It’s rarer still to equip such a dinosaur with a brand-new powertrain. But that’s what General Motors is doing for its full-size commercial vans, the Chevrolet Express and GMC Savana. GM will drop its 2.8-liter… http://www.autonews.com/article/20160308/BLOG06/303089997/diesel-option-signals-plenty-of-life-left-for-gms-aging-commercial California is in a drought emergency. Visit www.SaveOurH2O.org for water conservation tips.