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newsclips -- ARB Newsclips for April 18, 2016.

Posted: 18 Apr 2016 14:37:20
ARB Newsclips for April 18, 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

California Appeals Court Questions Don't Bode Well For
Cap-And-Trade. A state appeals court is considering a challenge
to the constitutionality of California’s cap-and-trade system for
reducing greenhouse gases. Some legal experts say the questions
the court is asking in a recent document could imply a ruling
against the state.
http://www.capradio.org/articles/2016/04/18/california-appeals-court-questions-dont-bode-well-for-cap-and-trade/


Transparency In Cap And Trade Costs. A new bill would disclose
the added price consumers pay per gallon of gasoline for
California’s Cap and Trade Program. Legislative Analyst’s Office,
a non-partisan organization, recently estimated that consumers
are paying a collective $2 billion per year in higher prices due
to the Cap and Trade Program.
http://www.mymotherlode.com/news/local/263380/transparency-in-cap-and-trade-costs.html


AIR POLLUTION

China launches pollution probe after hundreds of students fall
sick.  Authorities in China have launched an investigation after
a report that hundreds of children attending a language school
built near a polluted former industrial site developed health
problems, including cancer, state news agency Xinhua reported on
Monday.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-pollution-school-idUSKCN0XF0GB

Campaigners scale Nelson's Column, other London landmarks in
clean-air protest. British police arrested eight Greenpeace
activists on Monday after they scaled some of the London's
best-known landmarks including Nelson's column in Trafalgar
Square as part of a protest over air quality in the capital. 
Greenpeace said its activists had attached gas masks to 15
statues across London…
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-protest-environment-idUSKCN0XF17D


Federal judge dismisses pollution suit by Nucor Steel Arkansas. A
federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit by Nucor Steel that sought
to block the Environmental Protection Agency from adopting a plan
to control visible pollution in Arkansas by the end of August.
Nucor, which operates two steel mills in the state, had argued
the EPA missed a deadline under the Clean Air Act…
http://www.reuters.com/article/environment-nucor-idUSL2N17I23M 

New Gadgets Help Pollution-Weary Chinese Breathe Easier. Market
for antipollution devices moves to wearables. Some
pollution-weary Chinese consumers have moved beyond stocking up
on home air purifiers and strap-on face masks and are now trying
to breathe better with second-generation gadgets.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/new-gadgets-help-pollution-weary-chinese-breathe-easier-1460919605


Calls for Shipping and Aviation to Do More to Cut Emissions. Even
though commercial aviation and ocean shipping are significant
sources of greenhouse gas emissions, they were excluded from the
Paris climate treaty, to be signed by more than 100 countries
this week at the United Nations in New York. Now governments and
advocacy groups are pressuring these industries to take stronger
steps to curb pollution.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/17/science/calls-for-shipping-and-aviation-to-do-more-to-cut-emissions.html?_r=0


Two-year project will study air pollution in San Ysidro from cars
idling at the border. Long lines of idling cars waiting to cross
the U.S.-Mexico border are a part of life in San Ysidro.
Concerned about the neighborhood's proximity to the world's
busiest land port of entry, a local community development agency
has launched a study to analyze the health risks associated with
air pollution at the border.
http://www.latimes.com/science/la-me-san-ysidro-air-20160416-story.html


ALISO CANYON

New natural gas and petrol leak reported near Porter Ranch.  A
new natural gas and petroleum leak occurred Saturday near Porter
Ranch, not far from the shuttered well that spewed gas for four
months, state officials reported. The Governor’s Office of
Emergency Services reported it received a complaint about a gas
and petroleum leak at…
http://www.dailynews.com/environment-and-nature/20160416/new-natural-gas-and-petrol-leak-reported-near-porter-ranch

http://www.pe.com/articles/gas-800222-natural-ranch.html 

Nearly 700 Porter Ranch area residents file claims against state,
demand $3.5 million each. Nearly 700 residents who live in and
around Porter Ranch filed claims against the state of California
Friday, accusing the governor and several regulatory agencies of
negligence and demanding $3.5 million each for the pain and loss
they suffered after the massive gas leak erupted near their
homes.
http://www.dailynews.com/general-news/20160416/nearly-700-porter-ranch-area-residents-file-claims-against-state-demand-35-million-each


CLIMATE CHANGE

Suncor to disclose more information on carbon risk, lobbying.
Suncor Energy (SU.TO), Canada's largest oil and gas company, said
it would disclose more details on its plans to compete in a
lower-carbon future and on its lobbying activities. Several oil
and gas companies, including Exxon Mobil (XOM.N) and Anadarko
Petroleum Corp (APC.N)…
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-suncor-energy-climate-change-idUSKCN0XF1NW


Impaled polar bear sculpture highlights global warming threat. A
sculpture of an impaled polar bear went on display on Friday in
front of the Danish parliament to highlight the impact of global
warming. The seven-meter high metal sculpture named "Unbearable"
depicts a graph of carbon dioxide accumulation in the atmosphere
sky-rocketing into the belly of a polar bear…
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-greenland-climatechange-sculpture-idUSKCN0XC1T2


Does premature Paris climate deal risk a painful birth? When
ministers and climate change negotiators from the world's poorest
countries gathered in Kinshasa recently, they were dismayed at a
proposal from the Third World Network (TWN) urging them not to
rush into signing the new Paris climate agreement at a U.N.
ceremony this week.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-climatechange-politics-analysi-idUSKCN0XF1IX


US and China lead push to bring Paris climate deal into force
early. Early start date would add momentum for deeper emissions
cuts and lock a future US president into the deal for four years.
The US and China are leading a push to bring the Paris climate
accord into force much faster than even the most optimistic
projections – aided by a typographical glitch in the text of the
agreement.
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/apr/18/us-and-china-lead-push-to-bring-paris-climate-deal-into-force-early?utm_source=Inside+Climate+News&utm_campaign=03ef2d3e1f-Today_s_Climate12_10_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_29c928ffb5-03ef2d3e1f-327747457


Here’s What Happens When Companies Track Emissions. Ten years
ago, as part of a sustainability initiative, Walmart decided to
take a look at its greenhouse gas emissions. The retail giant not
only tallied up the carbon footprint of its trucking fleet and
supersize stores, it also set out to quantify the greenhouse gas
emissions associated with the countless products offered on its
shelves.
http://www.climatecentral.org/news/corporations-track-climate-emissions-20249


Climate deal to be ratified without Europe's help -- for now. If
last year's landmark Paris climate agreement enters into force
this year or early next year, it will likely do so without the
help of one of its strongest supporters. That's because the
European Union, which carried the torch for international climate
action for two decades before playing a …
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2016/04/18/stories/1060035780 

A push to demystify climate rules on campuses.  A national
environmental advocacy group aimed at raising climate change
awareness among millennials is taking to college campuses to
educate students about U.S. EPA's Clean Power Plan. Defend Our
Future, a project of the Environmental Defense Fund, posts
full-time employees to universities around the country to
coordinate student volunteers who canvass about global warming.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2016/04/18/stories/1060035778 

Leaders to ask for global carbon price ahead of N.Y. signing.
Heads of state will unveil a declaration in New York City on
Thursday asking other countries to join them in pricing carbon
emissions as a way to deliver on their climate commitments. A
high-level panel from the Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition
will introduce the proposal…
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2016/04/18/stories/1060035779 

Warming's threat to corals getting clearer. Conservationists and
research scientists have a new tool to evaluate which coral
species are most vulnerable to bleaching from rising ocean
temperatures. Researchers at Northwestern University have just
completed a global index charting the thermal sensitivity of
nearly half of the world's reef-building coral species.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2016/04/18/stories/1060035777 

DROUGHT

Child malnutrition soars in northern Somalia due to severe
drought. Child malnutrition rates are soaring in northern
Somalia, where the harshest drought in decades has ravaged crops
and livestock, and aid workers fear hunger will worsen with
further poor rains predicted. Parts of the region are reeling
from three years of failed rains which have left many families
short of food…
http://www.reuters.com/article/africa-drought-somalia-idUSL5N17G1PP


Delta drought gives glimpse into bleak future for mighty Mekong.
While China has been releasing water from a hydro-electric dam in
the upper Mekong River to help relieve drought down river in
Southeast Asia, little of it has flowed to Nguyen Van Thach's
sugarcane farm in southern Vietnam. After feeding his six cows
with grass uprooted from a village nearby…
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-drought-mekong-idUSKCN0XE00N 

Sac Valley rice growers have water, but markets have turned for
the worse. Surface water supplies have returned to normal for
most rice growers in the Sacramento Valley. That’s great news,
especially compared to other parts of the state where the water
supply is still in a more severe version of drought mode. 
http://www.chicoer.com/general-news/20160417/sac-valley-rice-growers-have-water-but-markets-have-turned-for-the-worse


FUELS

RPT-Cheap oil slows appetite for LNG as alternative shipping
fuel.  Low oil prices are denting the take-up of liquefied
natural gas as a cleaner source of energy to power ships, and it
will be a few more years yet before the fuel makes serious
inroads into the marine bunker market. The global shipping sector
is under pressure from governments to reduce harmful emissions
from vessels, including sulphur oxides (SOx)…
http://www.reuters.com/article/lng-shipping-fuel-idUSL5N17G3J3  

Australia state bans underground coal gas drilling.  Australia's
Queensland state on Monday banned underground coal gasification,
a controversial process used to convert coal into gas. Unlike
fracking, which involves pumping fluid into coal seams to cause
fractures, the method by which unearthed coal…
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-australia-gas-ban-idUSKCN0XF0TR


Oil Falls Below $40 a Barrel After Output Deal Fails. Saudi
Arabia refused to participate in the deal without Iran pledging
to do the same. Oil prices slid Monday after key producers failed
to negotiate a curb on their output, but the market erased most
of its losses on concerns about an oil-workers’ strike in Kuwait.
U.S. oil prices have rallied more than 50% from a 13-year low
reached in February…
http://www.wsj.com/articles/oil-prices-fall-5-in-late-asia-trading-1460964703


BLM defends Calif. oil and gas plan against enviro challenge. The
Obama administration last week fired back at allegations that
it's allowing unchecked hydraulic fracturing in California. In a
legal brief filed Friday, the Interior Department slammed a
lawsuit from environmental groups challenging the agency's broad
resource management plan for central California.
http://www.eenews.net/energywire/2016/04/18/stories/1060035776 

VEHICLES

Finally, auto industry starts to admit: electric vehicles are
better. Electric cars are often touted for their financial and
environmental benefits, but there's another major perk they offer
to consumers. They're very nice to drive. Many drivers have been
won over by electric cars' near-silent operation and instant
torque delivery.
http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1103457_finally-auto-industry-starts-to-admit-electric-vehicles-are-better


VW RECALL

Volkswagen increases discounts after emissions scandal: report.
Volkswagen AG (VOWG_p.DE) is offering bigger discounts in its
home market to try to lure back customers after the automaker
admitted using software to allow diesel vehicles to cheat
emissions tests, a German trade magazine reported on Saturday.
Germany's Automobilwoche said Volkswagen was trying to boost the
used car trade…
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-volkswagen-discounts-idUSKCN0XD0PO

ECB-fuelled market smoothes path for Volkswagen's return.
Volkswagen should find plenty of demand for its bond market
comeback, helped by an ECB-led corporate rally that has cut
funding costs and piqued interest for higher-risk credits. The
German carmaker is readying a multi-billion deal for as early as
http://www.reuters.com/article/volkswagen-debt-idUSL5N17G4PN 

Volkswagen names North American CEO to run its U.S. unit.
Volkswagen AG (VOWG_p.DE) said on Friday it was tapping Hinrich
J. Woebcken, who just took over on April 1 as the head of its new
North American region, to serve as president and chief executive
of Volkswagen Group of America. In March, VW said its top U.S.
executive, Michael Horn, was stepping down immediately nearly six
months…
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-volkswagen-northamerica-ceo-idUSKCN0XC2HJ


Volkswagen Emissions Scandal Update: Deadline Looms For
‘Dieselgate’ Fix. German automaker Volkswagen must tell a U.S.
judge this week how it intends to fix more than 500,000 diesel
cars fitted with faulty software to rig emissions tests. A group
of research scientists revealed in September that Volkswagen had
fitted some of its diesel engines with a so-called defeat device
that allowed the cars…
http://www.ibtimes.com/volkswagen-emissions-scandal-update-deadline-looms-dieselgate-fix-2355100

GREEN ENERGY

Solar powered bid to bring modernity to developing world. A 40
meter long photovoltaic computer which provides clean water,
while generating electricity to recharge external devices, has
been designed by an Italian company for use in the developing
world. Watly, set up by entrepreneur Marco Attisani, has started
an Indiegogo campaign to fund the third version of its solar
technology. 
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-solar-water-idUSKCN0XE0QP


Siemens may build gas-fired power plant in Germany. Siemens
cleared a regulatory hurdle on Monday in a bid to build a
gas-fired power station in southern Germany, a rare event in a
country where a drive for renewable energy has made many
traditional sources of power unprofitable. 
http://www.reuters.com/article/germany-gas-siemens-idUSL5N17L1HQ


Corporate green bond issuance could triple this year -S&P. The
issuance of green bonds by corporates could reach up to $28
billion this year, three times more than last year, if the
Chinese green bond market takes off as expected, credit ratings
agency Standard & Poor's said on Friday. Green bonds are created
to fund clean energy or low-carbon…
http://www.reuters.com/article/corporate-greenbonds-idUSL5N17I1RX


BRICS bank okays first loans, $811 million for green energy:
Russian media. 
The New Development Bank (NDB), formed by the BRICS group of
emerging nations, has approved its first loans - $811 million for
renewable energy projects in Brazil, China, India and South
Africa, Russian news agencies reported on Saturday. The BRICS
bank, with authorized capital of $100 billion, started work last
year on funding initiatives…
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-brics-bank-loans-idUSKCN0XD0ED


Expansion an elusive dream for Indian industry. Expansion is a
distant dream for many Indian manufacturers as they grapple with
under-utilised factories and towering debts, putting pressure on
Prime Minister Narenda Modi to count on government spending
instead of private investment to boost Asia's third-biggest
economy.There is a renewed manufacturing push under Modi's
flagship 'Make In India', but with global demand depressed…
http://www.reuters.com/article/india-economy-manufacturing-spending-idUSL3N17E412


EUROPE POWER-Spot down on wind, solar supply, curve shrugs off
oil drop. European prompt power prices fell on Monday in response
to increased supply of wind and solar power and also because
mild, sunny weather reduced the impact of expectations that
demand is set to rise. "The weather outlook is volatile, while
there is plenty of wind and solar now, the weekend will already
be cooler…
http://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFL5N17L326 

Inside the Fall of SunEdison, Once a Darling of the Clean-Energy
World. Easy money from Wall Street fueled an ambitious expansion
into solar and wind power, but rising interest rates cast a
shadow. Last June, two dozen SunEdison Inc.  senior managers
gathered at the Park Hyatt near Paris’s Place Vendôme to hear a…
http://www.wsj.com/articles/inside-the-fall-of-sunedison-once-a-darling-of-the-clean-energy-world-1460656000


Ohio energy company offers option for 100% wind. An Ohio-based
utility company will offer a limited number of its customers the
option to buy 100 percent wind-energy-generated power for the
same cost as its other power. The "Switch2Green4Free" program is
part of FirstEnergy's "The Switch is On" campaign, which promotes
the company's strides in green energy.
http://www.eenews.net/energywire/2016/04/18/stories/1060035732 

MISCELLANEOUS

Following suggestion to shower together, Claremont named coolest
city in California. A quirky video by then-Mayor Corey Calaycay
may have tipped things in Claremont’s favor to becoming the
coolest city in the state. Earlier this year, Calaycay recorded a
message to residents asking they take a shower with a friend to
save water and energy. It was a move to help gain the city points
in the “CoolCalifornia Challenge.” And it worked.
http://www.dailybulletin.com/environment-and-nature/20160415/following-suggestion-to-shower-together-claremont-named-coolest-city-in-california


OPINIONS

COLUMN-America's Secret Weapon.  This presidential election has
the country captivated. As many commentators have pointed out,
the primaries are more focused on personalities than policy.
While the parties focus on who is going to represent them in the
fall, I want to make the case for something that I hope every
candidate will agree on in November: America's unparalleled
capacity for innovation.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-innovation-gates-idUSL2N17L0D5


Is the California drought America's water wake-up call? The
California drought is not over. The great hope for major
replenishment of California's surface and groundwater supplies —
the “Godzilla” El Niño — has failed thus far to live up to its
super-sized hype, delivering only average amounts of rain and
snow, primarily to the northern half of the state. Average,
however, is welcome. 

Cap-and-trade spending proposals require a two-thirds vote. Ten
years ago, on a simple majority vote, California legislators
approved AB 32, the California Global Warming Solutions Act –
groundbreaking legislation to reduce our state’s greenhouse gas
emissions.  Once the act became law, a regulatory agency took
charge and developed a “cap-and-trade” system, where the amount
of carbon emissions
http://www.sacbee.com/opinion/op-ed/soapbox/article71292252.html#storylink=cpy


Drought bill would benefit state. Re “Better water plan would
yield billions of gallons a year” (Forum, Another View, April
10): The authors write that a drought relief bill should benefit
the entire state. That’s exactly what the comprehensive drought
bill introduced in February would do. In the long-term, this bill
authorizes $650 million for recycling, desalination and water
efficiency projects. Of that, $100 million is for desalination.
http://www.sacbee.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/article71915142.html#storylink=cpy


I’m an environmental writer and I dread Earth Day. Earth Day is
officially Friday. And as someone who writes about the
environment, it’s a day that I dread. Like activities during
Black History Month or Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Earth Day
celebrations tend to trivialize the matter at hand. It doesn’t
represent progress for race relations to hold an…
http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/environment-and-nature/20160416/im-an-environmental-writer-and-i-dread-earth-day


It Still Makes Sense to Cut Toxic Air Pollution From Its Worst
Industrial Source. The U.S. EPA has written another important
chapter in the decades-long story of our nation’s attempt to
reduce toxic air pollution from power plants that burn coal and
oil. Following a December proposal, EPA just finalized a
determination that it remains “appropriate and necessary” to
regulate these power plants…
https://www.nrdc.org/experts/john-walke/it-still-makes-sense-cut-toxic-air-pollution-its-worst-industrial-source


Does Tesla's Claim For Environmental Friendliness Stand Up?
Whisper it to the home crowd whooping and hollering every time
Tesla Motors TSLA +0.05% CEO Elon Musk said “sustainability” and
“CO2 reduction” at the reveal of the Model 3 prototype, but
lifetime carbon dioxide from electric cars may actually not…
http://www.forbes.com/sites/neilwinton/2016/04/17/does-teslas-claim-for-environmental-friendliness-stand-up/#1b9d309fac6b


Fossil Fuels' Value Not Imperiled By Climate Change.  Amusingly,
one pundit described the bankruptcy filing of the coal giant
Peabody Energy as educational for the petroleum industry as to
the effect of climate change on their business, saying, “it acts
as a warning to oil and gas companies – and their investors –
about how quickly things can change.”
http://www.forbes.com/sites/michaellynch/2016/04/17/fossil-fuels-value-not-imperiled-by-climate-change/#4c1f2abd5190


BLOGS

Will Delhi’s Extreme Traffic Restrictions Have an Impact on Air
Pollution This Time? For the two weeks starting April 15, most
cars in the Indian capital will only be allowed on the roads
every other weekday. Delhi has implemented severe restrictions on
which cars are allowed on the road again in hopes of combating
the megacity’s horrendous air-pollution problem.
http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2016/04/18/will-delhis-extreme-traffic-restrictions-have-an-impact-on-air-pollution-this-time/




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

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