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ARB Newsclips for May 13, 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

Ontario Chamber of Commerce urges one-year delay on cap-and-trade
plan. The Ontario Chamber of Commerce is urging the provincial
government to delay the implementation of its cap-and-trade plan
for one year, saying key questions remain unanswered. The plan to
reduce greenhouse gas emissions is set to take effect next year,
but Ontario's Liberal government has not released…
http://www.chathamdailynews.ca/2016/05/12/ontario-chamber-of-commerce-urges-one-year-delay-on-cap-and-trade-plan


How America's regions learned from Europe's mistakes. In 2010,
after the Democratic-led U.S. Senate failed to pass a federal
emissions trading system, the measure was widely diagnosed as
politically dead. New England states picked up some of the pieces
and soldiered on, but in the West, the outlook, compounded by the
recession and newly elected Republican governors who insisted the
measure was a hidden tax…
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2016/05/13/stories/1060037170 

AIR POLLUTION

California's Super-Pollutant Problem.  The state known for
environmental innovation is also struggling with high levels of
some of the worst pollutants out there. In California, six cities
are ranked in the top 10 nationwide for the highest levels of
"super pollutants," even though the state has some of the
nation's strictest clean air regulations. How can this be? The
perfect storm of environmental and demographic conditions…
http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2016-05-12/californias-super-pollutant-problem


Life in San Joaquin valley, the place with the worst air
pollution in America.  The air quality in this sunbaked
California area known as ‘America’s salad bowl’ has been
identified as the worst in the US. Residents are concerned, but
low wages mean long hours out in the thick of it.
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/may/13/california-san-joaquin-valley-porterville-pollution-poverty


Enviros applaud methane rule, look to next phase. Environmental
groups yesterday cheered new federal methane rules, but said the
real climate push will come after U.S. EPA gathers on-the-ground
information about emissions from existing oil and gas facilities.
The New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) controlling methane
from new and modified sources represent the first time that…
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2016/05/13/stories/1060037205 

Bakken emits 275K tons of methane annually, NOAA study. The
oil-rich Bakken Shale is leaking hundreds of thousands of tons of
methane per year, which is less than the federal government has
estimated, according to new research. Based on air samples
collected in 2014 over the Bakken, which spans parts of North
Dakota, Montana and Canada…
http://www.eenews.net/energywire/2016/05/13/stories/1060037201

Obama, Nordic leaders to huddle on climate. Nordic country
leaders meet with President Obama at the White House today for a
wide-ranging discussion that will include climate change, in
particular its impact on the global north. In its statement
announcing the summit last month, the White House listed
environmental protection and "advancing sustainable development"
as areas of focus.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2016/05/13/stories/1060037181 

ALISO CANYON

Metals found in dust of Porter Ranch homes linked to post-leak
symptoms. Some Porter Ranch residents learned late Thursday that
the dust samples collected in their homes more than a month ago
showed evidence of metals that were consistent with those found
at the natural gas well that blew out near their neighborhood
last year.
http://www.dailynews.com/health/20160512/metals-found-in-dust-of-porter-ranch-homes-linked-to-post-leak-symptoms
http://www.scpr.org/news/2016/05/12/60583/porter-ranch-barium-and-other-metals-found-to-be-t/
 

CLIMATE CHANGE

The vicious cycle that makes people afraid to talk about climate
change. If you want to understand why it is that on a planet
wracked by climate change, people still don’t talk much about
climate change, then this may be the key: They’re people. Or,
more specifically, they’re evolved social mammals who are acutely
attuned to how they are perceived by the other evolved…
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2016/05/12/the-vicious-cycle-that-makes-people-afraid-to-talk-about-climate-change/


Climate Change and the Case of the Shrinking Red Knots.  Animal
migrations combine staggering endurance and exquisite timing.
Consider the odyssey of a bird known as the red knot. Each
spring, flocks of the intrepid shorebirds fly up to 9,300 miles
from the tropics to the Arctic. As the snow melts, they mate and
produce a new generation of chicks.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/17/science/climate-change-bird-red-knots.html?_r=0


Trump taps climate change skeptic, fracking advocate as key
energy advisor. 
Republican presidential contender Donald Trump has asked one of
America's most ardent drilling advocates and climate change
skeptics to help him draft his energy policy. U.S. Republican
Congressman Kevin Cramer of North Dakota - a major oil drilling
state…
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-trump-energy-idUSKCN0Y41ZP

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2016/05/13/us/politics/13reuters-usa-election-trump-energy.html
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/279842-trump-adviser-pushes-him-to-back-carbon-tax


Ahead of UN climate talks, world’s poorest urge early action.
World must adapt to meet the unavoidable impacts of climate
change head on or face the consequences says DRC envoy. A
coalition of the world’s poorest countries will ask the developed
world to boost their planned greenhouse gas cuts when they meet
for UN climate talks in Bonn next week.
http://www.climatechangenews.com/2016/05/13/ahead-of-un-climate-talks-worlds-poorest-urge-early-action/?utm_source=Inside+Climate+News&utm_campaign=d652ddb9e7-Today_s_Climate12_10_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_29c928ffb5-d652ddb9e7-327747457


Bay Area Voters Will Decide Next Month If They Want To Pay To
Adapt To Sea Level Rise. California has long been a leader in
tackling climate change. But in June, voters in the San Francisco
Bay area will have the chance to take their state’s commitment to
addressing the impacts of climate change and environmental
degradation a step further.
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2016/05/12/3777790/bay-area-sea-level-rise-environmental-tax/?utm_source=Inside+Climate+News&utm_campaign=d652ddb9e7-Today_s_Climate12_10_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_29c928ffb5-d652ddb9e7-327747457


Young Forests Can Store ‘Enormous’ Amounts of Carbon. Woodland
areas that regrow after forest fires, logging operations or other
disturbances can sequester huge amounts of carbon dioxide and
they play an unexpectedly valuable role in mitigating climate
change, according to a study by 60 scientists from across the
globe.
http://www.climatecentral.org/news/young-forests-store-enormous-amounts-carbon-20348


USDA wants to persuade farmers to mitigate climate change. 
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack shared May 12 the first results
of USDA's Building Blocks for Climate Smart Agriculture and
Forestry, one year after the plan was unveiled at Michigan State
University. In addition to providing specific goals and results
of the many actions USDA is taking to help farmers…
http://southeastfarmpress.com/soybeans/usda-wants-persuade-farmers-mitigate-climate-change
 

Pershing: Climate deal could take effect this year. When climate
change negotiators meet in Germany next week for midyear U.N.
talks, they'll face the dual task of preserving the excitement of
last year's landmark deal while starting the more mundane work of
setting it in motion, U.S. Special Envoy for Climate Change
Jonathan Pershing said yesterday. It won't be an easy feat, the
top U.S. negotiator said.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2016/05/13/stories/1060037206 

Shrinking shorebird struggles to survive as Arctic warms. The
rapidly warming Arctic has messed up key ecological connections
in the region and spilled over into the fate of a tiny Arctic
shorebird that makes one of the most epic migrations ever
observed. Red knots are shrinking in size, which has affected
their ability to find the right insects to feed on…
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2016/05/13/stories/1060037183 

Canada wildfire releasing 'large amount' of CO2. The tables have
turned for Fort McMurray's forests, which usually absorb CO2.
Early in Canada's fire season, the blaze there has burned some of
those trees, releasing much of their stored greenhouse gases back
into the air. The Fort McMurray wildfires have released the
equivalent of up to 5 percent of the country's annual greenhouse
gas emissions…
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2016/05/13/stories/1060037164 

DROUGHT

Severe And Extreme Drought Eases In California. The U.S. Drought
Monitor released May 12 shows some minor improvement in
California drought conditions and the removal of the short-term
drought designation. But the seasonal outlook shows drought
persisting through the dry season as California’s drought
continues for a fifth consecutive year.
http://www.capradio.org/72803 

DIESEL ACTIVITIES

The German transport ministry says General Motors' Opel division
has been asked to appear before a commission looking into diesel
emissions controls. The German transport ministry says General
Motors' Opel division has been asked to appear before a
commission looking into diesel emissions controls after an
environmental group claimed two of its models are able to reduce
pollution controls.
http://www.usnews.com/news/business/articles/2016-05-13/gms-opel-asked-to-appear-before-german-emissions-panel


FUELS

House bill proposes capping ethanol content in gasoline at 9.7%.
US Representatives Bill Flores (R-TX), Peter Welch (D-VT), Bob
Goodlatte (R-VA) and Jim Costa (D-CA) have introduced
legislation—H.R. 5180 —that would cap the maximum volume of
ethanol blended into the transportation fuel supply at 9.7% of
projected gasoline demand as determined by the Energy Information
Administration (EIA).
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2016/05/20160513-flores.html 

VEHICLES

GM's Opel to appear before German diesel emissions panel. The
German transport ministry says General Motors' Opel division has
been asked to appear before a commission looking into diesel
emissions controls after an environmental group claimed two of
its models are able to reduce pollution controls. The
environmental group, DUH, says it has tested Opel's Zafira and
Astra models and claims…
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_OPEL_EMISSIONS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


GM lags on emissions, EV goals. General Motors Co. is falling
behind its targets for electric vehicles and fleetwide emissions
as consumers flock to less fuel-efficient vehicles. The
automaker, like the rest of the industry, is meeting and
exceeding fuel economy standards set by the federal government.
Its cars incorporate increasingly more hybrid or electric
features.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2016/05/13/stories/1060037207 

VW RECALL

VW sales rise for first time since emissions scandal. Volkswagen
sales recover with 5.4% increase as major European economies all
post rises in new car registrations. Volkswagen’s cars sales
across Europe returned to growth last month for the first time
since the diesel emissions scandal broke last September. New
passenger car registrations in the EU in April were up 9% on a
year earlier to 1.3m vehicles…
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/may/13/vw-sales-rise-diesel-emissions-scandal


GREEN ENERGY

China to boost energy storage 10-fold to cut power waste
–industry. China is expected to raise its power storage capacity
by ten-fold to 14.5 gigawatts by 2020, as the world's
second-biggest economy tries to cut massive waste from renewable
energy projects, an industry association said. China is the world
largest wind and solar power producer, but some regions are
estimated…
http://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFL3N1873CH 

UPDATE 1-Dutch offshore wind tender attracts bids from Shell, RWE
and Vattenfall. Some of Europe's biggest energy companies,
including Shell, RWE and Vattenfall, are competing in a Dutch
offshore wind tender seen as one of the biggest green energy
projects on offer in Europe this year. The Dutch government has
an ambitious target to more than quadruple its offshore wind
energy capacity by 2023…
http://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFL5N18A3W1   

MISCELLANEOUS

National project to harness microbes for health, environment. We
share our bodies and our surroundings with teeming communities of
microbes that are crucial to the health of people and the planet,
and now the Obama administration is beginning a major project to
better understand those invisible ecosystems - even control them.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_MICROBE_PROJECT_WHITE_HOUSE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


OPINIONS

The most polluted city in the world isn’t Beijing or Delhi.
What's the most polluted city in the world? Some might point to
Beijing, the Chinese capital, and its now legendary smog problem.
Others may point toward India, where Delhi's own air pollution
problems are become similarly infamous. However, a new report
from the World Health...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2016/05/13/the-most-polluted-city-in-the-world-isnt-beijing-or-delhi/


El Niño’s Devastation. To the Editor: Re “Early Spring and El
Niño Fuel Inferno in Canada” (news article, May 6): The
destructive wildfire in Fort McMurray, Alberta, must be a concern
for the whole world. In fact, many developing countries in Latin
America, Africa, Asia and the Pacific are suffering under El
Niño’s devastating and far-reaching effect.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/14/opinion/el-ninos-devastation.html


Big Oil stands in way of clean air. Bakersfield parents Jessica
Sida-Romero and Eugene Romero have spent many restless nights
with their sons Nathan, 3, and Andrew, 11, who suffer from
asthma. They closely monitor air quality, and when the air is
bad, the boys can’t play outside.
http://www.sacbee.com/opinion/op-ed/soapbox/article77258857.html#storylink=cpy


Drought? What drought? San Onofre surfers want their beach
showers back. Gene Lee poured a jug of water over his head after
a recent surf session at San Onofre State Beach. The San Clemente
surfer understood when the state needed to turn off the showers
in the midst of the drought last year, and he still brings water
from home for his after-surf rinse.
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/water-378062-ocprint-state-san.html


Wynne can’t fix cap-and-trade. The Ontario Chamber of Commerce
should have gone further when it urged Premier Kathleen Wynne to
delay her cap-and-trade carbon pricing scheme by a year, until
Jan. 1, 2018. It should have called on Wynne to scrap it, and
replace it with a carbon tax that is 100% revenue neutral to the
public.
http://www.torontosun.com/2016/05/13/wynne-cant-fix-cap-and-trade


BLOGS

The Deadly Problem of Urban Air Pollution.  A new World Health
Organization report paints a disturbing picture of the quality of
air in cities around the globe. Pollution levels increased 8
percent between 2008 and 2013 worldwide and more than 80 percent
of people who live in cities that measure their air quality are
exposed to sulfates, nitrates, black carbon and other pollutants
at levels that exceed W.H.O. limits.
http://takingnote.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/05/12/the-deadly-problem-of-urban-air-pollution/


Thanks El Niño, But California’s Drought Is Probably Forever.
Drought is a tricky thing to define. It is not just a matter of
how little water falls out of the sky. If it were, you would be
forgiven for believing that California’s wettish winter had
ended, or even alleviated, the worst drought in state history.
But no.
http://www.scpr.org/news/2016/05/12/60583/porter-ranch-barium-and-other-metals-found-to-be-t/


EPA Cracks Down on Methane Leaks in the Wake of California
Disaster.  Almost three months to the day that a southern
California utility work crew finally capped a massive, runaway
natural gas leak that allowed more than two million tons of
methane gas to escape into the atmosphere above the San Fernando
Valley…
http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/2016/05/13/EPA-Cracks-Down-Methane-Leaks-Wake-California-Disaster

These 10 Cities Are Choking On The Planet’s Worst Air Pollution.
Dirty air kills some 3 million people worldwide each year. Urban
air pollution is on the rise and, to little surprise, those
living in some of the world’s poorest cities are breathing in the
worst of it. The World Health Organization on Thursday released
updated data showing more than 80 percent…
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/air-pollution-2016-world-health-organization_us_5735275ee4b077d4d6f2b165


Watching Climate Change in Action at South Pole. The Global
Monitoring Division (GMD) specializes in making long-term,
continuous measurements of trace gases in the atmosphere which
affect the Earth’s climate. GMD operates six baseline
observatories that stretch from the Arctic Circle to the South
Pole. These facilities act as the backbone of our data collection
efforts.
http://blogs.voanews.com/science-world/2016/05/13/watching-climate-change-in-action-at-south-pole/



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