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ARB Newsclips for May 17, 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

UPDATE 1-France leads by example with carbon price floor. France
will set a carbon price floor of about 30 euros ($33.95) a tonne
in its 2017 finance bill as the government seeks to kickstart
broader European action to cut emissions and drive forward last
year's landmark international climate accord. The French
government said last month that it would unilaterally set a
carbon price…
http://www.reuters.com/article/france-carbon-idUSL5N18E1Y6 .

Ore. to consider cap-and-trade systems. Oregon is kicking off a
$230,000 study on how the state could use market-based tools to
reduce its greenhouse gas emissions at the behest of lawmakers
seeking aggressive action on climate change. The Oregon
Department of Environmental Quality yesterday announced it was…
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2016/05/17/stories/1060037348 

AIR POLLUTION

In Latin America, Forests May Rise to Challenge of Carbon
Dioxide. A new study reports that recently established forests on
abandoned farmland in Latin America, if allowed to grow for
another 40 years, would probably be able to suck at least 31
billion tons of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/17/science/forests-carbon-dioxide.html?_r=0


The global air pollution 'blindspot' affecting 1 billion people. 
More than 100 of the world’s poorest and most poorly governed
countries have no or limited monitoring of the polluted air their
citizens are breathing. More than 1 billion people live in
countries that do not monitor the air they breathe, according to
data released by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/may/17/the-global-air-pollution-blindspot-affecting-1-billion-people


Boris Johnson 'held back' negative findings of air pollution
report. Report’s author says City Hall publicized positive
conclusions but held back the finding that deprived schools were
disproportionately affected by toxic air. The author of a report
on how London’s illegal air pollution disproportionately affects
deprived schools has said City Hall under Boris Johnson held back
the study’s negative findings, while publicizing the positive
ones.
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/may/17/boris-johnson-held-back-negative-findings-of-air-pollution-report


How are cities around the world tackling air pollution?  More
cycling, better public transport and car bans - cities from Delhi
to Zurich are using a range of initiatives to lower traffic
pollution and improve health. Paris bans cars in many historic
central districts at weekends, imposes odd-even bans on vehicles,
makes public transport free during major pollution events and
encourages car- and bike-sharing programmes.
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/may/17/how-are-cities-around-the-world-tackling-air-pollution



Emissions from Farms Outweigh Other Human Sources of
Fine-Particulate Air Pollution. Emissions from farms outweigh all
other human sources of fine-particulate air pollution in much of
the United States, Europe, Russia and China, according to new
research. The culprit: fumes from nitrogen-rich fertilizers and
animal waste combine in the air with combustion emissions to form
solid particles…
http://www.azocleantech.com/news.aspx?newsID=23340 

CLIMATE CHANGE

Imported forest pests cause $2 billion in damage annually. When
Gary Lovett was studying the effect of acid rain in New York's
Catskill Mountains 20 years ago, he ended the experiment early
because so many trees in the test plots were dying - not from
acid rain, but from insect attacks. "I consider air pollution and
climate change to be serious, long-term threats to the forests,"
said Lovett…
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_IMPORTED_PESTS_FOREST_DAMAGE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


States urged to target disaster aid at the poor as climate risks
rise. With the world's poor predicted to bear the brunt of more
frequent extreme heat and worsening coastal floods in a warmer
world, aid agencies are calling on governments to direct more
funding into protecting the most vulnerable communities on the
front lines of climate change.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-humanitarian-summit-climatechange-aid-idUSKCN0Y81O3


Cities 'woefully unprepared' for rising disaster risk: World
Bank. Cities around the world are failing to plan for
fast-increasing risks from extreme weather and other hazards,
particularly as population growth and surging migration put more
people in the path of those threats, the World Bank said on
Monday. By 2050, 1.3 billion people and $158 trillion in assets
will be menaced by worsening river…
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-risks-disaster-cities-idUSKCN0Y7230


Appeals court delays action on Obama's carbon emissions plan.  A
U.S. appeals court on Monday delayed consideration of a challenge
by 27 states to President Barack Obama's federal regulations to
curb carbon dioxide emissions mainly from coal-fired plants,
meaning a decision will not come until after the November
presidential election.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-court-cleanpowerplan-idUSKCN0Y729K?utm_source=Inside+Climate+News&utm_campaign=b738102e05-Today_s_Climate12_10_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_29c928ffb5-b738102e05-327747457


Australia to Lay Off Leading Scientist on Sea Levels.  A
pre-eminent scientist in the field of rising global sea levels
has been given notice of his dismissal as part of deep cuts at
Australia’s national science agency that will reduce the
country’s role in global climate research. The scientist, John
Church, confirmed Tuesday that he was one of 275 scientists that
the agency…
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/18/world/australia/australia-to-lay-off-leading-scientist-on-sea-levels.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=1&utm_source=Inside+Climate+News&utm_campaign=b738102e05-Today_s_Climate12_10_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_29c928ffb5-b738102e05-327747457


Kaiser to end its global warming emissions by 2025. Kaiser
Permanente on Tuesday will unveil an aggressive environmental
plan that, by 2025, will slash the hospital system’s water use,
recycle or compost all of its non-hazardous waste and eliminate
or offset its greenhouse gas emissions. Kaiser, based in Oakland,
also will buy its food from local sources or farms that follow
sustainable practices, most notably avoiding the overuse of
antibiotics.
http://www.sfgate.com/business/article/Kaiser-to-end-its-global-warming-emissions-by-2025-7515870.php


World Bank warns of rise in climate-fueled disasters. People
around the world in areas of rapid population growth are
increasingly ill-prepared for disasters fueled by climate change,
warns a report issued yesterday by the World Bank. By 2050, the
number of people worldwide exposed to river and coastal flooding
could rise from 992 million to 1.3 billion, the report found.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2016/05/17/stories/1060037346 

Ontario preparing climate plan to 'forever change' life. The
Ontario government will spend more than 7 billion Canadian
dollars ($5.4 billion) over four years on a climate change plan
to cut emissions from buildings and transportation. The plan, set
for public release in June, will encourage building retrofits and
require all new homes by 2030 to be heated with electricity or
geothermal systems rather than natural gas.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2016/05/17/stories/1060037325 

Heat and rain increase hospital visits. Climate change could
boost asthma-related hospitalizations by exacerbating rainstorms
and severe heat, according to new research. The new study from
the University of Maryland School of Public Health found links
between an extremely hot day in the summer and an extremely rainy
day with higher rates…
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2016/05/17/stories/1060037331 

FUELS

U.S. top court rejects Exxon appeal in groundwater contamination
case. The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected Exxon Mobil
Corp's (XOM.N) appeal of a $236 million judgment against the oil
company in a case brought by the state of New Hampshire over
groundwater contamination linked to a gasoline additive.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-court-exxon-mobil-idUSKCN0Y71HD


VEHICLES

SDG&E to invest $7.5M in EV education push; complement to $45M
charging station initiative.  San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E)
announced it will invest $7.5 million over the next five years to
develop a new education campaign to create awareness, expand
electric vehicle (EV) ownership and lead the charge among large
cities to electrify the transportation sector.
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2016/05/20160517-sdge.html 

Renewable diesel: 90 percent lower carbon emissions than regular
diesel, Neste claims. The lifecycle carbon emissions of renewable
diesel fuel are significantly lower than those of conventional
diesel, says a new study from a company that sells the renewable
version. Neste's diesel fuel can be used in both cars and
heavy-duty trucks.
http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1103998_renewable-diesel-90-percent-lower-carbon-emissions-than-regular-diesel-neste-claims


GREEN ENERGY

Albuquerque delays decision on solar proposal. The Albuquerque
City Council wants more time to consider a resolution that calls
for getting 25 percent of the electricity used by city facilities
from solar resources by 2025. The vote to defer the measure for
another two weeks came Monday night during an hours-long
meeting.
The resolution calls for an implementation plan to be drafted by
the city's energy conservation council by 2017.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/APFN_US_ALBUQUERQUE_GOING_GREEN?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


Two companies have proposed offshore wind turbine projects for
federal waters off Oahu. Massive wind turbines could end up
floating in deep ocean waters off Hawaii's shores under proposals
to bring more renewable energy to the islands. Two companies have
proposed offshore wind turbine projects for federal waters…
http://www.usnews.com/news/business/articles/2016-05-17/companies-propose-deep-water-wind-farms-off-hawaii-shores
http://www.sacbee.com/news/business/article77905292.html  

How Rwanda Turned a Toxic Menace Into a Source of Power.
President Paul Kagame has officially opened a new facility that
draws energy from methane trapped deep underwater. Lake Kivu,
straddling the borders of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of
Congo, offers a landscape of extraordinary beauty, framed by
towering volcanoes and lush green slopes rich with tea, coffee
and banana plantations.
http://time.com/4338310/rwanda-kivuwatt-methane-lake-kivu/ 

Getting to 50% renewables a 'no-brainer' -- utility CEO.
California's mandate to make half its electricity from renewable
sources by 2030 isn't just feasible, "it's a no-brainer. We will
get there," the head of the state's largest utility said here
yesterday. Anthony Earley, Pacific Gas and Electric Co.'s
chairman, CEO and president, said his…
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2016/05/17/stories/1060037367 

Clean-tech index highlights renewable surge. In 2015, California
became the first state to generate 10 percent of its in-state
electricity from solar power. Vermont, meanwhile, doubled its
utility-scale solar generation last year. And half of the top 10
U.S. states for utility-scale clean electricity voted Republican
in the last presidential election.
http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2016/05/17/stories/1060037385 

Shell sharpens its focus on renewables. European oil and gas
majors are creeping back into renewable energy, as evidenced by
restructurings and recent acquisitions. Royal Dutch Shell PLC
confirmed that it's organizing a New Energies division devoted to
investments in renewable energy generation, in particular wind
power.
http://www.eenews.net/energywire/2016/05/17/stories/1060037343 

OPINIONS

Palm Springs, mandate solar power for new construction. Climate
change is the defining issue of our age. It represents a very
real threat to humanity with deepening droughts, water shortages,
epic storms, massive wildfires, ocean de-oxygenation and sea
level rise. The past 11 months globally were the hottest in 137
years of record keeping.
http://www.desertsun.com/story/opinion/contributors/valley-voice/2016/05/16/valley-voice-lockert-palm-springs-climate-change/84456904/


El Niño Trumps Climate Change In Alberta. In the wake of the
damaging Alberta fires, there has been a lot of attention paid to
what role climate change plays in wildfires. Yet 2016 is also a
powerful El Niño year, which has created ideal conditions for the
extraordinary fires in Alberta. So what climate phenomena could
have led to the persistent warm, dry conditions and the extreme
fire events?
http://www.science20.com/the_conversation/el_nino_trumps_climate_change_in_alberta-172780


BLOGS

On a scale of 1 to 10, Fort McMurray’s air pollution is a 38.
Nearly two weeks after a wildfire first tore through Fort
McMurray, the Canadian oil town’s air pollution index is
off-the-charts at 38 — on a scale of one to 10. The air quality
scale measures contaminants, smoke, ozone, and nitrogen dioxide,
none of which is good to be breathing in.
http://grist.org/news/on-a-scale-of-1-to-10-fort-mcmurrays-air-pollution-is-a-38/


We Can Do It: A Zero-Carbon Transportation System Is Possible.
The Paris Climate Agreement, approved by world leaders last
December, represented a bold commitment to prevent the worst
impacts of global warming - a commitment that must now be
followed by action. Meeting the agreement’s target of limiting
global warming…
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tony-dutzik/we-can-do-it-a-zero-carbo_b_9996646.html


In Putting A Price On Carbon, What We Don’t Know Could Kill Us.
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) pegs the social cost
of carbon at roughly $40 per ton of carbon dioxide emitted into
the atmosphere, meaning that each ton emitted today will generate
that much damage in today’s dollars over time. The government of
Sweden, however, puts the number at €100 per ton, and even
charges a tax based on that amount.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/steve-zwick/in-putting-a-price-on-car_b_10005126.html




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