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newsclips -- ARB Newsclips for July 7, 2016.

Posted: 07 Jul 2016 16:31:50
ARB Newsclips for July 7, 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

New gas leak above Porter Ranch quickly fixed amid calls to shut
wells down. Another leak in the Southern California Gas Co.
natural gas storage field above Porter Ranch was fixed shortly
after it was discovered, officials said Wednesday. But it didn’t
come without renewed demands to shut the facility down. The leak
was in a pipeline near a well called SS 10.
http://www.dailynews.com/environment-and-nature/20160706/new-gas-leak-above-porter-ranch-quickly-fixed-amid-calls-to-shut-wells-down


EPA drafts guidance for states on haze rule. U.S. EPA, already
well under way with proposed revisions to its regional haze rule,
is now poised to formally release draft instructions to help
states meet the program's goals during the second implementation
phase, set to run until 2028. The draft guidance, spanning almost
250 pages and scheduled for publication in tomorrow's Federal
Register…
http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2016/07/07/stories/1060039919 

CLIMATE CHANGE

This could be a completely different strategy for tackling the
world’s carbon emissions. Electricity generation is the single
biggest source of human-caused greenhouse gas emissions in the
world — which is why there’s such a global effort to cut down on
power plant emissions and expand alternative energy sources. And
when it comes to power plants…
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2016/07/07/this-could-be-a-completely-different-strategy-for-tackling-the-worlds-carbon-emissions/


Climate Change Claims a Lake, and a Way of Life. The water
receded and the fish died. They surfaced by the tens of
thousands, belly-up, and the stench drifted in the air for weeks.
The birds that had fed on the fish had little choice but to
abandon Lake Poopó, once Bolivia’s second-largest but now just a
dry, salty expanse. Many of the Uru-Murato people, who had lived
off its waters for generations…
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/07/07/world/americas/bolivia-climate-change-lake-poopo.html?_r=1&utm_source=Inside+Climate+News&utm_campaign=b84873b270-Today_s_Climate12_10_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_29c928ffb5-b84873b270-327747457

As Global Warming Thaws Northwest Passage, a Cruise Sees
Opportunity. Sue and Jay Pendleton were booked on an Antarctic
trip when something more enticing came along: a luxury cruise
through the once impassable Northwest Passage. They canceled
their plans and paid $90,000 for the Crystal Serenity’s voyage
above the North American continent. “This to us was kind of a
bucket list thing,” Mrs. Pendleton said.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/10/travel/arctic-cruise-northwest-passage-greenpeace.html


Californians are driving more, which is bad for climate change.
Gas is cheap, and Californians are putting more miles on the
road. That’s bad news for those hoping the state can make a
difference in the world’s fight against climate change. Thanks
partly to low oil prices, Californians’ gas use is creeping up
this year, despite Gov. Jerry Brown’s vow last year to cut
gasoline use in half by 2030.
http://www.sfchronicle.com/business/article/Californians-are-driving-more-which-is-bad-for-8344382.php


Virgin Islands and Exxon Agree to Uneasy Truce Over Climate
Probe. Subpoena withdrawal opens debate over who won and who
lost, but legal experts say the bigger battleground is in New
York and Massachusetts. In the legal volleying between Exxon and
the U.S. Virgin Islands Attorney General Claude Walker last week,
both managed to claim victory.
http://insideclimatenews.org/news/06072016/virgin-islands-exxon-agree-climate-probe-subpoena-claude-walker-schneiderman-healey


DROUGHT

Downtown L.A.'s five-year rain total is lowest ever recorded. Los
Angeles has chalked up yet another dreary milestone in its
growing almanac of drought. On Wednesday, experts at the National
Weather Service confirmed that the last five years have been the
driest ever documented in downtown L.A. since official record
keeping began almost 140 years ago.
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-la-dry-rain-season-future-20160706-snap-story.html


Facing historically low levels, Lake Mead officials are fending
off a water war. Here's how. This may be what the start of a
water war looks like. Drought is draining the West’s largest
reservoir, Lake Mead, to historic low levels. Forecasts say
climate change will make things worse. Headlines warn of water
shortages and cutbacks. Members of Congress are moving to protect
their states’ supplies.
http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-sej-colorado-river-20160703-snap-story.html


Californians excel in final month of statewide water cuts.
Californians beat a water-savings target in the final month of
mandatory statewide water conservation, reducing their use by
more than one-fourth. Californians in May cut their residential
water use by 28 percent, compared to the same month in 2013, the
state Water Resources Control Board said Wednesday.
http://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/article87985597.html#storylink=cpy


The great tide: is Britain really equipped to cope with global
warming? As the Earth’s temperature continues to rise at an
alarming rate, the country faces the threat of catastrophic
flooding. n the day that London drowned, 16-year-old Shirley
Orchard was serving customers bars of chocolate and packets of
cigarettes at her father’s shop on Canvey Island.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jul/07/great-tide-is-britain-equipped-cope-glbal-warming


Scientists may have solved a mystery: Why is Antarctic sea ice
growing? The small minority of climate change models accurately
predicted the expansion of Antarctic sea ice, and now scientists
think they know why. Scientists trying to solve the mystery of
why Antarctic sea ice is growing amid rising global temperatures
may have found a new lead. Even as sea ice was disappearing
globally at an average rate of 13,500 square miles…
http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/2016/0706/Scientists-may-have-solved-a-mystery-Why-is-Antarctic-sea-ice-growing


Ravaged woodlands. Stricken trees provide clues about how America
will adapt to global warming—but little hope that it can be
averted. IT WAS the dead animals his team found upsetting, says
Steve Lydick, surveying, from a high ridge in the western Cascade
range, the burnt, blackened valley below. Dotted with charred
boles, like used matchsticks protruding from the cracked,
depleted soil…
http://www.economist.com/news/briefing/21701751-stricken-trees-provide-clues-about-how-america-will-adapt-global-warmingbut-little-hope?zid=314&ah=607477d0cfcfc0adb6dd0ff57bb8e5c9


DIESEL ACTIVITIES

VW Settlement Includes Funds for Truck Emissions Reduction. Part
of Volkswagen AG’s recent settlement with the Federal Trade
Commission over its emissions-cheating scandal will be used to
fund diesel emissions-reduction efforts in the heavy-duty truck
industry. Announced last week, Volkswagen has agreed to pay up to
$15.3 billion in a settlement with regulators requiring the
automaker to buy back vehicles and set aside funding for cleaner
technologies. 
http://www.truckinginfo.com/news/story/2016/07/vw-settlement-includes-funds-for-truck-emissions-reduction.aspx


FUELS

Feeling duped, Ventura blasts company for restarting pipeline
after oil spill. In a scathing letter, the city of Ventura has
asked the company responsible for a nearly 30,000-gallon oil
spill last month to shut down the pipeline involved in the leak
and explain how it was reopened on Thursday with scant notice.
The city also surprised Crimson Pipeline LLC on Friday with a
legislative subpoena, which demands…
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-ventura-oil-spill-pipeline-criticism-20160705-snap-story.html?utm_source=Inside+Climate+News&utm_campaign=b84873b270-Today_s_Climate12_10_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_29c928ffb5-b84873b270-327747457

Automakers really want to change EPA emissions deadlines. In
2011, the Environmental Protection Agency unveiled bold, new fuel
economy standards for the year 2025. With less than a decade to
go before that deadline, automakers are now asking the EPA to
lower the high bar it's set, but energy advocates and the general
public have urged the agency to stay the course.
http://www.businessinsider.com/automakers-epa-emissions-deadlines-2016-6


Propel Fuels Renewable Diesel to Power Carlsbad City Fleet. In
partnership with California’s low-carbon fuel brand Propel Fuels,
the City of Carlsbad, Calif., is now fueling its fleet with
advanced renewable diesel – specifically, Propel Diesel
High-Performance Renewable (HPR). According to the company, this
move immediately improves local air quality and reduces the
city’s fleet greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions…
http://ngtnews.com/propel-fuels-renewable-diesel-to-power-city-of-carlsbads-fleet/


VEHICLES

California Considers Change to Fuel Rules as Tesla Cries Foul.
California’s effort to promote non-polluting automobiles is being
thrown off kilter by a company that makes electric cars. The
rapid growth of Tesla Motors Inc. and the increasing range of
other electric vehicles have the state contemplating new
requirements that anger both Tesla and competitors like Honda
Motor Co.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-07-07/california-considers-change-to-fuel-rules-as-tesla-cries-foul


Hanergy claims solar cars need 5 hours of sun for 50 miles of
range. Chinese firm introduces four 'zero-charge' solar-powered
concept cars. There's a new, fanciful series of concepts coming
out of China that can allegedly run purely on solar power. Built
by Hanergy, a solar panel manufacturer, the cars use thin-film
solar modules to create so-called zero-charge cars. We'll believe
it when we can drive 'em.
http://www.autoblog.com/2016/07/07/hanergy-claims-solar-cars-need-5-hours-sun-50-mile-range/


VW RECALL

VW fix for Audi Q5 does not cut emissions, EU consumer group
says. Volkswagen's (VW) technical fix for one of the vehicles
involved in its "Dieselgate" scandal did not reduce emissions in
a test, a European consumer group said on Thursday. VW has argued
the fix for vehicles affected by its emissions test cheating
scandal would make them compliant with EU regulations, avoiding
the need to compensate owners.
http://af.reuters.com/article/commoditiesNews/idAFL8N19T4EP 

Montana reaches settlement with Volkswagen over emissions claims.
Montana Attorney General Tim Fox announced Wednesday a settlement
requiring Volkswagen to pay more than $570 million for violating
state laws prohibiting unfair or deceptive trade practices by
marketing, selling, and leasing diesel vehicles equipped with
illegal and undisclosed defeat device software.
http://www.ktvq.com/story/32393384/montana-reaches-settlement-with-volkswagen-over-emissions-claims


Volkswagen Won’t Get Fined for Emissions Cheating in Europe. Lack
of compensation in Europe is causing public outrage to grow.
Volkswagen may escape fines from Germany’s Transport Ministry for
cheating on emissions even though public outrage in Europe
continues to grow, according to a new report from Automotive
News.
http://www.automobilemag.com/news/volkswagen-wont-get-fined-emissions-cheating-europe/


GREEN ENERGY

World's Largest Storage Battery Will Power Los Angeles.  More
than 18,000 lithium-ion battery packs would replace a gas-fired
power plant used to meet peak demand. By 2021, electricity use in
the west Los Angeles area may be in for a climate change-fighting
evolution. For many years, the tradition has been that on
midsummer afternoons, engineers will turn on what they call a
“peaker,”…
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/world-s-largest-storage-battery-will-power-los-angeles/


How solar energy can be transformed into fuel. The sun is a clean
and inexhaustible source of energy, with the potential to provide
a sustainable answer to all future energy supply demands. There's
just one outstanding problem: the sun doesn't always shine and
its energy is hard to store. For the first time, researchers at
the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI and the ETH Zurich have unveiled
a chemical process that uses the sun's thermal energy to convert
carbon dioxide…
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/07/160707101035.htm

German H1 wind, solar output up 4% at 58 TWh on wind boom. German
wind and solar power output in the first half of 2016 totaled
57.5 TWh, up just 4% from the first six months last year as
strong gains for wind during the winter months were offset by
lower solar and wind output during the second quarter…
http://www.platts.com/latest-news/electric-power/london/german-h1-wind-solar-output-up-4-at-58-twh-on-26486930?hootpostid=973826dcb377a6454aa62f27d2d1596a


Southern Co. scoops up another Calif. solar farm. Southern Co.'s
wholesale power unit has bought a controlling interest in a
utility-scale solar project in California. Southern Power has
agreed to buy a significant portion of the 102-megawatt Henrietta
Solar project in Kings County, which is in the San Joaquin
Valley. Pacific Gas and Electric Co. will buy the electricity and
renewable energy credits…
http://www.eenews.net/energywire/2016/07/07/stories/1060039870 

Utilities give a first peek at N.Y.'s distributed energy future.
In 2014, Consolidated Edison Inc. asked an $800 million question.
In parts of Brooklyn and Queens, power demand was growing. ConEd
could meet that need with a $1 billion upgrade to the power grid
-- paid for by ratepayers. Or it could put that off and try
something else: an estimated $200 million worth of energy
efficiency, distributed solar…
http://www.eenews.net/energywire/2016/07/07/stories/1060039893 

Will the world's largest storage battery be America's energy
cure? By 2021, electricity use in the west Los Angeles area may
be in for a climate change-fighting evolution. For many years,
the tradition has been that on midsummer afternoons, engineers
will turn on what they call a "peaker," a natural gas-burning
power plant In Long Beach. 
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2016/07/07/stories/1060039876

MISCELLANEOUS

Metro Set To Launch Downtown Los Angeles Bike Share Program.
Metro and the city of Los Angeles are preparing for the July 7
launch of Metro’s bike sharing program in downtown Los Angeles —
an idea at least four years in the making. The program will make
as many as 1,000 bikes available at 65 locations around downtown
Los Angeles, including Union Station, City Hall, Grand Park…
http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2016/07/06/metro-set-to-launch-downtown-los-angeles-bike-share-program/


OPINIONS

McRae: Cap and trade auction doesn't negate California's economic
growth. California's economy has experienced transformative
growth since AB 32, our signature climate change and clean energy
law, passed in 2006. This growth is being overlooked amid news
that the last cap and trade auction fell short of expected
revenue. If you were to believe the hype, you would think the cap
and trade program is in crisis.
http://www.mercurynews.com/opinion/ci_30098742/mcrae-cap-and-trade-auction-doesnt-negate-californias


While Wildfires Ravage the Forests, Our Lungs Are at Risk, Too.
This year’s wildfire season is off to a dramatic and early start,
and so is the worry about what that smoke is doing to our lungs.
Big wildfires started burning in Southern California in early
June, and since then, air-quality agencies have been warning
residents that pollution from those Southern California fires…
http://www.laweekly.com/news/while-wildfires-ravage-the-forests-our-lungs-are-at-risk-too-7094066
 


San Diego Water Authority Is Pretending the Drought Is Over; It’s
Not. Without mandatory conservation, San Diego is positioning
itself to fall back into the same short-sighted planning that
built the state’s drought inadequacies in the first place. For
decades, the San Diego region inched closer and closer to a
drought crisis, pumping more water for more lawns from the
ever-dwindling supplies in the…
http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/topics/opinion/san-diego-water-authority-is-pretending-the-drought-is-over-its-not/


With cap and trade in doubt, key questions go unanswered.
Assemblyman Brian Jones leaned in to the microphone with a tight
smile. It was May, and legislators were debating whether to
request an audit of the California Air Resources Board.
Frustrated that the agency was not more forthcoming about aspects
of the cap and trade program it
runs…https://calmatters.org/articles/with-cap-and-trade-in-doubt-key-questions-go-unanswered/?utm_source=Sac+Aggregators&utm_campaign=601c9c4989-News_Analysis_Cap-and-trade_aggregators&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_000c574d3b-601c9c4989-123389401


Letter: Global warming, a top issue. Today the world is facing
many different environmental threats, but to conquer these we
must first focus on our own local environmental problems. I think
the most pressing issues in our local area are that of global
warming and pollution. The constant-burning paper mills release
vast amounts of gases into the atmosphere and vehicle emissions
do the same.
http://www.pnj.com/story/opinion/2016/07/05/letter-global-warming-top-issue/86728652/
 

LETTER: Annual emissions testing is not needed. Automobile
inspections. Having emission testing for all vehicles in certain
counties seems unnecessary anymore. It should be limited to
vehicles over 10-years-old and/or those with over 100,000 miles.
Has anyone looked at the statistics of emission failure on
vehicles less that 10-years-old? I’d say the failure rate is
probably less than 5 percent.
http://www.pottsmerc.com/article/MP/20160707/NEWS/160709818 

BLOGS

Environmental Injustices in the Air We Breathe. For years now,
San Antonio residents have endured unhealthy levels of ozone in
the air we breathe. Yet, the city of San Antonio has narrowly
avoided violating the US Environmental Protection Agency’s
national ozone standards, designed to protect human health. But
San Antonio will soon have to make changes to its approach to air
quality
http://blogs.edf.org/texascleanairmatters/2016/07/06/environmental-injustices-in-the-air-we-breathe/
. 



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

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