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ARB Newsclips for July 29, 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

No line item on natural gas bills to show cost of Ontario's
cap-and-trade plan. Ontario consumers won’t see a separate line
item on their natural gas bills showing the cost of the Liberal
government’s cap-and-trade plan to fight climate change. The
Ontario Energy Board has decided charges related to the cost of
the program, which is aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions…
http://www.570news.com/2016/07/29/no-line-item-on-natural-gas-bills-to-show-cost-of-ontarios-cap-and-trade-plan/

AIR POLLUTION

Wildfire Smoke Prompts 5th Straight Spare The Air Alert For
Friday. A fifth consecutive Spare the Air alert has been issued
by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District for Friday
because of continued unhealthy levels of ozone expected in the
region. Persistent high temperatures and light winds in inland
parts of the Bay Area…
http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2016/07/28/5th-straight-spare-the-air-alert-soberanes-fire/


Court tosses part of contentious EPA boiler rule. A federal court
today threw out part of U.S. EPA's air pollution standards for
boilers and rejected all industry challenges against the rules in
a win for environmentalists. In a unanimous ruling, the U.S.
Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit agreed with
environmentalists…
http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2016/07/29/stories/1060040988

Court rules for EPA, against greens on particulate deadlines.  A
federal court upheld U.S. EPA compliance deadlines today for
states to meet the national standard for airborne soot and other
fine particulate matter. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the
District of Columbia Circuit rejected environmentalists'
arguments that the deadlines were lax.
http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2016/07/29/stories/1060040973

CLIMATE CHANGE

Forget Tornadoes. Rain Bombs Are Coming for Your Town. Climate
change is weaponizing the atmosphere. Evidence shows that the sky
is coming down on our heads—the watery part of it, anyway, in
larger and larger cascades. It’s largely our own fault. The past
two months have seen some doozies just in the U.S. The Empire
State Building was struck by lightning twice on Monday during a
storm…
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-07-29/forget-tornadoes-rain-bombs-are-coming-for-your-town
 
Climate change is extending mosquito season in the D.C. region —
bad news for Zika. As if climate change wasn’t already bad
enough, we now have one more reason to change course. Summer heat
is hanging around longer, the days are becoming more humid, and
mosquito season is lengthening, which means an increased risk of
vector-borne diseases like Zika.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2016/07/28/climate-change-is-extending-mosquito-season-in-the-d-c-region-bad-news-for-zika/


Climate change: Lake Tahoe warming faster than ever. The biggest
alpine lake in North America is warming faster than ever thanks
in large part to a changing global climate. That’s according to
scientists who study Lake Tahoe to produce reports on everything
from water temperature to clarity to invasive species. The latest
data in the State of the Lake report shows average water
temperature…
http://www.rgj.com/story/life/outdoors/2016/07/29/climate-change-lake-tahoe-warming-faster-than-ever/87702534/
http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2016/0729/Why-is-Lake-Tahoe-warming-so-quickly
 

Climate Change News: Why North American Forests Can’t Combat
Greenhouse Effect. Forests make up a third of the land mass in
the United States with woodlands accounting for 751 million
acres. From an environmental standpoint, the abundance of trees
is good news, as they are believed to play a role in offsetting
climate change by removing carbon dioxide from the air and
emitting oxygen.
http://www.ibtimes.com/climate-change-news-why-north-american-forests-cant-combat-greenhouse-effect-2395643


What the Earth's frozen burps tell us about global warming.
Analysis of bubbles trapped in ancient Antarctic ice suggests
that as the planet heats up, plants and soils will add more
carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. “When the earth burps, Law Dome
records it,” says Australian climate scientist Dr. David
Etheridge. Law Dome is a special spot in eastern Antarctica…
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/planet-oz/2016/jul/29/antarctic-ice-core-study-has-probably-just-made-the-job-of-cutting-fossil-fuel-emissions-even-more-urgent


DROUGHT

Drought-hit Honduras needs new approach to tackle extreme
weather: U.N. envoy. Honduras must develop a long term approach
to combat the impact of drought exacerbated by climate change and
put the poorest and most vulnerable at the center of government
initiatives and funding, a U.N. special envoy said. Two
consecutive years of severe drought linked to El Nino - a warming
of the Pacific Ocean's surface that causes…
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-honduras-climatechange-drought-idUSKCN10822G


DIESEL ACTIVITIES

Culver City Firm to Build Zero-Emissions Bus Station in Long
Beach. Long Beach officials are planning on building a new
zero-emissions bus station near the Long Beach Convention and
Entertainment Center. Earlier this week, Long Beach Transit
governing board voted to select Fast-Track Construction of Culver
City to design and build a bus station to recharge all-electric
buses.
http://www.labusinessjournal.com/news/2016/jul/28/culver-city-firm-build-zero-emissions-bus-station-/


FUELS

Enbridge profit misses slightly, hurt by Fort McMurray wildfire.
Enbridge Inc ENB.TO, Canada's largest pipeline company, reported
a slightly lower-than-expected quarterly profit on Friday as its
liquids pipeline business was hit by a massive wildfire in Fort
McMurray, Alberta. The company said oil deliveries were 255,000
barrels per day (bpd), or 10 percent, lower than expected in May
and June due to fire disruption, but volumes…
http://ca.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idCAKCN10919H 

U.S. shale gas goes global, buoying LNG trade. Shale gas produced
in the United States is going from domestic to global. The United
States shipped its first tanker of shale gas overseas this year,
and in five years, the country will become the world's
third-largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplier, according to
the International Energy Agency. 
http://www.eenews.net/energywire/2016/07/29/stories/1060040950 

Fast-growth cyanobacteria gets thumbs up from scientists for
biofuels production. Scientists from the US-based Pacific
Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) have discovered why the
cyanobacteria called Synechococcus 7002 can produce high
concentrations of biofuels. The organism, commonly called a
blue-green algae, triples in size to accommodate a rapid
expansion of the cellular machinery it uses to build proteins…
http://biofuels-news.com/display_news/10828/fastgrowth_cyanobacteria_gets_thumbs_up_from_scientists_for_biofuels_production/

  
VW RECALL

Exclusive: California regulator says testing to begin on
Volkswagen diesel fix. 
Volkswagen AG and the California Air Resources Board will begin
testing hardware and software that could help the German
automaker avoid buying back as many as 475,000 diesel cars sold
in the United States with improperly designed pollution controls,
the head of the board told Reuters.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-volkswagen-emissions-exclusive-idUSKCN10921J


VW's Audi will miss 2016 profitability goal. Volkswagen's
(VOWG_p.DE) luxury division Audi will miss its benchmark for
profitability this year as costs for the diesel emissions scandal
and possible recalls of cars fitted with Takata Corp (7312.T)
airbags are weighing on results. First-half operating profit at
Audi plunged 18 percent to 2.4 billion euros ($2.66 billion),
including 265 million euros of special items…
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-volkswagen-results-audi-idUSKCN1090O6


Washington State Fines Volkswagen $176 Million Over Emissions.
Penalty holds auto maker accountable for environmental damage
from more than 21,000 vehicles in state. Washington state
regulators have fined Volkswagen $176 million, saying the auto
maker put people’s health at risk by releasing harmful air
pollutants by cheating on emissions tests.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/washington-state-fines-volkswagen-176-million-over-emissions-1469748406


GREEN ENERGY

Engineers work to cut costs and emissions in geothermal power.
Billowing vapor clouds and the faint smell of boiled eggs lead
visitors over a gravel road toward the Hellisheiđi Power Station,
15 miles southeast of the Icelandic capital, Reykjavik. Here, at
Iceland's largest geothermal heat and power plant, perched on a
rocky active volcanic ridge…
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2016/07/29/stories/1060040959

MISCELLANEOUS

French Utility to Build Britain’s First Nuclear Plant in Years.
The French utility EDF said on Thursday that its board had
approved a plan to build the first nuclear power plant in Britain
in a generation. The project for the state-controlled utility has
long been contentious. Critics have slammed it as an expensive
and risky route to securing emission-free electricity.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/29/business/energy-environment/edf-hinkley-point-nuclear-france-britain.html?_r=0


OPINIONS

Inland Empire must carefully weigh California’s climate change
policies: Guest commentary. We can all agree that we want clean
air and water for this generation and generations to come. This
is especially true in our region where we know we encounter some
of the worst air quality in the state. However, we can also all
agree that we must provide balance to our communities with a
vibrant living and economic environment.
http://www.sbsun.com/opinion/20160728/inland-empire-must-carefully-weigh-californias-climate-change-policies-guest-commentary


Did California Stop Mandatory Water Conservation Efforts Too
Soon? A little more than a year ago, California’s Gov. Jerry
Brown ordered mandatory water reductions of 25 percent throughout
the state. And in some areas, citizens were ordered to reduce
consumption by 35 percent. This was all in response to more than
four years of severe drought. However, in June 2016, those
mandatory reductions were lifted…
http://www.environmentalleader.com/2016/07/29/did-california-stop-mandatory-water-conservation-efforts-too-soon/#ixzz4FoZQo4LY





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