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ARB Newsclips for August 16, 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

Mexico announces launch of cap-and-trade pilot program. Mexico
will launch a year-long simulation of a cap-and-trade program in
November, Mexican officials said on Monday, in a test run for a
national carbon market expected to launch in 2018. The pilot
program will involve the voluntary participation of up to 60
companies, giving them a chance to adapt to a forthcoming carbon
credit system…
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mexico-environment-idUSKCN10R00B

Jerry Brown moves to slip cap and trade into major climate bill.
In a bid to preserve California’s cap-and-trade program beyond
2020, Gov. Jerry Brown has quietly proposed amending major
environmental legislation to expressly authorize the regulation’s
extension. The draft bill language, obtained by The Sacramento
Bee…
http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article95752577.html#storylink=cpy


Lawmakers Question Effectiveness of Cap-And-Trade Program.
California’s cap-and-trade program is under scrutiny from state
lawmakers who are concerned revenue collected from the program
isn’t finding its way to disadvantaged communities. The program,
signed into law by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2006 as part
of California s landmark environmental bill AB 32, is supposed to
help lower harmful greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions…
http://sacobserver.com/2016/08/lawmakers-question-effectiveness-of-cap-and-trade-program/


Legal Doubts Over California’s Cap-and-Trade. The opinion of
lawyers working for California’s lawmakers became clear in the
spring. Without new laws, the state’s prominent cap-and-trade
program would be dead after 2020. Such a legal reality could put
an end to the pollution reduction program, and with it billions
in anticipated revenues and some of the Golden State’s vaunted
global leadership on climate action.
http://www.climatecentral.org/news/legal-doubts-over-californias-cap-and-trade-20607


AIR POLLUTION

Court filing from 6 states supports EPA ozone standard. A
coalition of six states and state air quality agencies have
explicitly endorsed U.S. EPA's new primary ozone standard, saying
in a court filing that the change was needed to protect public
health and that potential compliance costs are essentially
irrelevant to the agency's decision.
In setting the new 70-parts-per-billion standard, EPA "cannot
decide either how to…
http://www.eenews.net/eenewspm/stories/1060041627/search?keyword=california


CLIMATE CHANGE

NASA: Last month was Earth's hottest in recorded history. Earth
just broiled to its hottest month in recorded history, according
to NASA. Even after the fading of a strong El Nino, which spikes
global temperatures on top of man-made climate change, July burst
global temperature records. NASA calculated that July 2016 was
1.51 degrees…
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_SCI_HOTTEST_MONTH?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&utm_source=Inside+Climate+News&utm_campaign=12060411f4-Today_s_Climate12_10_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_29c928ffb5-12060411f4-327747457


Antarctica's sea ice said to be vulnerable to sudden retreat. Sea
ice around Antarctica shrank in a warm period more than 100,000
years ago, an indication that man-made climate change could also
trigger an abrupt retreat, a scientific report said Tuesday. A
thaw would reverse a paradoxical expansion of the extent of
floating ice on the ocean around the frozen continent in recent
decades…
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-climatechange-antarctica-idUSKCN10R111


As Earth swelters, global warming target in danger of being
missed. The Earth is so hot this year that a limit for global
warming agreed by world leaders at a climate summit in Paris just
a few months ago is in danger of being breached. In December,
almost 200 nations agreed a radical shift away from fossil fuels
with a goal of limiting a rise in average global temperatures to
well below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) above…
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-climatechange-temperatures-idUSKCN10N18J

People would buy green products – if only e-commerce showed them
how.  Given the choice to go green when making purchases online,
a lot of people would follow through, new research suggests. They
just need companies to provide them with enough information to do
so.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2016/08/15/people-would-buy-green-products-if-only-e-commerce-showed-them-how/?utm_term=.806f522d604d


DROUGHT

Drought costing California's farmers $600 million this year.
Monday by UC California's drought is costing farmers an estimated
$603 million this year, although the impact is far less than a
year ago, according to a study released Davis. The latest annual
survey by UC Davis researchers shows that the reasonably rainy
winter has eased the effects of the drought, even though
considerable shortages persist in crucial areas of the San
Joaquin Valley.
http://www.mercurynews.com/bay-area-news/ci_30250073/drought-costing-californias-farmers-600-million-this-year


As Drought Continues, Northern California Towns Run Out of Water.
Pasenka, population 112, is an out-of-the-way place where rustic
ranches grace grass-covered hills rolling west toward Mendocino
Pass. Since the lumber mill closed in 1992, the Tehama County
community 130 miles (210km) north of Sacramento has been settling
into bucolic tranquility. A water crisis has triggered a rude
awakening. Thomes Creek, the sole source of water for the
Paskenta Community Services District, is dropping.
https://ww2.kqed.org/science/2016/08/16/as-drought-continues-northern-california-towns-run-out-of-water/


DIESEL ACTIVITES

U.S. regulators to unveil final rule on truck emissions limits:
source. U.S. regulators on Tuesday will announce final
regulations setting fuel efficiency standards on medium- and
heavy-duty trucks through 2027 that will cut 1.1 billion tons of
greenhouse gas emissions, a source briefed on the matter told
Reuters. The rule sets first-ever greenhouse gas emissions limits
on heavy-duty combination tractors and requires up to 25 percent
lower emissions by 2027 for tractors…
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-emissions-idUSKCN10R1KJ 
http://www.wsj.com/articles/obama-administration-issues-final-rules-on-emissions-from-big-trucks-1471363201

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2016/08/16/trucks-required-slash-emissions-boost-fuel-economy/88832034/

http://www.businessinsider.com/r-us-regulators-to-unveil-final-rule-on-truck-emissions-limits-2016-8


FUELS

NASA: Natural gas industry the source of massive methane 'hot
spot' Scientists Monday attributed most of the methane emissions
contributing to a "hot spot" the size of Delaware recorded over
the Four Corners region almost two years ago to natural gas
production equipment and infrastructure. Using data collected
from air and land surveys covering about 1,200 square miles
across the region in April 2015…
http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/nation-now/2016/08/15/nasa-industry-source-methane-hot-spot/88812104/

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3743571/Massive-methane-hot-spot-Southwest-caused-250-separate-leaks-gas-production-researchers-find.html#ixzz4HWMuHxxq
http://www.eenews.net/energywire/2016/08/16/stories/1060041638  

Greens move to defend methane rules.  Six environmental groups
are looking to defend new federal curbs or methane pollution at
oil and natural gas sites. The groups filed a court motion late
Monday to protect the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA)
methane rule from lawsuits brought by more than a dozen states
and several oil and gas industry groups.
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/291560-greens-move-to-defend-methane-rules


Could ethanol power the future for electric cars? The automotive
industry is rushing to produce electric vehicles (EVs) as the
world tries to move away from polluting hydrocarbons to greener,
cleaner fuels. But EVs still only account for 1% of the total
market. Some companies are betting that hydrogen fuel cells will
be the power source of the future, but Nissan believes
bio-ethanol produced from sugar cane or corn could also produce
zero-emission electric energy.
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-37083752 

VEHICLES

Elon Musk Sets Ambitious Goals at Tesla—and Often Falls Short. In
past five years, Tesla failed to meet more than 20 of his
projections, and missed 10 goals by nearly a year on average;
Musk says he ‘doesn’t set targets that I know can’t be met’ In
May, Elon Musk made another of the bold projections that have
become commonplace for the Tesla Motors Inc. chief executive when
he said the electric car maker expected…
http://www.wsj.com/articles/elon-musk-sets-ambitious-goals-at-teslaand-often-falls-short-1471275436


VW RECALL

VW gets approval for another 460,000 diesel-car fixes. Volkswagen
(VOWG_p.DE) has won German regulatory approval for technical
fixes on another 460,000 diesel cars with illicit emissions
control software, it said on Sunday, raising the number of
vehicles cleared for repair to over 5 million. Approval by
Germany's motor vehicle authority KBA is valid for countries
throughout Europe where 8.5 million diesel cars…
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-volkswagen-emissions-idUSKCN10P0BR


US finds evidence Volkswagen acted criminally in emissions
scandal – report. Prosecutors said to be considering whether
company, which agreed to a multibillion-dollar settlement this
summer, should face criminal charges. The US justice department
is reported to have found evidence of Volkswagen acting
criminally in connection with the emissions cheating scandal that
plunged the German company into crisis.
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/aug/16/volkswagen-emissions-scandal-criminal-evidence


GREEN ENERGY

Britain backs expansion of world’s largest wind farm. Britain on
Tuesday approved plans to expand an offshore wind farm project
that could ultimately have more than 600 turbines spread across
an area of the North Sea more than twice the size of London. The
Hornsea Two windfarm project, to be built by DONG Energy, is part
of Britain's push to invest in new electricity generation…
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-dong-energy-windfarm-approval-idUSKCN10R100


Renewable Energy Push Eases Financial Woes of Suzlon Energy. 
Suzlon Energy, once India’s largest (and the fourth largest
globally) wind turbine manufacturer, expects to emerge from the
darkest financial period since it was founded, by March of next
year. Suzlon Energy chairman Tulsi Tanti recently told media
personnel that his company is expected to exit debt restructuring
by the end of the current financial year.
http://cleantechnica.com/2016/08/16/renewable-energy-push-eases-financial-woes-suzlon-energy/


WILD FIRES

Crews make progress against Northern California wildfire. Crews
began to make headway on Tuesday against a Northern California
wildfire that has destroyed more than 175 homes and businesses, a
day after authorities arrested a man on suspicion of setting that
blaze and numerous others in the area over the past year. The
so-called Clayton Fire, named for the creek near where it broke
out…
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-california-fire-idUSKCN10R1PL 

OPINIONS

Who owns the wind? We do, Wyoming says, and it's taxing those who
use it. Not long after it became clear that the robust winds that
blow down from the Rocky Mountains and across the sea of
sagebrush here could produce plenty of profit in a world that
wants more renewable energy, some of the more expansive minds in
the Wyoming Legislature began entertaining a lofty question:  Who
owns all of that wind?
http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-sej-wyoming-wind-tax-snap-story.html


BLOGS

For California’s Post –2020 Cap and Trade, Give Money To People.
California’s Legislature is considering whether to continue the
State’s Cap & Trade system meant to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions and fight global warming before it potentially expires
in 2020.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-sandler/for-californias-post2020_b_11501416.html


Fixing a major flaw in cap-and-trade. While many Californians are
spending August burning fossil fuels to travel to vacation
destinations, the state legislature is negotiating with Gov.
Brown over whether and how to extend the California’s
cap-and-trade program to reduce carbon dioxide and other
greenhouse gases (GHGs). The program, which began in 2013, is
currently scheduled to run through 2020, so the state is…
https://energyathaas.wordpress.com/2016/08/15/fixing-a-major-flaw-in-cap-and-trade/


Renewable electricity as a solution to Puerto Rico debt crisis?
You must be kidding. The Beltway lobbying machine is nothing if
not inventive. The latest evidence for this eternal truth is a
new report from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial
Analysis arguing that the debt restructuring plan recently
hammered out for the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA)
will not work as intended…
http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/energy-environment/291582-renewable-electricity-as-a-solution-to-puerto-rico-debt


Brian Cox dismantles arguments of Australian climate change
denier with simple graph. The climate sceptic has recently been
elected as part of Australia’s far-right One Nation party. Brian
Cox has clashed with a newly elected senator of Australia’s
far-right One Nation party who believes climate change is a
global conspiracy.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/brian-cox-climate-change-video-watch-graphs-takedown-australia-malcolm-roberts-a7193806.html





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