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newsclips -- ARB Newsclips for October 24, 2016.

Posted: 24 Oct 2016 16:44:04
ARB Newsclips for October 24, 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

$363M cap-and-trade cash goes to clean cars, transit. California
will spend $363 million of the revenues from its cap-and-trade
program largely on incentives aimed at putting more clean
vehicles in disadvantaged communities. The amount is less than
what the California Air Resources Board (ARB) originally had
planned to spend on some of the efforts. The state Legislature
reduced the total available for the programs for fiscal 2016-17.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2016/10/24/stories/1060044686 

Air-quality agency AQMD may scrap cap-and-trade. The agency is
looking at phasing out its pollution credits marketplace to meet
federal health standards. Southern California’s cap-and-trade
marketplace that’s been used for 22 years to limit air pollution
from the region’s top 275 industrial polluters may be scrapped.
Under pressure from federal and state regulators, and a lawsuit
from a coalition of environmental groups…
http://www.pe.com/articles/air-816519-district-pollution.html 

Carbon price 'simplest' way to comply — Southwest Power Pool CEO.
A regional approach based on a trading system and a price on
carbon would be the most affordable way to meet the goals of U.S.
EPA's Clean Power Plan should it survive legal challenge, said
Nick Brown, president and CEO of the Southwest Power Pool. "When
you look at a trading regime, it could be as simple as a decision
made on the price in our markets for carbon.
http://www.eenews.net/interactive/clean_power_plan/column_posts/1060044691


AIR POLLUTION

Chemical cloud over Kansas community dissipates. A chemical spill
at a northeast Kansas distilling plant released a noxious cloud
of fumes Friday, forcing temporary evacuations and sending dozens
of people to the hospital, including two who were in intensive
care, officials said. Most of the people who went to hospitals
had been released by Friday afternoon.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_KANSAS_CHEMICAL_SPILL?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

 
Ontario fire affecting Inland Empire air quality. After a fire in
Ontario shut down a section of railroad tracks Friday, the city
was placed under a smoke alert, according to the South Coast Air
Quality Management District. The fast-moving fire at a Southern
California recycling center sent huge flames into the air Friday
night and a plume of smoke that could be seen for miles.
http://www.desertsun.com/story/news/2016/10/21/ontario-fire-shuts-down-railroad-tracks/92539604/

Unmetered emissions from ExxonMobil Torrance refinery lasted 5
years, brought big fine. The belated discovery that ExxonMobil’s
Torrance refinery belched about double the amount of sulfur
dioxide the company initially reported for five years resulted in
an $8.1 million fine in 2014 from Southern California’s air
pollution watchdog that was never publicly disclosed, the Daily
Breeze has learned.
http://www.dailybreeze.com/environment-and-nature/20161022/unmetered-emissions-from-exxonmobil-torrance-refinery-lasted-5-years-brought-big-fine


What's that smell? Blame gas coming from the Salton Sea. An odor
advisory has been issued by the South Coast Air Quality
Management District today for the Coachella Valley due to
elevated levels of hydrogen sulfide emanating from the Salton
Sea. The gas is described as smelling like rotten eggs and can
temporarily cause headaches or nausea, although exposure does not
have any long-term health effects…
http://www.pe.com/articles/hydrogen-816607-air-south.html 

EPA won't reconsider wood-burning stove and heater standards. EPA
has rejected a petition for reconsideration of its air standards
for residential wood-burning stoves and heaters released last
year. The petition, filed in June 2015 by Richard S. Burns & Co.
Inc., a Philadelphia-based recycler, asked EPA to rethink its ban
on pellet fuels made from construction and demolition waste. In a
response posted today in the regulatory docket…
http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2016/10/24/stories/1060044709 

ALISO CANYON

On anniversary of blowout, activists vow to ‘keep fighting’ to
shut down Aliso Canyon facility.  On the one-year anniversary of
the start of the catastrophic natural gas leak at the Aliso
Canyon storage facility, environmental activists, Porter
Ranch-area residents and political candidates renewed their call
Sunday to “Shut. It. All. Down.”
http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/general-news/20161023/on-anniversary-of-blowout-activists-vow-to-keep-fighting-to-shut-down-aliso-canyon-facility

One year later: How the Aliso Canyon gas blowout continues to
affect LA. The leak was plugged after four months, but the
blowout and its aftermath shook the trust Angelenos placed in the
utility that provides gas for home cooking and heating. It also
brought harsh scrutiny of state and local regulators that were
slow to act to the leak. And it undermined the sense of security
that our energy sources were stable and reliable.
http://www.scpr.org/news/2016/10/21/65701/how-the-aliso-canyon-gas-blowout-changed-l-a/


Aliso Canyon leak emitted 109,000 metric tons of methane. The
Aliso Canyon natural gas leak emitted 109,000 metric tons of
methane into the atmosphere from late October 2015 to
mid-February 2016, according to the final estimate released by
the California Air Resources Board (CARB) staff.  This is roughly
equivalent to the annual natural gas usage of 190,000 Los Angeles
homes, or the carbon dioxide emissions released from burning over
1 billion gallons of gasoline.
http://yubanet.com/california/aliso-canyon-leak-emitted-109000-metric-tons-of-methane/


One Year and 97,100 Metric Tons of Methane Later: The Porter
Ranch Gas Leak. This Sunday marks one year since the beginning of
one of the biggest climate disasters in recent history: the
Porter Ranch gas leak. Over the course of 110 days, 50 tons of
natural gas poured into the atmosphere every hour from a storage
well owned by Southern California Gas, forcing 15,000 residents
to evacuate their homes in California’s Aliso Canyon.
http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/one-year-and-97100-metric-tons-of-methane-later-the-porter-ranch-gas-leak/


Aliso Canyon Disaster One Year Later: Some Progress, But More
Action Needed. When the gusher of methane pouring out of the
Aliso Canyon natural gas storage field was discovered last
October 23, it almost instantly transformed the sleepy Los
Angeles suburb of Porter Ranch into the site of one of the
biggest environmental disasters in recent history. It would
ultimately take four months to stop the massive underground leak.
http://www.theenergycollective.com/edfenergyex/2391192/aliso-canyon-disaster-one-year-later-some-progress-but-more-action-needed


Media Alert From TVEyes Media Monitoring Suite (Aliso Canyon)
KPCC FM RADIO
http://mms.tveyes.com/Transcript.asp?StationID=6460&DateTime=10%2F22%2F2016+7%3A04%3A55+AM&Term=california+air+resources+board&PlayClip=TRUE

CLIMATE CHANGE

UN says carbon dioxide at record levels. The U.N. says the
concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has reached a
record high. U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Monday that
the rise was fueled by the El Nino, an unusual weather pattern
caused by the warming of the Pacific Ocean. El Nino leads to
droughts in tropical regions and reduces the capacity of forests
and oceans to absorb carbon dioxide, the greenhouse gas blamed
for global warming.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/UN_UNITED_NATIONS_GLOBAL_WARMING?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


RELATED ARTICLES
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/un-weather-agency-heat-trapping-gas-surges-beyond-milestone/2016/10/24/f0a685be-99fc-11e6-b552-b1f85e484086_story.html
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/oct/24/new-era-of-climate-change-reality-as-emissions-hit-symbolic-threshold
    
http://www.climatecentral.org/news/carbon-dioxide-400-ppm-threshold-2015-20809?utm_source=Inside+Climate+News&utm_campaign=06301d44b3-Today_s_Climate12_10_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_29c928ffb5-06301d44b3-327747457
Hundreds in Los Angeles protest climate change, North Dakota
pipeline. Hundreds of people gathered in Los Angeles on Sunday to
protest against climate change and show support for activists
demonstrating against the construction of an oil pipeline in
North Dakota.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-pipeline-climatechange-idUSKCN12O05L?feedType=RSS&virtualBrandChannel=11563


Climate Change May Trigger Next Financial Crisis, Fisher Says.
Climate change could spark the world’s next financial crisis,
according to Paul Fisher, who retired this year as deputy head of
the Bank of England body which supervises the country’s banks.
“It is potentially a systemic risk,” Fisher said Monday in an
interview in Sydney. A sudden repricing of assets as a result of
climate change “could be the trigger for the next financial
crisis,” he added.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-10-24/climate-change-may-trigger-next-financial-crisis-fisher-says


Would you accept denser, taller neighborhoods to fight climate
change? San Diegans face the first tough decision in trying to
realize the city’s Climate Action Plan, which calls for hundreds
of thousands of commuters to ditch their cars in favor of
walking, biking or using public transit.
http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/environment/

Greenland Is Melting. The shrinking of the country’s ice sheet is
triggering feedback loops that accelerate the global crisis. The
floodgates may already be open. When water accumulates on the
surface of an ice sheet, more sunlight gets absorbed, which
results in more melt, in a cycle that builds on itself? This
year’s melt season began so early that many scientists couldn’t
believe the data they were seeing.
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/10/24/greenland-is-melting


Pope Francis's edict on climate change has fallen on closed ears,
study finds. Hailed as a significant call for action, the pope’s
encyclical has not had the anticipated rallying effect on public
opinion, researchers have found. The pope’s call for action on
climate change has fallen on closed ears, research suggests. A
study by researchers in the US has found that right-leaning
Catholics who had heard of the pope’s message were less concerned
about climate change…
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/oct/24/pope-franciss-edict-on-climate-change-has-fallen-on-deaf-ears-study-finds


Alan Jones launches Great Barrier Reef site after criticising
'global warming hoax'. Australian radio hosts broadcasts show
critical of climate ‘alarmists’ from Cairns before launching the
Citizens of the Great Barrier Reef website. A new Great Barrier
Reef conservation site has been launched by the Australian
broadcaster Alan Jones, who has declared that climate change was
a hoax and said the reef was “fine”.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/oct/25/alan-jones-launches-great-barrier-reef-site-after-criticising-global-warming-hoax


The Business of Pricing Carbon. More companies worldwide are
turning to internal carbon pricing as an effective tool to spur
the transition to low-carbon technologies, and C2ES is helping
organizations to explore this frontier through a new working
group to share best practices. By putting a price on the carbon
pollution associated with business activity, companies can
account for their operations’ climate impact…
http://www.theenergycollective.com/manjyot/2391198/the-business-of-pricing-carbon


DIESEL ACTIVITIES

Phase 2 emissions, fuel standards to tighten regs on
tractor-trailers set for publication. A Final Rule to establish
new emissions and fuel economy standards for medium- and
heavy-duty vehicles is expected to be published in the Federal
Register Tuesday and will take effect toward the end of December.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the DOT’s National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration issued the Final Rule of
the Phase 2 greenhouse gas emissions…
http://www.ccjdigital.com/phase-2-emissions-fuel-standards-to-tighten-regs-on-tractor-trailers-set-for-publication/


FUELS

Ethanol futures pulled higher on tighter oil supplies. Ethanol
and gasoline markets have continued to make significant
counter-seasonal surges in October. A strong drawdown in crude
oil supplies in the last few weeks of the month drew support and
has been the driver of these recent rallies. Gasoline supplies
have eroded lower through much of October, putting the focus not
as much on current demand…
http://www.ethanolproducer.com/articles/13832/ethanol-futures-pulled-higher-on-tighter-oil-supplies

VEHICLES

The Electric Highway: Why California is sputtering along. The day
Brian Feeney walked into a Palm Springs dealership to buy a new
Nissan Leaf, he was fulfilling the dream of state policy-makers
to entice Californians to break off their love affair with
gas-guzzling cars. But the amount of meticulous research that
went into Feeney’s purchase was identical to the amount of carbon
emissions his all-electric Leaf would spew into the atmosphere:
zero.
http://www.bakersfield.com/news/the-electric-highway-why-california-is-sputtering-along/article_e2f5f991-4f86-5958-b45b-8eefe6aadb9a.html


GREEN ENERGY

New Green Energy Could Change the Way We Move. Footsteps Generate
Power in Inexpensive Flooring Material. Wood pulp, a common waste
material, could allow homeowners and communities to create their
own energy by just walking around.
UW–Madison associate professor Xudong Wang, graduate student
Chunhua Yao, and their collaborators published the details of
this amazing new technology…
http://www.smobserved.com/story/2016/10/24/business/new-green-energy-could-change-the-way-we-move/2152.html


Duke Energy wants to add green-energy projects in western North
Carolina. Duke Energy said Monday it wants to add 400 megawatts
of solar and other renewable energy in North Carolina, mainly in
the regions west of Raleigh. A request for proposals by Duke
Energy Carolinas, the utility that serves Charlotte and the
western half of the state, will help it meet the state’s 2007
green-energy mandate.
http://www.newsobserver.com/news/business/article110142377.html#storylink=cpy


How did Germany get its energy transition right? Germany is well
recognized as an international leader in renewable energy today,
but that wasn’t always the case. Its transition from coal and
nuclear power started two decades before the first major
renewable energy policy initiatives were passed. From Germany’s
dramatic renewable energy transition to its recent decision to
reduce support for renewable energy…
https://www.greenbiz.com/article/how-did-germany-get-its-energy-transition-right


Target Hits Bullseye As Top 2016 US Corporate Solar Installer.
Target has hit a solar energy bullseye. The Minneapolis-based
retail giant topped all other American big businesses going
solar, according to a new report from the Solar Energy Industries
Association (SEIA). In the 2016 Solar Means Business report,
Target knocked out former champion Walmart.
https://cleantechnica.com/2016/10/23/target-hits-bulls-eye-top-2016-us-corporate-solar-installer/


ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE

Brawley hosts 7th annual environmental summit. Hundreds of people
attended the 7th Annual Environmental Health Leadership Summit in
Brawley on Saturday. State officials, regional and local leaders
gave updates on work relating to the Salton Sea as well as other
environmental issues that they said posed a threat to public
health. Organizers said this was a unique opportunity for
Imperial Valley residents to talk with state officials about how
the environment affected their families.
http://www.kyma.com/news/imperial-county/brawley-hosts-7th-annual-environmental-summit/130846721


OPINIONS

The good and bad news on climate change. GOOD NEWS — kind of. So
far this year, the country’s energy-related greenhouse-gas
emissions are running at their lowest level in a quarter-century,
the U.S. Energy Information Administration announced this month.
Federal experts project that, at year’s end, the country’s
climate tab will be the smallest since 1992, continuing a
downward trend since its peak during…
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-good-and-bad-news-on-climate-change/2016/10/22/0b6e2204-90b0-11e6-9c52-0b10449e33c4_story.html?utm_term=.81a9aedbd607


The largest methane leak in U.S. history began one year ago at
Aliso Canyon. What have we learned since then? ne year ago, state
oil and gas officials received a report of a small, routine
methane leak at the Aliso Canyon underground natural gas storage
field in the hills north of Porter Ranch. But as it turned out,
the leak was neither small nor routine.
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/editorials/la-ed-aliso-canyon-20161023-snap-story.html


Why are we sending precious water downstream for fish in the
middle of a drought? Here's why. California is not merely a
political jurisdiction drawn on a map. Even without the human
artifice of state lines, it exists as a physically and
ecologically distinct place, characterized and enriched by iconic
species that live only here — the California condor, the giant
sequoia, the golden trout, the coast live oak and hundreds of
others.
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/editorials/la-ed-salmon-20161021-snap-story.html


Aliso Canyon 1 year later: How a massive gas leak left its mark
on Porter Ranch. First came a whiff like rotten eggs, wafting
through parts of Porter Ranch. Then came reports of headaches,
vomiting and nosebleeds from families living within large homes
along its meandering streets. School kids were getting sick. Even
dogs were falling ill.
http://www.dailynews.com/environment-and-nature/20161022/aliso-canyon-1-year-later-how-a-massive-gas-leak-left-its-mark-on-porter-ranch


Issue of climate change conspicuously, stunningly absent from
debates. Through three debates that addressed many issues,
moderators ignored the most important question facing humanity:
how to address climate change. Although tens of thousands of
citizens asked members of the media to pose a climate question,
the moderators “choked” (to use Hillary Clinton’s term for…
https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/letters/2016/10/23/issue-climate-change-conspicuously-stunningly-absent-from-debates/eV8HWsYp7WiHfpLWRP1xhK/story.html


BLOGS

The Environmental Justice Argument Against Measure A. The
campaign for Measure A was busy this week sending one mailer to
Democrats greenwashing their flawed initiative by citing an
Astroturf “environmental coalition” that popped up just in time
for the election, while in another mailer to Republicans they
signaled that conservatives should vote for A because
environmentalists and labor oppose it.
http://sandiegofreepress.org/2016/10/environmental-justice-argument-against-measure-a/


Addressing Another Energy Miracle: Ethanol From Carbon Dioxide.
People love their energy miracles. If a university or company
claims they can make fuel from air or from water, along comes the
inevitable hype proclaiming that this is just the sort of
breakthrough we need to meet our energy needs in a way that
doesn’t increase greenhouse gas emissions.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/rrapier/2016/10/21/addressing-another-energy-miracle-ethanol-from-carbon-dioxide/?commentId=blogAndPostId%2Fblog%2Fcomment%2F4126-756-272#690b384a1db2

Carbon dioxide levels signify 'new era' of global warming. The
Earth permanently passed a global warming threshold last year
that alarms climate scientists and has profound consequences for
everyone alive today — particularly young people looking forward
to the future.  According to the World Meteorological
Organization (WMO), observatories around the world found that in
2015 and 2016, the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere…
http://mashable.com/2016/10/24/earth-passed-global-warming-threshold/#U_n.x9X.lmqh


Greenhouse Gas Levels Breaking All Records. The World
Meteorological Organization reports the level of carbon dioxide
emissions in the atmosphere has reached a record high this year,
driven in part by the powerful El Nino event, which started in
2015 and continued well into 2016. According to WMO, the
concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere reached 400
parts per million for the first time in 2015 and surged to new
records this year.
http://www.voanews.com/a/greenhouse-gas-levels-are-breaking-all-records/3563583.html



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

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