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This is a service of the California Air Resources Board’s Office
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individual websites to view some of the following news articles.


CARB BUSINESS

The Air Resources Board (ARB or Board) will conduct a public
meeting at the time and place noted below to consider Truck Field
Enforcement Activities and New Screening Technology for High
Emitting Vehicles.

DATE:  	April 27, 2017
TIME:  	9:00 a.m.
LOCATION: 	California Environmental Protection Agency
          		Air Resources Board
         		Byron Sher Auditorium, 2nd Floor
          		1001 I Street
          		Sacramento, California 95814

WEBCAST: http://www.cal-span.org/   

Air Resources Board staff have posted a white paper on the health
benefits of physical activity and air pollution exposure while
walking and bicycling for transportation.  
Download the White Paper:
https://www.arb.ca.gov/research/vprp/physical_activity_and_health_final_161216.pdf


For more information, including the White Paper and other
resources, visit our Built Environment webpage:
https://www.arb.ca.gov/research/vprp/vprp.htm  

A fact sheet summarizing this document can be found here:
https://www.arb.ca.gov/html/fact_sheets/physical_activity_fact_sheet.pdf



CAP AND TRADE

Even As Trump Scuttles Climate Policy, Diehards Propose New
Cap-And-Trade System For Auto Emissions.
What would possess two Obama Administration veterans to propose
that the Trump Administration—which on Tuesday revoked much of
Obama's climate legacy—implement a cap and trade program to
reduce auto emissions? A new cap-and-trade proposal was unveiled
Monday by Cass Sunstein, now of Harvard Law School, who headed
Obama's effort to streamline regulations, and Michael Greenstone,
now of the University of Chicago, who served as chief architect
of Obama's "social cost of carbon" policy, which enabled the
government to consider the climate impacts of nearly everything
it does—until Trump abandoned the policy yesterday.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffmcmahon/2017/03/29/as-trump-guts-climate-protections-diehards-propose-cap-and-trade-for-auto-emissions/#5daaa9c12302


AIR POLLUTION

U.S. National Academies panel endorses controversial human air
pollution tests.
A panel of outside experts has broadly endorsed U.S.
Enivronmetnal Protection Agency’s (EPA's) use of voluntary human
testing in air pollution studies, saying in a new report that the
controversial practice yields valuable data not obtainable
through other means. Although health risks to participants can't
be ruled out, the odds of long-term harm from the laboratory
tests are "unlikely to be large enough to be of concern,"
according to the report, released today by the National Academies
of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. 
http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/03/us-national-academies-panel-endorses-human-air-pollution-tests


Vehicle ban: Green bodies laud SC for safeguarding public
health.
Green bodies on Wednesday lauded Supreme Court’s decision
to ban sale and registration of vehicles which are not BS-IV
compliant, terming it as an acknowledgment to the public health
crisis and a step in right direction towards fighting air
pollution. Terming it a “significant” step forward, they said the
decision sends out a message that the automobile industry will
have to walk the extra mile to address the expansive concern
around public health and is also a “crucial” step in putting
public health above business interest of few.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/vehicle-ban-green-bodies-laud-sc-for-safeguarding-public-health/story-xyi2NAndNwLibD9hqdviYM.html


South Korea joins ranks of world’s most polluted countries.
South Korea has joined the ranks of the world’s most polluted
countries, with air pollution in the first months of this year
soaring to record levels. Long associated with Asian capitals
such as Beijing or Delhi, hazardous smog has for weeks blanketed
Seoul — a city now appearing among the world’s three most
polluted in daily rankings.
https://www.ft.com/content/b49a9878-141b-11e7-80f4-13e067d5072c 

CLEAN POWER PLAN

Trump Administration Seeks Delay in Ruling on Climate Plan.
Hours after President Donald Trump signed an executive order
seeking to undo his predecessor's efforts to curb climate change,
his administration has asked a federal appeals court to postpone
ruling on lawsuits over Obama-era restrictions on carbon
emissions. The regulations - known as the Clean Power Plan - have
been the subject of long-running legal challenges by about two
dozen mostly Republican-led states and industry groups that
profit from burning coal.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_TRUMP_CLIMATE_PLAN?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


Trump, in break from other world leaders, digs in on coal.
Declaring an end to what he's called "the war on coal," President
Donald Trump signed an executive order Tuesday that eliminates
numerous restrictions on fossil fuel production, breaking with
leaders across the globe who have embraced cleaner energy
sources. The order makes good on Trump's campaign pledge to
unravel former President Barack Obama's efforts to curb global
warming, eliminating nearly a dozen measures in an effort to
boost domestic energy production, especially oil, natural gas and
coal.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/APFN_US_TRUMP_CLIMATE_PLAN?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


California, NY vow to fill climate-change void left by Trump.
The governors of California and New York said Tuesday that they
will push ahead with their aggressive climate change policies
despite President Donald Trump's executive order that seeks to
boost the coal industry. Democratic Govs. Jerry Brown of
California and Andrew Cuomo of New York said in a joint statement
that they will help fill the void left by Trump's decision to
unravel former President Barack Obama's plan to curb global
warming.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_TRUMP_CLIMATE_PLAN_BLUE_STATES?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


China affirms climate pledge after Trump rolls back rules.
China promised Wednesday to stick to its climate commitments
after President Donald Trump eased U.S. curbs on coal and oil
use, opening the way for Beijing to assert itself as a leader in
environmental policy. China is the No. 1 emitter of
climate-changing greenhouse gases but also the top investor in
solar, wind and other renewable energy. It has promised to cap
coal use and rein in growth of carbon dioxide emissions.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_CHINA_US_CLIMATE_CHANGE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

China, EU reaffirm climate pledges after Trump backs away.
Nations led by China and the European Union rallied around a
global plan to slow climate change on Wednesday after U.S.
President Donald Trump began undoing Obama-era plans for deep
cuts in U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. Trump's order on Tuesday,
keeping a campaign promise to bolster the U.S. coal industry,
strikes at the heart of an international Paris Agreement in 2015
to curb world temperatures that hit record highs in 2016 for the
third year in a row.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-global-idUSKBN1701DN


Environmental groups vowing to fight Trump climate actions.
Environmental groups that have hired extra lawyers in recent
months are prepared to go to court to fight a sweeping executive
order from President Donald Trump that eliminates many
restrictions on fossil fuel production and would roll back his
predecessor's plans to curb global warming. But they said they'll
take their first battle to the court of public opinion. 
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_ENVIRONMENTALISTS_CLIMATE_PLAN?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/environmental-groups-vowing-fight-trump-climate-actions-46437705


Undoing the Clean Power Plan Will Be a Legal Nightmare.
On Tuesday, President Donald Trump signed a dramatic executive
order to dismantle his predecessor’s climate change policies,
with EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt and coal miners at his side.
Framing it as a lifeline to coal jobs, Trump said, “We’re ending
the theft of American prosperity.” Even coal industry executives
doubt that the order will lead to many new jobs. Its main actual
function is to instruct Pruitt to withdraw and rewrite the Clean
Power Plan, an EPA rule that requires states to make plans to cut
carbon pollution from power plants. Under former President Barack
Obama, the Clean Power Plan was the cornerstone of the U.S.
strategy to meet greenhouse gas cutting goals contained in the
2015 Paris Climate Agreement, which may now be impossible to
reach.
https://newrepublic.com/article/141686/undoing-clean-power-plan-will-legal-nightmare


Trump's repeal of Clean Power Plan gets mixed Montana reception.
Even before President Donald Trump declared the Clean Power Plan
dead, the autopsy in Montana was underway. Coal advocates hailed
the repeal as the break coal needs to rebound from several years
of bad economic news. Groups concerned about climate change said,
unfortunately, the repeal would undo little. Challenged in court
by 24 states, including Montana, the plan to reduce carbon
dioxide emissions was never put to use.
http://billingsgazette.com/news/trump-s-repeal-of-clean-power-plan-gets-mixed-montana/article_c71f60b9-46a2-5d0b-822b-34833101959f.html


As Trump reverses Obama’s climate plans, China’s leadership
moment arrives.
For years, U.S. opponents of climate action used China as an
excuse. Why, they asked, should the United States adopt measures
to slow climate change that would be overwhelmed by a rapidly
growing Chinese economy, fueled by coal plants spewing greenhouse
gases? How things have changed. This year, it is the Chinese
government that has continued to embrace bold climate action,
while President Trump on Tuesday moved to roll back a signature
U.S. climate program aimed at capping emissions from coal plants
and other sources — even as his administration is also seeking to
slash government funding for research into better renewable
technologies.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/03/29/as-trump-reverses-obamas-climate-plans-chinas-leadership-moment-arrives/?utm_term=.ec98ba506ae0


The Trump EPA: A Dramatic Shift From the Obama Era.
The Trump administration took steps Tuesday toward dismantling
former President Obama’s signature climate regulation, the Clean
Power Plan, as President Donald Trump signed an executive order
the White House promises will both bring back jobs and help the
climate. "[We are] bringing back our jobs, bringing back our
dreams and making America wealthy again,” the president said
during an address at the EPA. EPA administrator Scott Pruitt said
the new administration believes in “pro-growth and
pro-environment” policies during an interview on Fox News
Tuesday.
http://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/2017/03/28/trump-epa-dramatic-shift-from-obama-era.html


Undoing Clean Power Plan could mean short-term savings, long-term
uncertainty for Mo. Utilities.
Through an executive order issued Tuesday, President Donald Trump
launched his long-anticipated assault on his predecessor’s
climate policies. One of the cornerstones targeted by Trump’s
“Energy Independence” order is the Clean Power Plan — a rule from
the Environmental Protection Agency that would reduce by 2030
carbon emissions from electricity generation by 32 percent from
2005 levels, with each state required to meet certain
thresholds.
http://www.stltoday.com/business/local/undoing-clean-power-plan-could-mean-short-term-savings-long/article_ec14e5b0-edcc-5d5f-9f3a-475eda3ae9bd.html


Trump Can Scrub the Clean Power Plan, But the West Will Stay
Green.
The West likely will continue greening its electricity supply
despite President Donald Trump’s executive order today aimed at
wiping out much of former President Barack Obama’s consequential
actions to rein in climate change. But progress will be slower
and spottier than it would have been. 
https://www.wired.com/2017/03/trump-can-kill-clean-power-plan-west-will-stay-green/


Trump Administration Seeks Halt to Clean Power Plan Review.
President Donald Trump took yet another step toward dismantling
his predecessor’s climate-change legacy, asking a federal appeals
court to halt its review of carbon-emission rules for power
plants. Trump, who famously called climate change a hoax in a
2012 tweet, on Tuesday signed an executive order that starts
unraveling a raft of rules and directives to combat climate
change. That’s now been followed by a bid to temporarily place on
hold a 26-state suit challenging the centerpiece of President
Barack Obama’s environmental agenda -- the Clean Power Plan -- so
the new administration can dismantle it ahead of a ruling on its
legality.
https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2017-03-29/trump-administration-asks-court-to-halt-clean-power-plan-review


Clean Power Plan architect calls Trump's energy executive order a
'kick in the stomach'.
Janet McCabe spent years developing the centerpiece of the Obama
administration’s strategy to reduce greenhouse gases and slow
climate change. So when President Trump this week started efforts
to roll back that work, McCabe called it “quite a kick in the
stomach.” McCabe, the former head of the Environmental Protection
Agency office that wrote the Obama administration’s Clean Power
Plan, talked about the expansive executive order Trump signed,
which included directing a rewrite of the Clean Power Plan rules
limiting greenhouse gas emissions from power plants.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/03/29/janet-mccabe-calls-trumps-energy-executive-order-kick-in-the-stomach/99771222/


Trump's order on Clean Power Plan good for Russia, bad for US:
Syracuse profs.
President Trump's executive order today ordering the roll-back of
the Clean Power Plan would be "terrible" for America and good for
Russia, a pair of Syracuse University professors said today. The
power plan, put in place under President Obama, would cut carbon
dioxide emissions by 32 percent in an effort to slow
human-induced climate change. Getting rid of the plan, and
allowing the planet to keep heating up, would benefit Russians,
said SU law professor David Dreisen, who has written three books
on environmental law.
http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2017/03/rollback_of_clean_power_plan_would_be_help_russians_syracuse_prof.html


Trump wants to kill Obama's climate plan. What does that mean for
renewable energy in the West?
President Donald Trump took a major step toward removing the
United States from global efforts to fight climate change
Tuesday, ordering federal officials to start dismantling Barack
Obama's Clean Power Plan. But even as Trump signed that executive
order in Washington, renewable energy advocates out West were
doubling down on their efforts to clean up the power grid. At
stake is the future of solar farms, wind turbines and coal plants
across 11 western states, and a proposal from California Gov.
Jerry Brown to bring them all under the umbrella of a unified
power grid. 
http://www.desertsun.com/story/tech/science/energy/2017/03/28/trump-wants-kill-obamas-climate-plan-what-does-mean-renewable-energy-west/99729402/


Trump's energy plan reversal spells trouble in Hawaii.
President Donald Trump’s reversal of President Barack Obama’s
Clean Power Plan does not bode well for Hawaii’s burgeoning
renewable energy industry. On Tuesday, Trump signed the an
executive order that starts the process of unraveling the Clean
Power Plan and tells federal agencies to take a look at policies
related to climate change in an effort to bring back coal jobs
and make the country more energy independent.
http://www.bizjournals.com/pacific/news/2017/03/28/trumps-energy-plan-reversal-spells-trouble-in.html


Was the Clean Power Plan Really Bad for the Economy?
As President Trump today pulls the first strings in unraveling
President Obama's signature climate change regulation, he will
claim he's saving Americans from skyrocketing electricity bills
and putting coal miners back to work. In truth, that's hard to
show. Experts say it's difficult to get more than a rough
estimate of how the Clean Power Plan would influence power costs,
since natural gas and renewable energy prices play a role, as do
state choices about trading systems.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/was-the-clean-power-plan-really-bad-for-the-economy/


States vow to defend rule.
The attorneys general of 16 states and the District of Columbia
today vowed to protect U.S. EPA's regulations on carbon dioxide
emissions from President Trump's directive on energy. New York
Attorney General Eric Schneiderman (D) led the coalition, along
with the attorneys general from Vermont, Connecticut, Maryland,
Massachusetts, Virginia, California, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois,
Iowa, Maine, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island and Washington.
http://www.eenews.net/eenewspm/2017/03/28/stories/1060052217 

VEHICLES

Self-healing membrane extends life of hydrogen fuel cells.
The saying goes that time heals all wounds, but when it comes to
technology, time is much better at causing those wounds. Rather
than always replacing parts, fixing things or just throwing them
away, researchers have developed materials that can patch
themselves up as required, which could lead to self-healing
electronics, paints and even spaceship hulls. Now, researchers at
the University of Delaware (UD) are working on extending the life
of membranes in hydrogen fuel cells by equipping them with
similar self-healing powers.
http://newatlas.com/self-healing-membrane-fuel-cell/48659/ 

BMW to produce a low-volume hydrogen fuel-cell car in 2021.
BMW CEO Harald Krueger reinforced last week the company’s
commitment to launch a hydrogen fuel-cell car in the next five
years for “larger model series and long distances.” BMW will
produce a low-volume fuel-cell car in 2021, with wider
availability in 2025, he said. In 2015, BMW unveiled their vision
of a future fuel cell-powered BMW. At their secret facility in
Miramas, France, BMW let us test drive a 5 Series Gran Turismo
equipped with the new technology. At the time, the Munich-based
automaker said that the biggest hurdle in the adoption of fuel
cells is the infrastructure.
http://www.bmwblog.com/2017/03/29/bmw-produce-low-volume-hydrogen-fuel-cell-car-2021/


Toyota Mirai billboards scrub nitrogen oxides while touting
hydrogen fuel-cell sedan.
If green cars can reduce emissions, why shouldn't their
advertising do the same? That's the theory behind a series of
billboards in relevant California markets that advertise the
Toyota Mirai hydrogen fuel-cell sedan. But these billboards will
do more than try to attract the eyes of potential customers stuck
in traffic on the highways below their perches.
http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1109570_toyota-mirai-billboards-scrub-nitrogen-oxides-while-touting-hydrogen-fuel-cell-sedan


Auto Buying Guide: The safest electric vehicles.
Sales of electric vehicles and hybrids may have taken it on the
chin as gasoline prices dipped, but the green vehicle class
continues to grow in both model selection and sales volume. The
Insurance Institute For Highway Safety has now completed a new
round of testing, applying its newly updated and more rigorous
criteria to four EVs: The Tesla Model S, BMW i3, Chevy Volt and
Toyota Prius Prime. IIHS had already evaluated the Nissan Leaf.
http://www.ftleavenworthlamp.com/business/20170327/auto-buying-guide-safest-electric-vehicles


GREEN ENERGY

Beer giant Anheuser-Busch InBev commits to 100 percent renewable
energy.
Brewing powerhouse Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev) has committed
to secure all of its purchased electricity from renewable sources
by 2025. In an announcement on Tuesday, the business said that
its commitment would help to "shift 6 terawatt-hours of
electricity annually to renewable sources in the markets where AB
InBev operates."
http://www.cnbc.com/2017/03/29/beer-giant-anheuser-busch-inbev-commits-to-100-percent-renewable-energy.html


MISCELLANEOUS

Air pollution makes surprisingly good art supplies.
Plumes of diesel exhaust contain a mixture of things both nasty
and harmless. A lot of it, however, is carbon. Carbon can be
useful and (as you might recall from school) is often jet black
in color. Start-up Graviky has created an exhaust filter that can
pull 95% of the carbon soot from diesel exhausts, and then
transform this into useable, purified, black ink or paint. The
result is what co-founder Anirudh Sharma calls Air-Ink, and it's
already being used in markers and oil-based paints.
https://www.engadget.com/2017/03/27/air-pollution-makes-surprisingly-good-art-supplies/


BLOGS    

California Stays Its Course toward More EVs and Plug-Ins.
California last week resolved to push full speed ahead with its
greenhouse-gas emissions standards and zero-emission-vehicle
(ZEV) program for 2022 through 2025. Some see this as strong
pushback against the leadership of the federal EPA, which is
signaling a more lax approach to climate-change-related
regulation, including a pending review of federal fuel-economy
requirements. If federal mileage requirements are relaxed, there
will be less pressure on automakers to build advanced-technology
vehicles such as electric cars, plug-in hybrids, and fuel-cell
vehicles. However, California’s own Advanced Clean Cars program
continues, to varying degrees, to be effective at mandating these
in the Golden State—and soon, more aggressively in nine other
states that use the California emission standards.
http://blog.caranddriver.com/california-stays-its-course-toward-more-evs-and-plug-ins/


Jane Goodall Says Trump’s Efforts To Derail Climate Action Are
‘Immensely Depressing’.
In the face of enormous environmental challenges, including
climate change and a biodiversity crisis, Jane Goodall, now 82,
continues to spread a hopeful message about the future. But even
the famed conservationist, a natural optimist, can recognize a
dark day for the planet when she sees one. Asked about President
Donald Trump’s signing of an executive order earlier in the day
to reverse Obama-era policies aimed at curbing greenhouse gas
emissions, Goodall told The Huffington Post that she found it
“immensely depressing.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/jane-goodall-trump-executive-order-climate_us_58daa028e4b07634059f9a0e





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