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newsclips -- CARB NEWSCLIPS FOR April 17, 2017.
Posted: 17 Apr 2017 16:46:14
CARB NEWSCLIPS FOR April 17, 2017. 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. 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 On Monday, April 24th, the California Air Resources Board will host a research seminar focusing on household transportation choices and commitments of statewide greenhouse gas reductions required by SB 375. Announcement available here: https://www.arb.ca.gov/research/seminars/mokhtarian/mokhtarian.htm CAP AND TRADE That $52-billion road bill just made California's next climate change move a heavy lift. It took late-night cajoling and nearly $1 billion in deal sweeteners for Gov. Jerry Brown and top Democrats to muscle through a $52-billion tax-and-fee plan just over a week ago to repair California’s roads. Now they have to do it all again. Brown and legislative leaders have another daunting battle ahead over the fate of the cap-and-trade program, the centerpiece of California’s efforts to combat climate cha http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-sac-transportation-climate-change-politics-20170414-story.html AIR POLLUTION China’s bad air adds to the San Joaquin Valley’s problems, but the toxic nightmare is already here. Fireworks erupted late on a clear Sunday morning – a wedding during Golden Week celebrations honoring Chinese independence. It was in full swing only a short time before a cloud of soot turned the air into a murky mess in this port city of 9 million. The air-quality index leaped from a healthy green to a lung-searing red. http://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/article144777599.html#storylink=cpy Calif. Air Resources Board Asks Federal Government To Toughen Train Emission Standards. California's top air quality agency is asking the federal government to toughen emission standards for trains. The California Air Resources Board says pollutants coming from locomotives are dangerous for communities living near rail yards. http://www.capradio.org/articles/2017/04/14/calif-air-resources-board-asks-federal-government-to-toughen-train-emission-standards/ https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2017/04/17/stories/1060053161 https://ngtnews.com/carb-submits-petition-stricter-locomotive-emissions-standards Tracking air quality block by block. A local environmental advocacy group last week launched a first-of-its kind monitoring project, installing air quality sensors in the densely packed neighborhoods near this city’s port to give the people who live and work there on-the-ground readings of pollutants that can seriously injure their health. http://www.dailynews.com/environment-and-nature/20170415/tracking-air-quality-block-by-block Air pollution as bad for wellbeing as partner's death, say researchers. Authors of Can Clean Air Make You Happy? say exposure to nitrogen dioxide can be as damaging as ‘big-hitting’ life events. The effect on wellbeing of exposure to nitrogen dioxide, a gas mostly produced in diesel fumes, is comparable to the toll from losing a job, ending a relationship or the death of a partner, research suggests. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/apr/17/air-pollution-as-bad-for-wellbeing-as-partners-death-say-researchers "Bad" air may impact "good" cholesterol increasing heart disease risk. Traffic-related air pollution may increase cardiovascular disease risk by lowering levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL), commonly known as “good” cholesterol, according to new research in the American Heart Association’s journal Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology. Scientists have long known that air pollution increases the risk of… http://www.enn.com/pollution/article/51035 U.S. air quality improves 'dramatically' — report. Toxic air releases are down by half over the last 10 years, according to a new report. The report from the Association of Air Pollution Control Agencies compares U.S. EPA and other agency data from states, including the 20 states that serve on the AAPCA board of directors, to show that federal, state and local air quality agencies have made progress in "virtually every measure of air pollution control." https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2017/04/17/stories/1060053167 CLIMATE CHANGE Wintry wolverine has cub in Belgium, beating climate-change odds. The wolverine, a carnivore confined to colder climates since the last Ice Age, has re-established a tenuous foothold further south in a Belgian wildlife park. A female cub of the species that also includes badgers and martens was born in February in the Domain of the Caves of Han park south of Brussels… http://www.reuters.com/article/us-belgium-wildlife-idUSKBN17G0TJ Scientists just found a strange and worrying crack in one of Greenland’s biggest glaciers. Scientists examining satellite images of one of Greenland’s largest glaciers believe they have found an unexpected new crack in its floating ice shelf that could contribute to a dramatic break in coming years. The Petermann Glacier, located in the high Arctic at 80 degrees North latitude… https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/04/14/scientists-just-found-a-strange-and-worrying-crack-in-one-of-greenlands-biggest-glaciers/?utm_term=.ea2916f954f3 Climate Change Reroutes a Yukon River in a Geological Instant. In the blink of a geological eye, climate change has helped reverse the flow of water melting from a glacier in Canada’s Yukon, a hijacking that scientists call “river piracy.” This engaging term refers to one river capturing and diverting the flow of another. It occurred last spring at the Kaskawulsh Glacier, one of Canada’s largest, with a suddenness that startled scientists. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/17/science/climate-change-glacier-yukon-river.html?_r=0 Salesforce Achieves Net-Zero Emissions, Improves Greenpeace Standings. Cloud computing company Salesforce has achieved net-zero greenhouse gas emissions, more than 30 years ahead of schedule, the company announced. Salesforce achieved this in part by executing two 12-year renewable energy agreements in the last year and supporting sustainable development projects through… https://www.environmentalleader.com/2017/04/salesforce-achieves-net-zero-emissions-improves-greenpeace-standings/ How Climate Change Altered One Glacier and Two Watersheds With Alarming Speed. Researchers document how quickly one melting glacier in Canada that used to feed two rivers began feeding only one. The accelerated melting of one of Canada's largest glaciers from climate change reached a tipping point last May, scientists reported Monday. That event triggered a rare phenomenon known as "river piracy,"… https://insideclimatenews.org/news/17042017/global-warming-glaciers-melt-canada-yukon-kaskawulsh-climate-change-river-piracy Why people have to learn to live with wildfires. Communities across the Western U.S. and Canada may have to adapt to living with the ever-increasing threat of catastrophic wildfires as global warming heats up and dries out forests across the West, according to a University of Colorado study published Monday. Residents living in neighborhoods adjacent to forests — known as “wildland-urban interface” zones… http://grist.org/article/why-people-have-to-learn-to-live-with-wildfires/ How to study ancient climate? With a time machine, of course. A young American geologist, Julie Brigham-Grette, traveled to Russia in 1991 to study a question that had puzzled U.S. scientists for years. They saw accumulating geological evidence that the Arctic and the Antarctic had been much warmer in the distant past than the poles are today. https://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2017/04/17/stories/1060053132 Climate and coal policies may sink or swim together. A safe climate and a future for the coal industry have long been viewed as diametric opposites, but in a world where the Paris Agreement is in force and Donald Trump is in the White House, their fortunes may now be linked. Some coal advocates argue that domestic policies to promote carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS)… https://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2017/04/17/stories/1060053140 Climate change dogging Republicans at town halls. A new issue is pushing its way into Republican town hall meetings already boiling over with anger over health care, the refugee ban and Trump's ties to Russia: climate change. Over the Easter recess, constituents blasted a number of GOP lawmakers for their views on basic climate science. And while few voters ever list climate change as an issue that brings them to the polls… https://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2017/04/17/stories/1060053137 DROUGHT How the drought changed California forever. California’s historic five-year drought is officially over, washed away with the relentlessly drenching rains, floods and snowstorms of this winter. But just as tougher building codes and better emergency planning follow major earthquakes, the brutally dry years from 2012 to 2016 are already leaving a legacy, experts say, changing the way Californians use water for generations to come. http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/04/15/how-the-drought-changed-california-forever/ From Moonscape To Lush: Photographs Capture California Drought's Story. In California, an extremely wet winter put an end to the state's record-breaking drought. Heavy rainfall also produced welcome spring scenes — like replenished reservoirs and fields in bloom. "It's a completely different look," says Justin Sullivan, a Getty Images photographer who took before-and-after style photos of drought-stricken areas. http://www.npr.org/2017/04/17/523969466/from-moonscape-to-lush-photographs-capture-california-droughts-story DIESEL ACTIVITIES Tesla set to unveil electric semi-truck this September, Musk says. The electric car maker's CEO also said the company will give buyers a first look at a pickup truck within 24 months. Tesla Inc. CEO Elon Musk says the company plans to unveil an electric semi-truck in September. Musk tweeted the announcement Thursday. He offered no other details about the semi, such as whether it will be equipped… http://www.canadianmanufacturing.com/manufacturing/musk-says-tesla-to-unveil-electric-semi-truck-this-september-190766/ FUELS Alaska brings ambitious LNG export project to FERC. The state of Alaska plans to submit an application to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission today for construction of a $40 billion to $45 billion pipeline and export project aimed at commercializing the state's giant North Slope natural gas reserve. The Alaska Gasline Development Corp. https://www.eenews.net/energywire/2017/04/17/stories/1060053123 Enviros push to continue legal battle over EPA standards. A coalition of environmental groups is urging a federal court to allow litigation to continue over Obama-era standards for methane emissions from new oil and gas operations. The Sierra Club, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Environmental Defense Fund… https://www.eenews.net/energywire/2017/04/17/stories/1060053134 Ky. city hires climate resilience chief. Kentucky coal country just hired someone to address the impacts of climate change. Eric Friedlander, previously with Louisville's Department of Community Services, was named the city's chief resilience officer last week. The title comes with a broad portfolio — but in a city that's one of the fastest-warming heat islands in the country, climate change is a significant issue. https://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2017/04/17/stories/1060053145 VEHICLES Companies building battery cars, drones and hyperloops part of new tech-transit cluster in Southern California. When the space race faded and the Cold War cooled, that signaled the beginning of the end of Southern California’s aerospace industry. But the decline of that once dominant industry opened up opportunities for others in need of high-skilled help. http://www.presstelegram.com/business/20170416/companies-building-battery-cars-drones-and-hyperloops-part-of-new-tech-transit-cluster-in-southern-california China car dilemma: Beijing wants electric, buyers want SUVs. Automakers face a dilemma in China’s huge but crowded market: Regulators are pushing them to sell electric cars, but buyers want gas-guzzling SUVs. The industry is rattled by Beijing’s proposal to require that electric cars make up 8 percent of every brand’s production as early as next year. Consumers are steering the other way: http://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/2017/04/17/china-car-dilemma-beijing-wants-electric-buyers-want-suvs/100577518/ Germany Increased Electric Car Charging Points 27% In 2016. The vitality and satisfaction of early EV adopters keeps on increasing. A vast market of electric car enthusiasts is prompting companies to offer more electric cars and more charging stations. Cleaner air, quieter roads, quieter neighborhoods, and precision autonomous features are where it’s at. https://cleantechnica.com/2017/04/17/germany-increased-electric-car-charging-points-27-2016/ General Electric : GE and Southern California Edison Debut World’s First Battery-Gas Turbine Hybrid. GE (NYSE: GE) and Southern California Edison (SCE), an Edison International (NYSE: EIX) company today unveiled the world's first battery-gas turbine hybrid system in Norwalk, California. This is the first of two units that GE has delivered for SCE only months… http://www.4-traders.com/GENERAL-ELECTRIC-COMPANY-4823/news/General-Electric-GE-and-Southern-California-Edison-Debut-World-rsquo-s-First-Battery-Gas-Turbine-H-24217892/ Lobbyist urges restraint on CAFE changes. Automakers are urging restraint as academics propose alternatives to vehicle mileage and emissions standards that the Trump administration has started reconsidering. Car companies have told the government the current emissions standards through 2025 are difficult to meet because Americans are buying gas-guzzling trucks. https://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2017/04/17/stories/1060053139 VW RECALL Proposed $800 million VW diesel settlement vexes companies, activists. A proposed $800 million state settlement with Volkswagen over its emission-cheating scandal could shape the highway landscape for electric vehicle drivers and boost sales of green cars in California for the next decade. But as regulators consider the German automaker’s plan, companies and environmentalists are fighting… http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/04/17/proposed-800-million-vw-diesel-settlement-vexes-companies-activists/ Volkswagens pile up by the thousands awaiting fix or scrap yard in buyback. Volkswagen is making progress settling U.S. legal claims from its emission-cheating scandal, but one challenge looms unresolved: What to do with the hundreds of thousands of diesel cars it is being forced to buy back? The German automaker agreed last year to buy back about 500,000 diesels… http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2017/04/volkswagens_pile_up_by_thousan.html VW Reveals Nationwide EV Charging Plans. Volkswagen will rapidly build a nationwide EV charging network at hundreds of sites across 40 states within the next 3 years, according to new plans revealed last week. The new network stands to dramatically expand the long-distance driving utility of current and future all-electric vehicles. http://www.hybridcars.com/vw-reveals-nationwide-ev-charging-plans/ GREEN ENERGY Apple Says Three More Suppliers to Use Solely Renewable Power. IPhone maker expands sustainability push into its supply chain. Another three Apple Inc. suppliers committed to using solely renewable energy to manufacture components for the iPhone maker. Compal Electronics Inc., Sunwoda Electronic Co. and Biel Crystal Manufactory Ltd. have made the pledge, bringing the total number of Apple suppliers seeking to use just renewable… https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-04-13/apple-says-three-suppliers-to-use-solely-renewable-power Saudis Target 30 Solar, Wind Projects in $50 Billion Pledge. Saudi Arabia will develop 30 solar and wind projects over the next 10 years as part of the kingdom’s $50 billion program to boost power generation and cut its oil consumption. The world’s biggest exporter of crude oil will produce 10 percent of its power from renewables by 2023, Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih said Monday at a conference in Riyadh. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-04-17/saudis-seek-30-solar-wind-projects-in-50-billion-pledge Oklahoma to end tax credit that propelled wind production. A state tax credit that helped propel Oklahoma to third in the nation in its capacity to generate electricity from wind is coming to an end, but it will be years before state coffers see results of the change. Gov. Mary Fallin on Monday signed legislation that rolls back a 10-year tax credit for electricity generated by zero-emission facilities that was launched in 2003. http://bigstory.ap.org/article/77f7d58a9ada42c5b54fae2225fc59df/oklahoma-legislation-would-end-tax-credits-wind-energy Germany Strikes Offshore Wind Deals, Subsidy Not Included. European governments have spent large sums of money in recent years subsidizing giant offshore wind projects in hopes of creating a clean source of energy that could eventually pay for itself. Now that moment may be here — and a lot sooner than expected. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/14/business/energy-environment/offshore-wind-subsidy-dong-energy.html?_r=0 Big Business Pushes Coal-Friendly Kentucky To Embrace Renewables. Kevin Butt's job is to find cleaner ways to power Toyota. One of the hardest places to do that is at the automaker's sprawling plant in central Kentucky, a state where nearly 90 percent of energy still comes from coal. Butt points out a new engine assembly line, where a conveyor belt moves in a slow circle. http://www.capradio.org/news/npr/story?storyid=523763826 Unsubsidized wind and solar now the cheapest source for new electric power. Between 2015 and 2021, China is expected to install 40% of all worldwide wind energy and 36% of all solar. While investments in renewable energy slumped last year, a big drop in unsubsidized costs for new wind and solar power installations indicated that they remain popular energy alternatives. http://www.computerworld.com/article/3190409/sustainable-it/unsubsidized-wind-and-solar-now-the-cheapest-source-for-new-electric-power.html Microsoft strikes deal to buy more renewables. Microsoft Corp. has struck a deal with Washington state's largest utility to boost the technology giant's supply of renewable energy. Under the terms of a preliminary settlement with Puget Sound Energy (PSE), renewables will account for at least 25 percent of Microsoft's power purchases through 2020 and 40 percent of its electricity consumption beyond 2021. https://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2017/04/17/stories/1060053144 OPINIONS Governor Brown fails the environmental justice test. Gov. Jerry Brown is one of those environmentalists, the kind that think globally and neglect locally. Brown recently traveled to Washington, D.C., to emphasize the state’s commitment to climate change mitigation and nuclear disarmament. Those issues are important, and I admire his commitment… http://www.sfexaminer.com/governor-brown-fails-environmental-justice-test/ Lawmakers face a new decision that will affect your wallet. Gov. Jerry Brown and the Legislature got a reprieve when the California Court of Appeal upheld the legality of the cap-and-trade program, the complicated mechanism that seeks to curb greenhouse gas emissions by placing a price on carbon. Cap-and-trade certainly has generated revenue for the state, $4.4 billion and counting. http://www.sacbee.com/opinion/editorials/article144554914.html#storylink=cpy LOIS HENRY: 'Unpopular' science plays a vital role in getting at the truth. Is PM2.5 killing people, or not? It seems like a basic scientific question. Yet, as a recently published study shows, the science is anything but settled. Despite significant questions in this new paper, which echo a growing number of other studies published in recent years, there is almost zero discussion in the scientific… http://www.bakersfield.com/columnists/lois-henry-unpopular-science-plays-a-vital-role-in-getting/article_f491737f-15a6-54a9-a023-82799ea75c85.html California’s war on carbon: Is it winning? The centerpiece of California’s effort to reduce carbon emissions, an auction system for pollution credits known as cap and trade, has faltered badly in the past year. Businesses have bought far fewer credits than expected, depriving the state of an expected windfall for such big-ticket items as high speed rail. That doesn’t mean the state isn’t making progress in its crusade against carbon, however: http://www.fresnobee.com/article144648379.html#storylink=cpy 5 toughest challenges that Southern California’s ports face in months ahead. Rough seas ahead? Mario Cordero knows that. Cordero, former chair of the Federal Maritime Commission and longtime figure in the shipping industry, was chosen Friday to run the Port of Long Beach. The cargo hub partners with the Port of Los Angeles to comprise the busiest port complex in the nation. http://www.presstelegram.com/business/20170415/5-toughest-challenges-that-southern-californias-ports-face-in-months-ahead Surprise: 70% Of Millenials Do Not Want Electric Vehicles. 70 percent of millenials do not want to buy an electric car and are much more interested in puchasing a traditional internal combustion engine vehicle, according to a new report. In addition, about two thirds would have significant reservations about riding in a self-driving car. However, Tesla, the car manufacturer most closely associated with electric vehicles… https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnkoetsier/2017/04/17/surprise-70-of-millenials-do-not-want-electric-vehicles/#78bd98213f66 BLOGS Researchers Produce High-Quality Ink from Air Pollution. The pollution coming out of your tailpipe could be recycled into high-quality ink according to a group of researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Their “KAALINK” device hooks onto the vehicle’s tailpipe and captures some of the air pollution produced by the combustion engine. This “soot” is then recycled into high-quality ink. https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/plugged-in/researchers-produce-high-quality-ink-from-air-pollution/ More than ever, EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Inventory Program is Vital to Understanding Methane Emissions. In its 2017 GHGI Inventory, published last week, EPA estimates 2015 methane emissions from the U.S. oil and gas industry were 8.1 million metric tons, which is enough to fulfill the domestic heating needs for over 5 million homes. In addition to estimating 2015 emissions… http://blogs.edf.org/energyexchange/2017/04/17/more-than-ever-epas-greenhouses-gas-inventory-program-is-vital-to-understanding-methane-emissions/ Electric Car Drivers/Utilities Key To Emissions-Free Future. San Diego County leads the nation in Solar PV and EV adoption. As a ten year practitioner of both EV driving & Solar PV renewable energy generation, and nine years as a San Diego County Planning Commissioner leading on complex energy and transportation issues, allow me to share some of my “lessons learned” and insights with you. http://insideevs.com/electric-car-driversutilities-key-to-emissions-free-future/ US West enters 'new era' of unstoppable wildfires because of climate change, experts warn. 'This is bigger than us and we're going to have to adapt to wildfire, rather than the other way around'. The western United States has entered a “new era of wildfires” with average temperatures now two degrees Celsius higher and the burning season nearly three months longer than during the 1970s, researchers have warned. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/wildfires-global-warming-climate-change-us-west-california-oregon-firefighters-a7686996.html Lunar-Based Solar Power Concept Could Solve The World’s Energy Crisis. If the moon can be turned into a solar power station, our energy problems for sustainable and affordable electric power on a global scale will be solved. For forty years now, Dr. David Criswell — retired physicist from the University of Houston — has been advocating the use of sunlight on the moon as a source of electricity. http://wallstreetpit.com/113206-lunar-based-solar-power-solve-worlds-energy-crisis/ Biofuels backers still trying to get a read on President Trump. A biofuels industry leader says the jury is still out on the Trump administration’s attitude toward biofuels. Doug Durante, executive director of the Clean Fuels Development Coalition, says the industry is still trying to figure out how to deal with the new administration. One thing is for sure, Durante says the ethanol industry’s argument that it reduces greenhouse gas emissions… http://www.radioiowa.com/2017/04/17/biofuels-backers-still-trying-to-get-a-read-on-president-trump/ 'Detergent' Molecules May Drive Recent Methane Changes. A new NASA- and Department of Energy-funded study finds that recent increases in global methane levels observed since 2007 are not necessarily due to increasing emissions, but instead may be due to changes in how long methane remains in the atmosphere after it is emitted. The second most important human-produced greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide, methane is colorless, odorless... https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=6814 Volkswagen Spending $300M to Begin Electrifying America. New effort to install chargers in 11 markets part of $15B settlement. Volkswagen is getting ready to build $300 million worth of new EV chargers in 11 markets. Volkswagen is making the first “payment” on its $15 billion settlement with the United States as it unveiled its spending $300 million on new chargers for electric vehicles through its Electrify America subsidiary. http://www.thedetroitbureau.com/2017/04/volkswagen-spending-300m-to-begin-electrifying-america/ U.S. scientist suggests focusing on shared benefits of addressing climate change. Arguing that people care more about improving human health than reducing greenhouse gas emissions, a leading U.S. scientist at Stanford University suggests focusing on the shared benefits of addressing climate change, including job creation, health and safety, instead of talking about the polarized topic. http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2017-04/17/c_136213856.htm