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newsclips -- CARB Newsclips for May 10, 2017.
Posted: 10 May 2017 16:27:53
CARB Newsclips for May 10, 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 Staff from the California Department of Transportation, the California Air Resources Board, the California Energy Commission, and the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development invite you to participate in workshops to discuss implementation of the California Sustainable Freight Action Plan (Action Plan). The workshops will be held at the locations and on the dates noted below. The agencies will follow the same format and show the same presentation at each of the workshop locations. LOS ANGELES: May 30, 2017 SAN DIEGO: May 31, 2017 For more information on the California Sustainable Freight Action Plan including upcoming workshops, please visit the webpage at http://www.casustainablefreight.org/ _________________________ The California Air Resources Board in collaboration with the South Coast Air Quality Management District and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, is holding a free professional wet cleaning demonstration workshop. The free workshop will be held on Sunday, June 11, 2017 from 2:00PM - 4:00PM in Los Angeles. Doors open at 1:45 PM. Venue: London Cleaners, 1073 Gayley Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90024. Space is limited. Register early at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/free-professional-wet-cleaning-demonstration-workshop-for-dry-cleaners-tickets-33498967313 or by searching for "wet cleaning workshop" on Eventbrite at: http://www.eventbrite.com. For more details about the workshop, please visit ARB's Non-Toxic Dry Cleaning Incentive Program (AB998) website at: http://www.arb.ca.gov/toxics/dryclean/ab998.htm __________________________ David Cocker, PhD University of California, Riverside. Tuesday, May 16, 2017 at 10:00 a.m., PDT (WEBCAST) Sierra Hearing Room, 2nd Floor, CalEPA Building 1001 I Street, Sacramento, California Low vapor pressure-volatile organic compounds (LVP-VOCs) are a set of VOCs currently exempted for VOC content based on a combination of boiling point, vapor pressure, and/or elution time from a GC-column. This work explores evaporation rates and secondary pollutant formation from a series of individual LVP-VOCs associated with consumer products, select generic consumer products that include these LVP-VOCs, and several hydrocarbon solvents. For more go to the announcement at: http://www.arb.ca.gov/research/seminars/cocker/cocker.htm CAP AND TRADE Canada: California Dreaming: The Golden State Considers Overhauling Its Cap & Trade System. California continues to blaze a climate change policy trail in pursuit of a state-of-the-art carbon pricing mechanism. Bill SB 775 (California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006: Market-based Compliance Mechanisms) was introduced into the California Senate on May 2, 2017… http://www.canadianeraperspectives.com/2017/05/california-dreaming-the-golden-state-considers-overhauling-its-cap-trade-system/?utm_source=Mondaq&utm_medium=syndication&utm_campaign=View-Original AIR POLLUTION President Trump and California soon could spar over air quality rules. A legal battle over regulations for construction vehicles could become the first test of whether President Trump wants to limit California’s unique ability to limit air pollution. The issue stems from a 2013 decision by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that allowed California to require emission filters on bulldozers, forklifts and other diesel-powered equipment. http://www.latimes.com/politics/essential/la-pol-ca-essential-politics-updates-1494361070-htmlstory.html Valero refinery cited for two more violations three days after big smoke release. Air quality regulators have slapped the Valero oil refinery with two more pollution violation notices, bringing the total to six since Friday when black plumes of smoke led to the evacuation of an industrial park and a shelter-in-place order at two schools. http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/05/09/valero-refinery-cited-for-two-more-violations-three-days-after-big-smoke-release/ ND could become 1st state to regulate injection wells to store carbon dioxide underground. The Environmental Protection Agency administrator announced Tuesday, May 9, he has signed a proposed rule that will allow North Dakota to regulate underground wells to store carbon dioxide, opening the door for new projects to reduce emissions. http://www.inforum.com/news/north-dakota/4264028-nd-could-become-1st-state-regulate-injection-wells-store-carbon-dioxide New Device Cleans Air, Produces Energy, Runs On Light. Turns out, air pollution is good for something — making energy. Belgian researchers have developed a device that runs on light, cleans the air and stores hydrogen extracted from the pollutants that can later be used in fuel cells. The key is a membrane made of nanomaterials that act as catalysts, producing hydrogen and breaking down pollutants. "We use a small device with two rooms separated by a membrane," Professor Sammy Verbruggen of the University of Antwerp and KU Leuven said Tuesday in a press release. http://www.ibtimes.com/new-device-cleans-air-produces-energy-runs-light-2536825 CLIMATE CHANGE White House postpones meeting to decide on participation in Paris climate pact. U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington, DC, U.S. April 26, 2017. A meeting of Trump administration advisers that had been scheduled for Tuesday to decide whether to pull the United States out of the Paris Climate Agreement has been postponed due to scheduling conflicts… http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-climate-idUSKBN185098 http://www.sfgate.com/news/science/article/Top-Trump-advisers-to-discuss-pulling-out-from-11130592.php https://news.vice.com/story/trump-administration-postpones-another-meeting-on-paris-climate-agreement http://www.ndtv.com/world-news/us-president-donald-trump-delays-decision-on-paris-climate-deal-1691594 Trump Administration Delays Decision on Leaving Climate Pact. With top presidential aides stubbornly divided, the White House abruptly announced on Tuesday that President Trump would make no decision on the United States’ future in the Paris climate change accord until June, after he returns from a meeting of the Group of 7 Western powers. The announcement by the White House press secretary, Sean Spicer, encouraged advocates of the landmark climate pact… https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/09/us/politics/trump-climate-pact.html?_r=0 Arctic Nations to Meet Amid Unsettled U.S. Stance on Climate Change. As Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson heads to Alaska on Wednesday for talks on Arctic issues, he finds himself in climate policy limbo, preparing for a meeting at which global warming will be front and center yet representing an administration that is still on the fence about fighting it. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/09/climate/arctic-nations-to-meet-amid-unsettled-us-stance-on-climate-change.html?_r=0 Earth could break through a major climate threshold in the next 15 years, scientists warn. Global temperatures could exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius above their preindustrial levels within the next 15 years, according to a new scientific study, crossing the first threshold under the Paris climate agreement and placing the world at a potentially dangerous level of climate change. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/05/09/earth-could-break-through-a-major-climate-threshold-in-the-next-15-years-scientists-warn/?utm_term=.e1482672b798 The Doomsday Glacier. In the farthest reaches of Antarctica, a nightmare scenario of crumbling ice – and rapidly rising seas – could spell disaster for a warming planet. Knut Christianson, a 33-year-old glaciologist at the University of Washington, has been there twice. A few years ago, Christianson and a team of seven scientists traveled more than … http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/features/the-doomsday-glacier-w481260 Obama: Private sector is key to tackling climate change. Former U.S. President Barack Obama says he's "confident that the United States will continue to move in the right direction" on climate change despite his successor's pledges to undo many of his policies. On his first foreign foray since leaving office, Obama told an audience Tuesday at a Milan conference on food innovation in Italy that businesses… http://www.sfgate.com/news/science/article/Obama-to-deliver-keynote-speech-in-Italy-on-food-11131611.php ‘We all knew this was coming’: Alaska’s thawing soils are now pouring carbon dioxide into the air. Even as the Trump administration weighs withdrawing the United States from the Paris climate agreement, a new scientific paper has documented growing fluxes of greenhouse gases streaming into the air from the Alaskan tundra, a long-feared occurrence that could worsen climate change. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/05/08/alaskas-tundra-is-filling-the-atmosphere-with-carbon-dioxide-worsening-climate-change/?utm_term=.4a0ac9fa8d4e Global Climate Talks Open With Tiny U.S. Delegation. Here’s What to Watch. Climate negotiators from countries around the world are meeting in Bonn as questions swirl about where the U.S. is headed under Donald Trump. A much-anticipated meeting of nearly 200 nations began in Bonn, Germany, on Monday to push forward global climate change action… https://insideclimatenews.org/news/09052017/climate-talks-bonn-obama-trump-paris-future 'Re-wilding' a Santa Monica beach to protect against sea level rise. At the north end of Santa Monica Beach, there’s a fenced off 2-acre section that looks a bit unkempt. It’s an experiment in "re-wilding," or restoring the beach to what it looked like before humans altered it. The pilot project, a partnership of The Bay Foundation and Santa Monica, could also help protect the city from sea level rise. http://www.scpr.org/news/2017/05/09/71625/re-wilding-a-santa-monica-beach-to-protect-against/ France's Macron will fight global warming, and wants US experts to help. As the world continues to take in Emmanuel Macron's resounding victory in the French election, attention is already turning to his plans for the next five years, with the environment likely to be a key part of the independent centrist's presidency. In a wide-ranging victory speech on Sunday night Macron said his country would be "active and mindful of… http://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/09/frances-macron-will-fight-global-warming-and-wants-us-experts-to-help.html Change in a Major Pacific Weather Pattern Will Likely Intensify Warming. The Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation (IPO), a major atmospheric and meteorological pattern in the mid-Pacific Ocean, is now switching into a positive phase that will likely boost Pacific Ocean temperatures and accelerate global warming, according to new research. http://e360.yale.edu/digest/change-in-a-major-pacific-weather-pattern-will-likely-intensify-warming Climate change legislation rides populist wave in Calif. As California lawmakers debate the future of their climate policies, anti-establishment resentment is proving a force to be reckoned with. The marquee program dealing with climate change — and the target of reforms — is the state's quasi-economywide cap-and-trade system for large emitters. https://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2017/05/10/stories/1060054324 Surprise! Senate fails to kill Obama methane rule. An effort to repeal an Obama-era rule to regulate methane waste on public lands barely failed in the Senate today, with three Republicans joining Democrats to defeat the controversial measure that GOP leaders had struggled to pass under the Congressional Review Act. Sens. Susan Collins of Maine… https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2017/05/10/stories/1060054362 VEHICLES Daimler drops bid to win approval to sell U.S. 2017 Mercedes diesels. German automaker Daimler AG said on Tuesday it had dropped plans to seek U.S. approval to sell 2017 Mercedes-Benz U.S. diesel models, but had not decided whether to exit the American passenger diesel market. "We constantly review our portfolio offerings and make adjustments to meet immediate customer need,"… http://www.reuters.com/article/us-daimler-emissions-idUSKBN1852I4 GREEN ENERGY BART Speeds Toward Zero-Carbon Future. San Francisco’s Bay Area Rapid Transit system, called BART for short, is moving rapidly – even “aggressively,” the transit agency said in a May 1 statement – toward a zero-carbon, 100 percent renewable energy future. Not only will commuters in the City on the Bay save fossil fuels just by taking public transportation, but the system they are traveling on soon will be adopting greener guidelines than ever before. https://www.energymanagertoday.com/bart-speeds-toward-zero-carbon-0169944/ BPA: Study demonstrates emissions benefits of forest residue use. The Biomass Power Association has released the results of a study demonstrating dramatic carbon benefits can be achieved by using forest residue-based biomass instead of natural gas in power generation facilities. The research determined that emissions from a biomass power facility using forest residue-based fuel are… http://biomassmagazine.com/articles/14358/bpa-study-demonstrates-emissions-benefits-of-forest-residue-use Who stands behind Suniva's trade case? Suniva Inc. is an American solar manufacturer that has rocked the solar industry by asking the Trump administration to raise trade barriers against key imports. Cheap products originating from China, it said, are killing a "Buy America" company. The reality is not so straightforward. A bankruptcy filing that set the trade case in motion is signed by… https://www.eenews.net/energywire/2017/05/10/stories/1060054304 Tesla starts selling solar roofs. Tesla Inc. is ramping up its entry into the solar power market with an announcement today it is taking orders for a new "solar roof" product. The company unveiled the solar roof concept in October as part of its broader vision to fight climate change and acquire SolarCity Corp. https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2017/05/10/stories/1060054353 MISCELLANEOUS EPA science advisers axed; execs from regulated industries to replace them (updated). While much of the nation's capital is preoccupied with the unpredictable Trump administration and its possible ties to Russia, the fate of the Environmental Protection Agency generates less news coverage. That's not to say there hasn't been news. Administrator Scott Pruitt is proceeding swiftly with a radical plan to restructure. http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1110351_epa-science-advisers-axed-execs-from-regulated-industries-to-replace-them S&P Dow Jones Indices Publishes Barometer of Financial Markets' Carbon Efficiency. The S&P Dow Jones Indices Carbon Scorecard assesses the carbon efficiency and energy mix alignment with 2°C climate scenarios for major S&P DJI equity benchmarks around the world. S&P Dow Jones Indices (S&P DJI) one of the world's leading providers of financial market indices and Trucost, part S&P DJI… http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sp-dow-jones-indices-publishes-barometer-of-financial-markets-carbon-efficiency-300454368.html ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE Out of environmental injustice, art. A new film, "In the Air," tells the story of environmental justice on the Gulf Coast entirely through spoken word poetry, dance, music and visual art. Ebony Stewart transformed my understanding of environmental justice — the idea that people of color and poor people are disproportionately impacted by industrial pollution and other environmental problems. http://www.houstonchronicle.com/local/gray-matters/article/Out-of-environmental-injustice-art-11133230.php OPINIONS How California’s greenhouse gas laws can better serve disadvantaged communities. Environmental justice advocates are working to ensure the state’s efforts to combat climate change benefit everyone — and the lessons can be applied nationwide. It was a time of year that should have been perfect. Warming temperatures marked Southern California’s gentle return to spring. https://ensia.com/features/ca-environmental-justice/ The Business Case for the Paris Climate Accord. President Trump faces a choice that will echo across his presidency and beyond: whether to remain in the Paris climate agreement. Although most Americans, his own secretaries of state and energy, and heads of state from around the globe are urging the president to stay, he remains undecided. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/09/opinion/the-business-case-for-the-paris-climate-accord.html?_r=0 How state’s air rules went too far. On May 18, at the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco, a three-judge panel will hear oral arguments in an epic confrontation between 10 small California businesses and the federal Environmental Protection Agency. In 2013, the EPA approved a stringent and unnecessary California air emissions regulation… http://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/editorials/article/How-state-s-air-rules-went-too-far-11133958.php BLOGS “California Alone” Should Not Govern State Climate Policy. SB 775 Turns California Inward and Diminishes Its Role As Global Leader. Last week, Senator Bob Wieckowski (D-Fremont) introduced a new bill, SB 775, that would replace California’s cap-and-trade system with a new approach to regulating California’s greenhouse gas emissions beginning in 2021. http://legal-planet.org/2017/05/09/california-alone-should-not-govern-state-climate-policy/ As US falters, Canada must lead movement on carbon tax. Against the backdrop of a Trump administration insisting that the United States’ economy is heading back to the coal age, Canada’s clean growth strategy is a breath of fresh air. Now more than ever, Canada needs to continue to innovate on decarbonizing its economy, and a central plank of that strategy is putting a price on carbon pollution. http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/energy-environment/332500-as-us-falters-canada-must-lead-carbon-tax-movement Why California Can’t Go Back to ‘Normal’ After Drought. Lester Snow, a longtime water leader in California, cautions that there will be no “back to normal” for the state. Instead, we’ll be wrestling with challenging weather extremes for a long time to come. California’s five-year drought was officially declared to be over in April. https://www.newsdeeply.com/water/community/2017/05/10/why-california-cant-go-back-to-normal-after-drought By talking to Al Gore, Trump looks for range of advice on Paris Climate Agreement. President Donald Trump can't seem to make up his mind about whether to keep the U.S. in the landmark Paris Climate Agreement or pull out of the pact altogether, but there are signs he is getting advice from across the ideological spectrum. http://mashable.com/2017/05/10/trump-gore-phone-call-paris-agreement/#KSdjdgLJ4mqu Low Carbon Cities: From Pipe Dreams to Reality. A few decades ago, zero to low carbon cities that are sustainable and energy efficient were something of a pipe dream, but now they are becoming reality. And they need to be because as the world population expands, so do our cities and their carbon emissions. The United Nations estimates that the World’s city living populations will increase by 66 per cent by 2050… https://sourceable.net/low-carbon-cities-from-pipe-dreams-to-reality/ No Mercedes-Benz Diesels for 2017, or Maybe Ever. Fans of German compression-ignition engines had best dig out those old, glossy posters of an olive green 300D, as they’re going to need it. Daimler announced it will not sell 2017 diesel Mercedes-Benz models in the U.S. as rumors swirl that the automaker might give up on the segment altogether. http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2017/05/no-mercedes-benz-diesels-2017-maybe-ever/ Some methane emissions could actually slow climate change. Yes, methane is still a super powerful greenhouse gas, roughly 30 times more potent than carbon dioxide over the course of a century. But a recent study suggests that melting methane in the Arctic is absorbing 230 times more greenhouse gas than it releases. That’s surprising because so-called “methane seeps” have been considered a harbinger of climate catastrophe. http://grist.org/briefly/some-methane-emissions-could-actually-slow-climate-change/