What's New List Serve Post Display

CARB Newsclips for August 1, 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 California Air Resources Board (ARB or Board) staff has
posted a report on ARB's Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) credit
transfer activity covering information on recent credit volumes
transferred, credit prices and price trends through June 2017. 
Staff publishes monthly LCFS credit transfer activity reports on
the second Tuesday of every month.  

The monthly credit transfer activity reports can be accessed
here:
https://www.arb.ca.gov/fuels/lcfs/credit/lrtmonthlycreditreports.htm
        

Staff also publishes weekly LCFS credit transfer activity reports
on the Tuesday of every week.  

The weekly credit transfer activity reports can be accessed
here:
https://www.arb.ca.gov/fuels/lcfs/credit/lrtweeklycreditreports.htm
        

_______________________________

The Air Resources Board (ARB) announces the launch of its new
California Dairy and Livestock GHG Reduction Working Group (Dairy
Working Group) and Subgroup list serves that will provide
interested stakeholders with up-to-date information about current
activities and processes.  Sign-up for the main Dairy Working
Group process List Serve:
https://www.arb.ca.gov/listserv/listserv_ind.php?listname=dairy  
      

CAP AND TRADE

AIR POLLUTION

Judge denies ExxonMobil request to reduce $20 million air
pollution fine. A federal judge on Monday declined ExxonMobil's
request to reconsider a $20 million fine he ordered the energy
giant to pay earlier this year for spewing millions of pounds of
unauthorized air pollution from Houston-area industrial
facilities. In April, U.S. District Judge David Hittner said the
the company should…
https://www.texastribune.org/2017/07/31/judge-denies-exxonmobil-request-reduce-20-million-air-pollution-fine/


Judge rebuffs Exxon request for lower fine. A federal judge has
denied Exxon Mobil Corp.'s bid to reduce or eliminate the roughly
$20 million in fines he imposed in April for repeated air
pollution violations at the company's massive Baytown refinery
and chemical complex near Houston. In an order yesterday, U.S.
District Judge David Hittner of the Southern District of Texas
rebuffed Exxon's arguments…
https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2017/08/01/stories/1060058224 

CLIMATE CHANGE

Icebreaker sets mark for earliest Northwest Passage transit.
After 24 days at sea and a journey spanning more than 10,000
kilometers (6,214 miles), the Finnish icebreaker MSV Nordica has
set a new record for the earliest transit of the fabled Northwest
Passage. The once-forbidding route through the Arctic, linking
the Pacific and the Atlantic oceans, has been opening up sooner
and for a longer period…
https://www.apnews.com/caf51d15f87e4542a9cec75ec3159bc0/Icebreaker-sets-mark-for-earliest-Northwest-Passage-transit


We only have a 5 percent chance of avoiding ‘dangerous’ global
warming, a study finds. In recent years, it has become
increasingly common to frame the climate change problem as a kind
of countdown — each year we emit more carbon dioxide, narrowing
the window for fixing the problem, but not quite closing it yet.
After all, something could still change. Emissions could still
start to plunge precipitously.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/07/31/we-only-have-a-5-percent-chance-of-avoiding-dangerous-global-warming-a-study-finds/?tid=pm_business_pop&utm_term=.477ac4b521f4


59,000 farmer suicides in India over 30 years may be linked to
climate change, study says. Every year, thousands of Indian
farmers commit suicide. Now one researcher thinks it may have
something to do with climate change. Tamma Carleton, a researcher
at the University of California at Berkeley, compared almost five
decades worth of suicide and climate data and concluded that
temperature variations…
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/08/01/59000-farmer-suicides-in-india-over-three-decades-may-be-linked-to-climate-change-study-says/?utm_term=.4e4058127a90

https://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2017/08/01/stories/1060058187


At EPA museum, history might be in for a change. Scott Pruitt has
repeated a particular line again and again since becoming the
head of the Environmental Protection Agency. “The future ain’t
what it used to be at the EPA,” he’s fond of saying. As it turns
out, the past may not be what it once was, either. In an obscure
corner of the Ronald Reagan International Trade Building…
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/at-epa-museum-history-might-be-in-for-a-change/2017/07/30/9d83692c-6bd1-11e7-96ab-5f38140b38cc_story.html?utm_term=.18b1f51e3a98


Islamic State and Climate Change Seen as World’s Greatest
Threats, Poll Says. Climate change is essentially tied with the
Islamic State as the most-feared security threat across much of
the world — except in the United States, where cyberattacks are
considered a greater danger than global warming, according to a
Pew Research Center report released on Tuesday.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/01/climate/islamic-state-climate-change-worlds-greatest-threats-pew-survey.html
http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/01/politics/pew-world-threats-survey/index.html

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/articles/2017-08-01/pew-survey-shows-isis-climate-change-viewed-as-leading-security-threats


Inevitably hotter world: U.S. and German scientists calculate
“committed warming” that cannot be stopped. Colorado-based
scientists and German partners found locked-in warming already is
approaching targets set in Paris climate agreement. Earth rapidly
is approaching the point where the amount of warming locked in by
human pollution exceeds the limits nations set last year at the
international climate meeting in Paris…
http://www.denverpost.com/2017/07/31/committed-warming-nature-climate-change-pollution-global-warming/
  

Climate change before your eyes: Seas rise and trees die. They're
called "ghost forests" — dead trees along vast swaths of
coastline invaded by rising seas, something scientists call one
of the most visible markers of climate change. The process has
happened naturally for thousands of years, but it has accelerated
in recent decades as polar ice melts and raises sea levels…
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/seas-rise-trees-die-climate-change-eyes-48961148

Climate Change Has Damaged Historic Seminole Sites,
Archaeologists Say.  Despite some GOP members’ skepticism about
the state of the environment, climate change continues to affect
the geographically vulnerable ecology of South Florida. State
politicians such as Gov. Rick Scott have circumvented the issue,
denied its urgency, and even refused to acknowledge the existence
of sea-level rise…
http://www.miaminewtimes.com/arts/florida-summit-addresses-climate-changes-effects-on-historic-seminole-tribe-sites-9540801

Global Warming By 2 Degrees Unavoidable By 2100, 2 Studies Find.
Two separate studies published online Monday in the journal
Nature Climate Change found Earth will be warmer by at least 2
degrees by the year 2100. The main difference between the two
analyses of climate change was that one used Fahrenheit and the
other Celsius to predict the rise in global temperatures.
http://www.ibtimes.com/global-warming-2-degrees-unavoidable-2100-2-studies-find-2572839
 

Climate change expected to increase premature deaths from air
pollution. “As climate change affects air pollutant
concentrations, it can have a significant impact on health
worldwide, adding to the millions of people who die from air
pollution each year,” said Jason West, who led the research at
UNC-Chapel Hill with former graduate student and first author
Raquel Silva. Hotter temperatures speed up the chemical
reactions… http://www.enn.com/climate/article/52011 

There's a 5% chance of holding temps at 2 C — study. New research
suggests that keeping global temperature rise under 2 degrees
Celsius might be out of reach. Pictured here is a map showing
atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations in 2016. NASA.
President Trump's decision to yank the United States from the
Paris climate agreement spurred…
https://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2017/08/01/stories/1060058201


Report sees 6 states as climate battlegrounds in 2018. Since
President Trump announced his intent to leave the Paris Agreement
and roll back the Clean Power Plan, more states have stepped up
to pledge independent action on curbing global warming.
New York, California and Washington state launched the U.S.
Climate Alliance, which has since gained support from nine other
states and the territory of Puerto Rico.
https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2017/08/01/stories/1060058233 

DIESEL ACTIVITIES

Germany to agree plan to cut diesel emissions: sources. The
German government will not force the car industry to make costly
changes to engines to cut diesel emissions but will settle for
software updates for around 2 million vehicles, industry and
government sources said on Tuesday. The sources were speaking
before a summit of politicians and car executives scheduled for
Wednesday to discuss ways to cut inner-city pollution…
http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-germany-emissions-diesel-idUKKBN1AH48I


Electric Bus Makers Poised for an L.A. Gold Rush. There’s a
highly charged competition going on in Los Angeles right now, and
it’s between manufacturers of electric buses. Transit agencies
around the country are going electric. San Francisco has been
buying biodiesel hybrid buses and electric trolleys for years.
Los Angeles wants to go electric, too.
https://ww2.kqed.org/news/2017/07/31/electric-bus-makers-poised-for-an-l-a-gold-rush/


German automakers offer software update to cut NOx emissions by
25%. German automakers will offer software updates that will
reduce diesel emissions from Euro 5 and Euro 6 diesel cars by at
least 25 percent on average, the VDA industry association said.
The offer will be made Wednesday at a summit of politicians and
car executives called to discuss ways to reduce inner-city
pollution…
http://europe.autonews.com/article/20170801/ANE/170809965/german-automakers-offer-software-update-to-cut-nox-emissions-by-25


FUELS


The Energy 202: How Pruitt's hustle to deregulate the EPA may
bite him. In his aggressive pursuit of rolling back Obama
administration regulations, President Trump's top environmental
official may be bumping up against his legal limits. Late Monday,
the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ordered the
Environmental Protection Agency to enforce an Obama
administration rule limiting the amount of methane, a powerful
greenhouse gas…
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/the-energy-202/2017/08/01/the-energy-202-how-pruitt-s-hustle-to-deregulate-the-epa-may-bite-him/597f5db230fb045fdaef1019/?hpid=hp_hp-more-top-stories-2_energy202-pruitt-1045am%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.c483ef9d7325


Giant Appeals Court Victory For Biofuels. As DuPont’s (DD) Jan
Koninckx put it in his understated way, Friday was “a good day
for biofuels.” But it was the biggest victory in the courts for
biofuels, ever. Specifically, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the
District of Columbia Circuit ruled in favor of Americans for
Clean Energy and other renewable fuels advocates…
http://www.altenergystocks.com/archives/2017/08/giant_appeals_court_victory_for_biofuels.html
 
http://www.csnews.com/industry-news-and-trends/legislative-regulatory-legal/appeals-court-hands-major-victory-alternative-fuels-industry
 
http://www.kcrg.com/content/news/Courts-Rule-Against-EPA-Biofuel-Waiver-437830183.html


There's more than corn in Indiana – corn uses that is. Indiana
Corn Farmers are keeping their products close to home, at least
as far as farmer Larry Bucher is concerned. He farms about 1,200
acres of land, most of which is in LaPorte County. He does farm
some fields in Porter and Jasper counties. He produces 900
bushels of corn, with 400 bushels going for ethanol production at
a plant in Rensselaer.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/crown-point/ct-cps-corn-st-0803-20170731-story.html


Refineries go to battle with oil majors over ethanol. Independent
refineries are making another stab at getting the Trump
administration to change the rules on how ethanol is mixed into
the nation's fuel supply. At a hearing before the Environmental
Protection Agency in Washington on Tuesday lobbyists from Valero
and other merchant refining companies will battle gas station
chains…
http://www.chron.com/business/energy/article/Refineries-press-ethanol-reform-at-EPA-hearing-11723011.php#photo-13241191


Court orders EPA to enforce methane standards. The Trump
administration must enforce Obama-era restrictions on greenhouse
gas emissions from the oil and gas industry — at least for now.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
last night issued a mandate striking down U.S. EPA's attempt to
pause methane restrictions for the sector.
https://www.eenews.net/energywire/2017/08/01/stories/1060058196 

ALISO CANYON

Gas facility resumes operations 21 months after big blowout. The
biggest gas storage facility in the West resumed operations
Monday, nearly two years after a blowout led to the nation's
largest-known methane release and drove thousands of families
from their Los Angeles homes. Southern California Gas. Co. said
it began injecting gas in underground wells after it completed
final steps required to resume limited operations and shortly
after a state appeals courts rejected…
http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/us/article/Gas-facility-resumes-operations-21-months-after-11721660.php
 

VEHICLES

Albuquerque startup developing material for hydrogen cars. A New
Mexico startup is betting on automakers to develop hydrogen cars
and wants to provide material for them as nations and companies
scramble to bring pollution-free vehicles to drivers. The
Albuquerque-based Pajarito Powder is developing material for
hydrogen fuel cells that CEO Tom Stephenson hopes will one day
aid those concept hydrogen-powered cars…
https://www.apnews.com/4d192391441c46b7925b0ec39f3659c3/Albuquerque-startup-developing-material-for-hydrogen-cars


GREEN ENERGY

Shell invests in Singapore solar firm Sunseap; eyes solar
projects. Royal Dutch Shell has invested in Singapore-based solar
firm Sunseap Group for an undisclosed sum as part of a planned
collaboration on solar projects in the Asia-Pacific region, the
companies said on Tuesday. Shell declined to reveal the amount
invested by Shell Technology Ventures, the company's corporate
venturing arm.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-singapore-shell-idUKKBN1AH2WF 

MISCELLANEOUS

Homeland Security to Bypass Environmental Laws in Border Wall
Work. The Department of Homeland Security on Tuesday said that it
would use its authority to exempt the agency from having to
comply with environmental and other laws in its efforts to build
border walls and access roads in the San Diego area. The waiver
would apply to the construction of several wall prototypes the
agency plans to build in the region in response to an…
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/01/us/politics/homeland-security-to-bypass-environmental-laws-in-border-wall-work.html?hpw&rref=politics&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=well-region®ion=bottom-well&WT.nav=bottom-well


OPINIONS

Skeptical scientists are lukewarm on Trump. Scientists who have
been combating the prevailing views about climate change for
years might find plenty to be giddy about with the new
administration. President Trump hired vocal climate skeptics to
help shape his administration; top government officials are
publicly questioning the role humans play in global warming and
whether regulations are worth the costs…
https://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2017/08/01/stories/1060058185 
 

BLOGS

Cap-and-Trade Protest Forces California GOP Chair Underground. A
flurry of protests against Republican state legislators in San
Bernardino County who voted for Gov. Jerry Brown’s cap-and-trade
extension has made an impact. Threats of protests forced the
cancellation of a fundraiser last week for Assembly Minority
Leader Chad Mayes (R-Yucca Valley), and drove California GOP
Chairman Jim Brulte underground…
http://www.breitbart.com/california/2017/08/01/pro-trump-protestors-draw-massive-police-response-forcing-california-gop-chair-brulte-underground/


It's Taken Time, But Electric Utilities Are Warming Up To Climate
Change. In 1968, bombs were dropping in Vietnam. But a different
kind of bomb was about to dropped here at home — one that put the
country’s utility industry on notice that the burning of fossil
fuels would lead to climate change. Now, though, much of the
industry is working to tackle those environmental challenges.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/kensilverstein/2017/08/01/its-taken-time-but-electric-utilities-are-warming-up-to-climate-change/#59b3171973eb


This Is How Climate Change Will Shift the World’s Cities. Summers
around the world are already warmer than they used to be, and
they’re going to get dramatically hotter by century’s end if
carbon pollution continues to rise. That problem will be felt
most acutely. Summers around the world are already warmer than
they used to be, and they’re going to get dramatically hotter…
https://www.climaterealityproject.org/blog/how-climate-change-will-shift-world-cities
   

Could Tesla Jump Start Japan’s Solar Industry? Tesla may be the
ticket to getting Japan’s solar industry back off the ground.
Japan’s current solar energy situation is bleak. This is due in
part to the country’s tariff system. Added to this, energy
storage units are considerably expensive in Japan. One might
assume that Tesla’s Powerwall would price out at least at or even
above current competition, but surprisingly, that’s not the case.
At the recent PV Japan exhibition in Yokohama (the country’s
most…
http://insideevs.com/tesla-jump-start-japans-solar-industry/