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newsclips -- CARB Newsclips for August 16, 2017
Posted: 17 Aug 2017 08:54:33
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 hearing at the time and place noted below to consider approving for adoption the proposed amendments to California Evaluation Procedures for New Aftermarket Catalytic Converters. DATE: September 28, 2017 TIME: 9:00 A.M. LOCATION: California Environmental Protection Agency Air Resources Board Byron Sher Auditorium 1001 I Street Sacramento, California 95814 Electronic submittal: http://www.arb.ca.gov/lispub/comm/bclist.php ______________________________ The California Air Resources Board (CARB) invites you to participate in a public workshop to begin discussing concepts for minimizing community health impacts from seaports, railyards, and warehouses/distribution centers. Workshops will be held at the locations and dates shown below. Both workshops will follow the same format and present the same material. LOS ANGELES Tuesday, August 29, 2017, (1:00 – 3:00 pm) Junipero Serra Building 320 West 4th Street, Los Angeles, California 90013 SACRAMENTO (also webcast) Wednesday, September 6, 2017, (1:00 – 3:00 pm) California Environmental Protection Agency Headquarters, Sierra Hearing Room 1001 I Street, Sacramento, California 95814 For more information on this workshop, please see the meeting notice at: https://www.arb.ca.gov/gmp/sfti/FreightFacility.htm ______________________________ Northern California Truck Owners and Operators -- You’re invited to attend a One-Stop Truck event in Santa Rosa on Wednesday, August 30. At this event, you’ll be able to get help with all of your CARB compliance questions, get up-to-date info on truck rules, learn about financial incentives to help purchase new trucks, visit with vendors, and check out the latest clean trucks. Here's what you will find at this One-Stop event: • One-on-one compliance assistance (Asistencia en espańol disponible) • Enforcement inspection demo • Truck and bus and off-road regulation overview • New technology options for compliance • Funding options for on-road trucks • CHP Inspection update • Industry vendors & local agency booths • Clean vehicle/technology displays For more information and to sign up to attend, please visit our One Stop Truck Event webpage: www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/truckstop/azregs/onestop.htm or call the Diesel Hotline at 866-634-3735 ______________________________ CAP AND TRADE Carbon Offsets Really Do Help Lower Emissions. In California, offsets from forests totaled 4.7 million metric tons of carbon in 2015. A new study examining the efficacy of paying to preserve forests finds that carbon offsets do produce genuine emissions reductions. The study, published in the journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment by three Stanford University researchers… https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/carbon-offsets-really-do-help-lower-emissions/?sf106260696=1 Mexico Looks to Curb Carbon with a New Cap-and-Trade System. Mexico's stock market has begun trading simulated emissions permits. Mexico kicked off 2017 with a 20 percent spike in gasoline prices, driven in part by the phasing out of subsidies. Some consumers set fires at gas stations—a response that highlights the backlash countries can face as they stop subsidizing carbon-based fuels and start encouraging climate-friendly alternatives. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/mexico-looks-to-curb-carbon-with-a-new-cap-and-trade-system/ AIR POLLUTION Northern China air quality worsens in January-July: ministry. Air quality worsened in China's northern region of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei in the first seven months of this year, piling pressure on authorities to crack down on firms in their efforts to meet politically crucial 2017 pollution targets. The region's 13 cities racked up an increase of 11.3 percent in concentrations of hazardous breathable particles known as PM2.5… https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-pollution-idUSKCN1AW0QG City official: Chemical plant can do more to cut cancer-causing emissions. A Rubbertown chemical plant gripped in an environmental justice fight could actually meet a stringent emission goal - one that the company seeks to relax, according to the head of Louisville's air pollution agency. http://www.courier-journal.com/story/tech/science/environment/2017/08/16/rubbertown-chemical-plant-can-do-more-cut-cancer-causing-emissions/571792001/ Air Purifiers Could Protect Heart From Air Pollution, Study Says. Air pollution causes severe harm to the heart health. A recent study suggested that air purifiers can play a significant role to protect the heart from this threat. Recently, researchers performed a study in China to explore how the air purifiers play an important role to save the heart from air pollution. http://www.sciencetimes.com/articles/17776/20170816/air-purifiers-could-protect-heart-from-air-pollution.htm CLIMATE CHANGE Swiss, EU move closer to linking emissions trading systems. Switzerland and the European Union have moved closer to linking their carbon emissions trading systems (ETS) after the European Commission and Swiss government gave their backing for a deal. An accord could be signed by the year's end and needs approval from EU leaders and ratification by the Swiss and EU parliaments, according to announcements in Brussels and Bern. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-swiss-eu-carbontrading-idUSKCN1AW1EI Fast-melting Arctic sign of bad global warming. One of the coldest places on Earth is so hot it’s melting. Glaciers, sea ice and a massive ice sheet in the Arctic are thawing from toasty air above and warm water below. The northern polar region is heating up twice as fast as the rest of the planet and that’s setting off alarm bells. http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/fast-melting-arctic-sign-of-bad-global-warming-1.2230473 DIESEL ACTIVITIES Port Of Oakland Boosts Efforts To Curb Emissions With New High-Power Line. Port of Oakland officials said today they’ve commissioned new equipment bolstering efforts to curb diesel emissions from ships. The Port OKd a high-voltage cable system that will connect more vessels to Oakland’s landside power grid. The Port said the breakthrough will accelerate the program that has helped cut emissions 76 percent in Oakland since 2009. http://www.marineinsight.com/shipping-news/port-oakland-boosts-efforts-curb-emissions-new-high-power-line/ http://worldmaritimenews.com/archives/227321/port-of-oakland-adds-new-equipment-to-cut-ship-emissions/ CARL MOYER Butte County Air Quality Grant helps farmers become more green. Butte County leaders are struggling to meet the federal air quality standards and are hoping an old grant will help farmers and the county to reduce air pollution. One Chico walnut farmer received the grant and says it helped him buy new equipment, which can be very expensive." http://www.actionnewsnow.com/story/35127525/butte-county-air-quality-grant-helps-farmers-become-more-green Chico School District to get lower-emission school buses. The Chico Unified School District is receiving $677,656 dollars through a grant program to help replace old school buses with new ones. The Butte County Air Quality Management District (BCAQMD) administers the Carl Moyer Program. A grant program established by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) that gives grants to replace old diesel engines with cleaner technology. http://www.krcrtv.com/news/local/butte/chico-school-district-to-get-lower-emission-school-buses/605364425 http://www.actionnewsnow.com/story/36134492/chico-unified-upgrading-to-greener-school-bus-fleet http://www.chicoer.com/general-news/20170815/air-quality-grants-bringing-new-school-buses-to-butte-county VEHICLES How Elon Musk and Cheap Oil Doomed Push for Another Car Fuel. The idea was nothing short of revolutionary: convert the nation’s millions of trucks, buses and other commercial vehicles to run on natural gas instead of gasoline and diesel. Back in 2008, the proposal by energy magnate T. Boone Pickens had some appeal. U.S. oil production was plunging, and the world’s biggest fuel-consuming… https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-08-14/how-elon-musk-and-cheap-oil-doomed-push-for-natural-gas-cars GREEN ENERGY The Energy Market's Facts Of Life. Realists will tell you that what counts are facts on the ground. But sometimes half-formed facts on the ground can be just as important. A clutch of these have materialized in the U.S. power sector of late. Southern Co. several weeks ago suspended work on what was supposed to be a pioneering plant to turn coal into gas for generating electricity. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-08-15/why-coal-and-nuclear-don-t-figure-big-in-energy-s-future Will a trade fight with Asia sabotage the U.S. solar industry? That may be up to Trump. President Trump’s most useful ally in his push to restore the dominance of coal, oil and gas in America could ultimately turn out to be a pair of bankrupt solar firms seeking help from the federal government getting back on their feet. In an unorthodox trade case roiling the solar industry worldwide, the duo of distressed panel makers is aiming to empower… http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-trump-solar-20170815-story.html Visalia solar company makes a short list CalCom Solar of Visalia has been named to a list of the fastest-growing private companies in the country by the business magazine Inc. CalCom ranks 23rd on the list, boasting of a three-year growth rate of 9,000 percent. "We take a very strategic approach to developing some of the largest solar farms in the agricultural and water management industries. http://www.centralvalleybusinesstimes.com/stories/001/?ID=33137 What happens to the grid when solar power goes dark during the eclipse? The last solar eclipse that cast a shadow across the United States didn’t spark much interest from the nation’s electric utilities. That was back in 1991, before the sun became a significant contributor to the power grid. But when the sky darkens during Monday’s solar eclipse, operators of the nation’s electric… http://www.philly.com/philly/business/energy/what-happens-to-the-grid-when-solar-power-goes-dark-during-the-eclipse-20170818.html U.S. DoE Report Shows How Renewables Can Help Utilities Avoid Risky Investments. It’s no secret rising demand for clean electricity has upended America’s utility sector, making building new fossil fuel generation a difficult proposition. But a related challenge caused by this trend is challenging utilities – the need for flexible planning and procurement to avoid risky investments. http://www.theenergycollective.com/energy-innovation-llc/2410892/u-s-doe-report-shows-renewables-can-help-utilities-avoid-risky-investments School System Taps ForeFront Power For 1.4 MW Solar Canopy Portfolio. ForeFront Power and Los Altos School District (LASD) in California have partnered to develop 1.4 MW of solar canopy systems across nine schools. The solar canopy systems will deliver significant energy cost savings, promote sustainability, and provide shade to the parking lots and outdoor school areas. http://solarindustrymag.com/school-system-taps-forefront-power-1-4-mw-solar-canopy-portfolio OPINIONS Another climate-change nightmare: 91 new volcanoes beneath Antarctica’s ice. Antarctica has been having a rough time of it lately, you may have heard. You know — greenhouse gases, warming oceans, trillion-ton icebergs breaking off the continent like a middle-aged man losing hair in the sink. Not the best century for the old South Pole. And now it turns out Antarctica has problems we didn't even know about. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2017/08/15/another-climate-change-nightmare-dozens-of-volcanoes-beneath-antarcticas-thinning-ice/?utm_term=.e7cd57968b2a Case for climate change grows ever stronger. Could proof grow any more powerful that humanity is responsible for a dangerously warming planet? Scientists studying Earth's atmosphere and oceans are finding ever more troubling evidence. Last year was the hottest on record, according to a report late last week from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2017/08/14/climate-change-trump-administration-editorials-debates/562985001/ Air pollution: Are you better off in your car or on the sidewalk? Anyone walking along Capital Boulevard or Six Forks Road during morning rush hour is likely to get a lungful of engine exhaust, but they won’t be as bad off as the people in the passing cars. That’s one of the takeaways from a study of the exposure of drivers to pollution done by scientists at Duke University… http://www.newsobserver.com/news/traffic/article167253582.html#storylink=cpy Climate Change Could Make Newly Discovered Volcanoes in Antarctica More Active. Ice sheets and glaciers mitigate volcanic activity—but they are melting. When one thinks of Antarctica, one of the last things to come to mind is volcanoes, but that is precisely what scientists recently discovered under the continent’s western ice sheet. Conducted by Edinburgh University, the project discovered 91 volcanoes… http://observer.com/2017/08/volcanoes-antarctica-climate-change/ LETTER: Man-made climate change claims are irresponsible. The front page article (Aug. 13) “Five signs that climate change is starting in New Jersey” is yet another grossly irresponsible article about issue of man-made climate change (MMCC). Claim that “climate change is coming” is ridiculous against the backdrop of incessant warnings by MMCC believers that dire change has been imminent for more than 20 years. This sounds like the “sky is falling.” http://www.app.com/story/opinion/readers/2017/08/16/letter-man-made-climate-change-claims-irresponsible/565512001/ Close to Home: Cap-and-trade funds need to support creative rural solutions, like those on the North Coast. Gov. Jerry Brown recently signed Assembly Bill 398, which extends cap-and-trade, California’s cornerstone climate change program, through 2030. The program requires the largest emitters of greenhouse gas emissions (e.g., the oil and gas industry, cement plants, large food processors) to cut their emissions. http://www.pressdemocrat.com/opinion/7298879-181/close-to-home-cap-and-trade-funds?artslide=0 Opinion: Widespread wind and solar energy projects makes sense for B.C. In his comment piece in The Vancouver Sun, Aug. 4, Simon Fraser University professor Mark Jaccard is correct in citing that dispatchable energy is of more value than variable energy. His analogy regarding the dispatchability of emergency services is also quite compelling. http://vancouversun.com/opinion/op-ed/opinion-clean-reliable-renewable-energy-just-makes-sense BLOGS Cap and Trade and Regional Grid Integration Go Hand in Hand. California recently reauthorized the central element of its cornerstone climate initiative, which sets a declining cap on the amount of greenhouse gas emissions (GhG) that industrial and other sources can release into the air, and sets rules for industries to acquire and trade permits to emit pollution under the cap’s limit. https://www.nrdc.org/experts/carl-zichella/cap-and-trade-and-regional-grid-integration-go-hand-hand How cap and trade affects green building through revenue spending. Our graphics give you a view of how cap-and-trade revenues are distributed to sustainability initiatives. The California legislature recently passed a 10-year extension to cap and trade. With the graphics below, USGBC gives you a closer look at the proportion of emissions being regulated in various sectors of the California economy… https://www.usgbc.org/articles/how-cap-and-trade-affects-green-building-through-revenue-spending Climate change will cut crop yields: study. Climate change will have a negative effect on key crops such as wheat, rice, and maize, according to a major scientific report out Tuesday that reviewed 70 prior studies on global warming and agriculture. Experts analyzed previous research that used a variety of methods, from simulating how crops will react to temperature changes at the global and local scale… https://phys.org/news/2017-08-climate-crop-yields.html#jCp Tesla Takes Tiny House On Tour To Tout Rooftop Solar & Energy Storage In Australia. Electricity from sunlight makes economic sense in Australia, in part because the cost of electricity in that sun-splashed country is sky high. Tesla’s overall plan is to include displays for its rooftop solar products in its stores. The problem is, at the present time, it has an official sales presence only in Sydney and Melbourne. https://cleantechnica.com/2017/08/15/tesla-takes-tiny-house-tour-tout-rooftop-solar-australia/ Study: How To Convince Climate Change Deniers Without Using Graphs. There are many people who don’t believe in climate change -- starting with President Donald Trump and the head of the Environmental Protection Agency Scott Pruitt -- and it seems like climate change deniers and believers won’t ever understand each other. Those who don’t believe in climate change are often portrayed as being out of touch… http://www.ibtimes.com/study-how-convince-climate-change-deniers-without-using-graphs-2578894 What if the EPA dialed back emissions rules, but only on trucks? Back in March, Donald Trump authorized a review of current U.S. emissions regulations. Those regulations cover vehicles through the 2025 model year and were hastily finalized by the Environmental Protection Agency in the days leading up to Trump's inauguration. The review alarmed environmental activists, not to mention California's Air Resources Board. http://www.thecarconnection.com/news/1112116_what-if-the-epa-dialed-back-emissions-rules-but-only-on-trucks Amidst Solar Eclipse's Test On Clean Power, One Smart Grid Solution Offers A Cautionary Tale. Almost 2,000 utility-scale solar plants could experience a shortfall in power next week big enough to light up Los Angeles—all due to a solar eclipse set to sweep across the country on August 21. While power operators stand ready and are confident that the steep drop in solar power won’t impact service… https://www.forbes.com/sites/ucenergy/2017/08/16/amidst-solar-eclipses-test-on-clean-power-one-smart-grid-solution-offers-a-cautionary-tale/#723bcb5b2ffb 12-Step Climate Change & Global Warming Action Plan For India. Clean air and a livable climate are inalienable human rights. And solving this crisis is not a question of politics. It is a question of our own survival. Climate change is real. Global warming is the root cause of climate change. Far too often climate change is dismissed as an issue for the future. https://cleantechnica.com/2017/08/16/12-step-climate-change-global-warming-action-plan-india/ Trump wants to ignore the effects of climate change when permitting infrastructure projects. President Trump signed an executive order Tuesday that he said will streamline the environmental review required to get large public construction efforts — like roads, bridges, and buildings — off the ground. From the gilded lobby of Trump Tower, the president proclaimed that the executive order would repair… http://grist.org/briefly/trump-wants-to-ignore-the-effects-of-climate-change-in-permitting-infrastructure-projects/ What does climate change mean for the Great Lakes? A new report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration calls 2016 the warmest year on record around the globe. The surface temperature of the Great Lakes was also above average. According to NOAA’s 2016 State of the Climate report, eight of the last 10 years have been among the warmest years on record, globally. https://www.northcountrypublicradio.org/news/story/34499/20170816/what-does-climate-change-mean-for-the-great-lakes Global warming could cause yield of sorghum crops to drop ‘substantially’. Rising global temperatures could cause yields of sorghum – a cereal crop known for its resilience to heat stress and drought – to fall substantially, new research finds. Sorghum is the fifth most economically important cereal in the world and is grown in some of the most arid parts of Africa and South Asia, where it is a staple food for half a billion people. https://www.carbonbrief.org/global-warming-could-cause-yield-sorghum-crops-drop-substantially The electric industry is prepared for next week's eclipse. But what about the one in 2024?Utilities most impacted by the total eclipse say they have lined up alternate power supplies for when solar goes dark. Warnings about fake viewing glasses and unusual pet behavior. Advice on the proper gifts and kitsch for your watch party. NASA will live stream it and bars will name drinks after it. The United States has gone crazy for next week's eclipse. http://www.utilitydive.com/news/the-electric-industry-is-prepared-for-next-weeks-eclipse-but-what-about-t/449409/ How Quickly Have US Solar and Wind Grown? Here at the Union of Concerned Scientists, we spend a lot of time focusing on the future—where we need to get to (on climate change, for example), how we do that (clean energy, clean transportation, carbon pricing,…), what happens when we delay (sea-level rise, anyone?). For clean energy in particular, though… http://blog.ucsusa.org/john-rogers/how-quickly-have-us-solar-and-wind-grown Countries urged to start bargaining over negative emissions. There is an emerging consensus CO2 needs to be sucked out of the air to meet climate goals, but no discussion of which countries are responsible for acting. Countries need to start negotiating who will take responsibility for removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere… http://www.climatechangenews.com/2017/08/14/countries-urged-start-negotiating-negative-carbon-emissions/