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California Air Resources Board News Clips for September 8, 2009.

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.

State fees on greenhouse gas output could be near. SACRAMENTO —
State air-quality regulators appear back on track to impose the
nation's first broad-based fee on greenhouse gas emissions,
potentially costing Californians a little extra to fill their gas
tanks, turn up the heat or go out to dinner. Regulators estimate
that overall, the average consumer will pay less than $1.50 a
year more once the fee is passed down by energy providers and
others that release greenhouse gasses linked to global warming.
Posted.
http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/sep/06/state-fees-greenhouse-gas-output-could-be-near/?california&zIndex=161390

Hey, global warming skeptics, take your heads out of the sand.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has seen the meltdown of the
Arctic for himself. Alarmed at the changes, he warned that “our
foot is stuck on the [climate change] accelerator and we are
heading towards an abyss.” It might be easy to dismiss this as
more alarmist hype except for the coincidental publication of a
major Arctic climate study. Posted.
http://features.csmonitor.com/innovation/2009/09/04/hey-global-warming-skeptics-take-your-heads-out-of-the-sand/

CARB flunks nation’s largest school bus company. The California
Air Resources Board has fined First Student Inc., a unit of
UK-based bus and train operator FirstGroup, $300,000 for diesel
emissions violations of its school bus fleet that occurred in
2005 and 2006 at locations throughout California. Posted.
http://www.centralvalleybusinesstimes.com/stories/001/?ID=12985

CARB to present emissions session. Truck owners running in
California can tune into the California Air Resources Board's
live webcast on Sept. 14 regarding compliance with the Heavy-Duty
Vehicle Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction Regulation. The online
session will run from 8:30-10:30 a.m. PDT. Visit
www.calepa.ca.gov./broadcast for the webcast. CARB will hold the
session at Byron Sher Auditorium in Sacramento. Posted.
http://www.etrucker.com/apps/news/article.asp?id=81551

Arctic Offers More Evidence of Human Influences on Climate
Change. new study indicates that Arctic temperatures suddenly
increased during the last 50 years of the period from A.D. 1 to
the year 2000. Because this warming occurred abruptly during the
20th century while atmospheric greenhouse gases were
accumulating, these findings provide additional evidence that
humans are influencing climate. Posted.
http://www.usnews.com/articles/science/2009/09/08/arctic-offers-more-evidence-of-human-influences-on-climate-change.html

Japan’s Next Premier Vows to Cut Emissions Sharply. TOKYO —
Japan’s presumptive prime minister breathed new life on Monday
into efforts to curb global warming, standing by a campaign
pledge to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent in the next
10 years from 1990 levels — a target that environmentalists said
puts Japan at the forefront of the fight against climate change.
Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/08/world/asia/08japan.html

Despite economy, states gear up greenhouse gas reduction
efforts. It has been three years since CALIFORNIA Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger (R) signed AB 32, the Global Warming Solutions
Act. A host of other states and Congress have since followed suit
with measures of their own. But now, with the economy in the most
turmoil since the Great Depression, supporters and opponents
alike are struggling to come to grips with how much these
measures will cost.
http://www.statenet.com/capitol_journal/current#sncj_spotlight

Tougher global warming caps seen still possible. GENEVA
(Reuters) - The world can still cap global warming at far lower
levels than widely expected if nations "bite the bullet" and
slash greenhouse gas emissions, the chairman of the U.N. climate
panel says. Rajendra Pachauri told Reuters that an appeal last
month by the world's poorest nations and small island states to
cap global warming at a 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 F) temperature
rise over pre-industrial times should be taken "very seriously."
Posted.
http://www.reuters.com/article/GlobalClimateandAlternativeEnergy09/idUSTRE5834Z020090907

If global warming is not a crisis, is that a crisis? A lot of
time and attention is spent on global warming. Barack Obama's
second major package of legislation (after the financial rescue
but before the healthcare revamp) was cap and trade legislation,
currently being considered by the Senate. It has occupied
thousands of researchers (and an equal number of critics, it
seems) and the attention of bloggers everywhere. Posted.
http://www.examiner.com/x-9111-SF-Environmental-Policy-Examiner~y2009m9d7-If-global-warming-is-not-a-crisis-is-that-a-crisis

Climate Bill to Be Slowed by Health-Care Debate. WASHINGTON --
The health-care debate threatens to keep energy and climate
legislation on the back burner when the Congress returns from
recess Tuesday and enters the final push of 2009. President
Barack Obama is scheduled to plead his case on health care in a
joint address to Congress this week, as Senate Majority Leader
Harry Reid (D., Nev.), delays action on climate and energy
legislation. Posted.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125241034229992183.html

CARB clears way for Southern California port truck grants.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The California Air Resources Board late last
week sent a grant agreement to the South Coast Air Quality
Management District that it says will immediately free up $45
million in grant funds for truckers to replace diesel trucks
operating in and out of the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles.
Posted.
http://www.thetrucker.com/News/Stories/2009/9/8/CARBclearswayforSouthernCaliforniaporttruckgrants.aspx

Editorial: Finally, investors are choosing green industry. Every
report, study and prediction about Silicon Valley's economy in
this downturn has mapped the path to recovery in green: clean
tech, renewable energy and good middle-income jobs, like
installing solar panels, that can't be outsourced. But a key
indicator of that conventional wisdom has been missing:
large-scale private investment. Posted.
http://www.mercurynews.com/opinion/ci_13282902?nclick_check=1

Renewable energy plan creates rift. AMBOY, Calif. — The morning
heat hits triple digits as a whiptail lizard darts below a
creosote bush near Route 66. Gazing across the desert valley,
power company executives, environmentalists and federal land
managers stand beneath a cloudless sky and argue over the
landscape. PG&E project manager Alice Harron says she is
"comfortable" with the solar power plant her utility wants to
build on government land here along 4 miles of the Mother Road
that connected Chicago and Los Angeles long before the interstate
system. Posted.
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20090908/renewables08_st.art.htm

Opinion: Why 33% renewables by 2020 may be impossible.
California legislators are considering a proposal to require 33%
of the state's electricity to come from renewable sources by
2020. In its Aug. 19 editorial, "Sacramento’s power failure," The
Times writes that failure to pass the measure would constitute a
lack of political will. As chief executive of Southern California
Edison, I respectfully believe this issue is more complicated.
Posted.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/opinionla/la-oew-fohrer8-2009sep08,0,6291655.story

BLOGS

We must prevent the US Chamber of Commerce from putting climate
change 'on trial'. It would be wise for anyone concerned about
climate change to keep an eye on the movements and pronouncements
of the US Chamber of Commerce over the next few months as Barack
Obama's cap-and-trade bill finally reaches the Senate. Posted.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/blog/2009/sep/07/chamber-commerce-climate-change-trial