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California Air Resources Board News Clips for December 15, 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.

Guest View: Enforce Clean-Air Rules For Trucks. CALIFORNIANS
cannot afford for the trucking industry to take two steps forward
and one step back. We have taken great strides in making the
trucking industry come clean. Now California must ensure that the
rules and regulations that have previously been set are enforced
to the fullest extent. Let's take a look back on the fight to
clean up one of the most polluting industries in California.
Posted. http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/ci_13996355

CARB Reporting Deadline Looms; Rule Changes Up In Air. In spite
of calls for changes or delays in the pending 2010 CARB
(California Air Resources Board) emissions requirements for
diesel-powered vehicles, the regulations are still in place but
the new reporting deadlines for certain types of fleets operating
in the state are coming up in just a few months. Posted.
http://fleetowner.com/green/archive/carb-reporting-deadline-looms-1214/

OPINION: The U.S. Is on Board. Our world is on an unsustainable
path that threatens not only our environment, but our economies
and our security. It is time to launch a broad operational accord
on climate change that will set us on a new course. 
A successful agreement depends upon a number of core elements,
but two are shaping up to be essential: first, that all major
economies set forth strong national actions and resolve to
implement them; and second, that they agree to a system that
enables full transparency and creates confidence that national
actions are in fact being implemented. Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/15/opinion/15iht-edclinton.html?_r=1&pagewanted=print

The World's 2 Largest Emitters May Need A Middleman. Copenhagen
-When China declared it would cut emissions relative to economic
growth, energy analysts applauded. Congress yawned. When China
offered specific targets -- 40 to 45 percent reduction from 2005
levels -- climate experts were impressed. U.S. lawmakers raised a
collective eyebrow. China can't be trusted to do what it
promises, moderate Republicans and Democrats alike maintained.
Posted. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2009/12/15/2

Video: Black Carbon Travels the Globe. San Francisco — Black
carbon, the soot emitted when fuels like diesel, wood and coal
are burned, may have a bigger impact on climate in some areas
than greenhouse gases. New research presented here at the
American Geophysical Union meeting shows that the 20 percent
decrease in the extent of Himalayan glaciers since the 1960s may
be partly due to an influx of black carbon from Asian cities.
Posted.
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/12/black-carbon-video/

Time for a Smarter Approach to Global Warming. Investing in
energy R&D might work. Mandated emissions cuts won't. Copenhagen.
The saddest fact of climate change—and the chief reason we should
be concerned about finding a proper response—is that the
countries it will hit hardest are already among the poorest and
most long-suffering. In the run-up to this month's global climate
summit in Copenhagen, the Copenhagen Consensus Center dispatched
researchers to the world's most likely global-warming hot spots.
Posted.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704517504574589952331068322.html?mod=rss_Today's_Most_Popular

US Envoy: Doesn't Expect Any Change In US CO2 Cut Commitment.
Copenhagen -The U.S. climate change envoy said Tuesday he doesn't
expect his country will improve its commitments to cut carbon
dioxide emissions by 17% by 2020 from 2005 levels at talks for a
new agreement to fight climate change. "I am not anticipating any
change in the mitigation commitment," Todd Stern said during a
press conference. Other participants in the negotiations,
including the European Union, have been asking the U.S. to do
more, in order to pave the way for an international accord to
limit global warming. Posted.
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20091215-706594.html

Climate Change 101. Wishing you had more intelligent things to
say about the climate change summit in Copenhagen? The talks kick
into high gear this week with President Obama set to arrive
before Friday. And just in time — tonight — James Hansen, a
climatologist and long-time director of NASA's Goddard Institute
for Space Studies, will be at the Bell House in Brooklyn to
discuss the carbon crisis. Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/15/urbaneye/15ubn2.html 

Schwarzenegger Says States Key to Climate Fight. Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger says countries cannot solve the problem of climate
change without the help of local governments. In a speech planned
Tuesday before the U.N. climate conference in Copenhagen,
Schwarzenegger will encourage international agreements but say
that won't be enough to combat global warming. Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/12/14/us/AP-US-Climate-Schwarzenegger.html?_r=1&scp=6&sq=california%20air%20resources%20board&st=cse
http://www.vcstar.com/news/2009/dec/15/schwarzenegger-says-go-carefully-on-climate/

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-us-climate-schwarzenegger,0,1028347.story

Schwarzenegger Says Go Carefully on Climate Change. California
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger says world policymakers do not have to
choose between a clean environment and economic growth.
Schwarzenegger said "we've proved that over and over again in
California." Interviewed by ABC's "Good Morning America" from the
Copenhagen conference, he said he thinks world leaders may be
risking setback by pushing so aggressively for an accommodation
on curbs to heat-trapping emissions. Posted.
http://www.modbee.com/politics/story/973480.html#ixzz0ZmEDxGTq
http://www.vcstar.com/news/2009/dec/15/schwarzenegger-says-go-carefully-on-climate/

http://www.contracostatimes.com/nation-world/ci_14000036

Pope Calls for Action on Climate Change. Pope Benedict XVI
called for urgent action to protect the environment, saying
Tuesday that climate change and natural catastrophes threaten the
rights to life, food, health - and ultimately peace. In his
annual message on the Roman Catholic Church's World Day of Peace,
the pope argued that the world's economic, social, and
environmental problems are moral crises that require mankind to
rethink its way of living. Posted.
http://www.modbee.com/world/story/973454.html#ixzz0ZmFpiPTP
http://www.contracostatimes.com/nation-world/ci_13999941

Governor Schwarzenegger Announces Subnational Leaders Coalition
to Combat Climate Change. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and
subnational leaders from Canada, Nigeria, France and Algeria
announced they have agreed to advance the concept of a new
regional coalition to fast track the results of the Copenhagen
Climate Change Conference and push their respective national
governments into more rapid actions and stronger commitments to
fight climate change. Posted.
http://www.imperialvalleynews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=6804&Itemid=23


US-China Showdown Looms over Climate Talks. In a showdown
between the world's two largest polluters, China accused the
United States and other rich nations Tuesday of backsliding on
commitments to fight global warming and the top American envoy
declared the U.S. would not change its offer on cutting
greenhouse gas emissions. Posted.
http://www.modbee.com/2028/story/973477.html#ixzz0ZmGzxgSi
http://www.contracostatimes.com/environment/ci_13999608

On The Waterfront: Dispute over Low-Sulfur Ship Fuel Headed Back
to Court. The shipping industry finds itself headed back to court
with California's top air quality cops over a new law requiring
ships use low-sulfur fuel within 24 miles of the state's
coastline. The Pacific Merchant Shipping Association has been
granted a hearing in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals over the
Golden State's rule that freight ships use ultra-low sulfur fuels
in both their main and auxiliary engines when traversing the
coast and while visiting ports. Posted.
http://www.presstelegram.com/news/ci_13995334 
http://www.contracostatimes.com/california/ci_13995334

Federal Dollars En Route to Northern San Joaquin Valley. San
Joaquin Valley earmarks are alive and well in a huge spending
bill about to be signed by President Barack Obama. After a flurry
of reform rhetoric, lawmakers slid several thousand targeted
spending projects into the $447 billion package that's secured
final House and Senate approval. Obama could sign the legislation
within days. Posted.
http://www.modbee.com/2343/story/973239.html#ixzz0ZmCWcWQM

Miracle Light: Can Lasers Solve the Energy Crisis? Next year
will mark the 50th birthday of the laser, one of the most
productive and widely used mega-inventions of the last century.
Scientists hope that 2010 also will see the launch of laser
technology's greatest challenge: creating an inexhaustible supply
of clean, carbon-free energy. Posted.
http://www.modbee.com/politics/story/973528.html#ixzz0ZmDfrBPa
 
California Port Truckers Will Protest, Reportedly Strike.
Several port truck driver associations are saying they’ll protest
a pending state diesel emission rule on Wednesday, Dec. 16 – and
some drayage drivers may even strike. According to the
California-based National Port Drivers Association, independent
truckers at the Port of Long Beach are scheduled to form a
protest caravan on Wednesday – two weeks before many trucks will
be banned from the port. The trucks are protesting California’s
Port Drayage Rule, which goes into effect next month. Posted.
http://www.landlinemag.com/todays_news/Daily/2009/Dec09/121409/121409-01.htm

Editorial: Bay Area Air Regulators Should Drop Mandatory No-Burn
Night. ONCE AGAIN, THE Bay Area Air Quality Management District
has made a mess of a winter Spare the Air night. Posted.
http://www.insidebayarea.com/opinion/ci_13995074

Soviet Industrial Collapse Reaps Climate Credits. Moscow—As
other countries struggle to cut greenhouse gas emissions, two
ex-Soviet industrial powerhouses have found themselves heirs to
an unlikely windfall. Russia and Ukraine head into the Copenhagen
summit with credits for billions of tons of carbon dioxide they
no longer belch, thanks to the collapse of the Soviet industrial
machine that gave them favorable terms under the 1997 Kyoto
Protocol. Posted.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/nation-world/ci_13999887

Ellen Goodman: The 'Human' Factor Missing In Copenhagen. London
— Yes, there is something more foreign than being offered
kippered herring for your breakfast. It's being offered
PopOffsets for your conscience. After seven hours and 3,325
miles, I arrive here, open the paper and discover that a British
think tank, Optimum Population Trust, is ready to make me a deal.
As a good environmentalist, I can offset the 1.1 tons of carbon
emissions spewed into the atmosphere from my trans-Atlantic
flight by donating $7 to a family planning program. Posted.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/opinion/ci_13995049

Benicia Officials Eye Green Loans. Benicia -- The city may start
a new financing program to help property owners borrow money to
install solar panels and other "green" technologies. The money
would come from a joint powers association in which the city
would participate. The loans could be repaid over 20 years
through assessments on homeowners' property tax bills. Posted.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/news/ci_13999568

Blogs

Barbara Boxer: U.S. Already Acting on Climate Change. Everybody
wants to get a word in edgewise in Copenhagen—even the
politicians who can’t make the trip. California Sen. Barbara
Boxer, chair of the Environment and Public Works Committee, meant
to give a big speech at the Copenhagen climate summit. “The press
of Senate business” kept her from delivering it in person. So she
passed it to Mary Nichols, head of the California Air Resources
Board, for distribution in DenmarkPosted.
http://blogs.wsj.com/environmentalcapital/2009/12/14/barbara-boxer-us-already-acting-on-climate-change/tab/print/

Copenhagen: Californians Make A Splash. Jack MacKenzie, a city
councilman from Rohnert Park, Calif., is in Copenhagen this week
to chat with a Scottish climate official about a mutual interest
in making energy from waves — and to tell the world that Sonoma
County is a leader in controlling its greenhouse-gas emissions. 
"Our message is, 'Hey U.N., we deserve a place at the table,' "
he said. No final treaty is likely to emerge from the frenzied
negotiations among 190 nations at the two-week global climate
conference. Posted.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/greenspace/2009/12/copenhagen-californians-make-a-splash.html

The Iron Chef and Climate Change: What A.B. 32 Means for Small
Business. In the first nine months of 2009, over $300 million was
spent by corporate interests to lobby Congress on the Clean
Energy Jobs and American Power Bill - more commonly referred to
as the Climate Bill. Over a third of that has been spent by
petroleum companies alone while the U.S. Chamber spent over $65
million to lobby on a variety of issues, including climate.
Posted.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/christina-erickson/the-iron-chef-and-climate_b_392221.html