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newsclips -- Newsclips for January 12, 2010.

Posted: 12 Jan 2010 11:47:19
California Air Resources Board News Clips for January 12, 2010. 
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.

California Ties Cash to Energy. California might start paying
people to cut their energy use. On Monday, a state panel proposed
that the lion's share of new fees California plans to impose on
greenhouse-gas emissions should be returned to consumers in the
form of tax cuts or annual dividend checks that eventually could
exceed $1,000 for a family of four. The proposal is part of an
effort to find the best uses for proceeds from a carbon allowance
auction. The panel argues that higher prices will drive consumers
to use less of the fossil fuels that produce greenhouse gases.
Posted.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB126325739326825569.html#mod=todays_us_page_one

Calif. Will Consider Fund To Offset Future Tax Increases With
Auction Revenues. California air regulators will consider putting
the revenue from auction of greenhouse gas emissions credits into
a general fund to offset future tax increases, in line with
recommendations yesterday from a key economic committee. In
Sacramento yesterday, the Economic and Allocation Advisory
Committee voted to send its 13 recommendations on the allocation
of carbon credits and the revenues from their sale to the state's
Air Resources Board. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2010/01/12/2

US Grants $187m For Fuel Efficiency Research. Washington -- The
Obama administration announced on Monday funding for nine
projects designed to significantly increase fuel efficiency in
heavy trucks and passenger vehicles, with more than half the
money coming from the $787 billion stimulus package. Energy
Secretary Steven Chu detailed the projects during a ceremony in
Columbus, Ind., home of Cummins Inc., which is to receive nearly
$40 million to develop a more efficient and cleaner diesel
engine, a more aerodynamic long-haul truck cab and trailer, and a
fuel cell that would deliver auxiliary power to reduce engine
idling while the vehicle was not on the road. Posted.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/01/11/national/w030405S71.DTL&type=printable

Committee Rejects Greenhouse Gas Bill Postponement. Sacramento -
An attempt to delay California's mandate to reduce greenhouse
gases was rejected Monday by an Assembly committee. Assembly Bill
118 - by Assemblyman Dan Logue, R-Marysville, and co-authored by
several others, including Assemblyman Bill Berryhill, R-Ceres -
would have suspended climate change law AB32 until the state's
unemployment rate is 5.5 percent for a full year. AB32 requires
reducing greenhouse gases to 1990 levels by 2020. Some in the
business community fear it will cost the state dearly. Posted.
http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100112/A_NEWS/1120316

The Climate is Changing. The rise of Tony Abbott is part of a
worldwide reconsideration of the costs of cap-and-trade. When I
say the climate is changing, I do not mean, as many people do,
that man-made global warming is destroying Planet Earth. I mean
that the politics of climate change is changing rapidly all over
the globe. Al Gore's moment has come and gone. Posted.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703652104574651610217495546.html?mod=WSJ_latestheadlines

As Senate Bill Languishes, Lobbyists Press EPA On Carbon Regs.
Skeptical about the prospects of climate legislation in the
Senate, energy companies and environmental groups have shifted
their lobbying efforts toward U.S. EPA. Energy businesses want to
stop EPA from proceeding with its plan to regulate greenhouse gas
emissions under the Clean Air Act, a move expected to come in
March. If the agency does decide to impose restrictions, industry
wants them delayed until 2012 or later. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/print/2010/01/12/1

Energy-Only Option Tests Senate's Cap-And-Trade Backers.
Advocates for Senate climate legislation are pushing back against
calls to abandon a mandatory cap on U.S. greenhouse gas emissions
in favor of a stand-alone energy bill that some say has a better
chance of passing in an election year. For starters, President
Obama's top energy adviser insisted yesterday that the
administration's goal remains a "comprehensive bill" that touches
on all corners of the energy and climate debate, including the
controversial cap-and-trade program that most Republicans have
labeled as an energy tax. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/print/2010/01/12/2

Group Calls For Federal Agencies To Frame Rules For Carbon
Offsets. Federal agencies need to put rules in place immediately
on carbon offsets to ensure that any mandatory climate bill down
the road operates smoothly from the start, according to new
recommendations from a coalition of think tanks, environmental
groups and businesses. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2010/01/12/4

Early Emission Cuts May Be Crucial To Long-Range Climate Change
Abatement, Study Says. A new study aims to help scientists and
policymakers understand how midterm emissions cuts will
ultimately affect longer-term efforts to blunt the effects of
climate change. "We basically wanted to look at what are the
implications of meeting any particular midcentury emissions
target for what you can actually achieve in the long term?" said
lead author Brian O'Neill, a climate scientist at the National
Center for Atmospheric Research, whose work appears in this
week's edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2010/01/12/5

U.S. Chamber Urges Obama, Congress To Rethink Climate Push. U.S.
Chamber of Commerce President Tom Donohue urged Washington
lawmakers today to rethink proposed climate regulations and other
policies that he charged would raise costs for businesses and
slow recovery from the worst economic downturn since the Great
Depression. "Congress, the administration and the states must
recognize that our weak economy simply could not sustain all the
new taxes, regulations and mandates now under consideration,"
Donohue said during his annual "State of American Business"
speech at the chamber's Washington headquarters. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/print/2010/01/12/4

Pope Denounces Failure To Forge New Climate Treaty. Vatican City
-- Pope Benedict XVI denounced the failure of world leaders to
agree to a new climate change treaty in Copenhagen last month,
saying Monday that world peace depends on safeguarding God's
creation. He issued the admonition in a speech to ambassadors
accredited to the Vatican, an annual appointment during which the
pontiff reflects on issues the Vatican wants to highlight to the
diplomatic corps. Posted.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/01/11/international/i023818S59.DTL&type=printable

Warming, Land Use Threaten Butterflies In Calif. – Study.
California's butterflies are dying at an alarming rate,
especially at sea level, due to the combined might of land
development and climate change, according to research to be
published this week by a scientist at the University of
California, Davis. Art Shapiro, a veteran ecology professor who
has been collecting butterfly data in California for 34 years, is
set to release a study this week through the National Academy of
Sciences that he says offers major new insight into how an
indicator organism is reacting to climate change. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2010/01/12/7

Will the Senate Castrate the Clean Air Act Next Week? After the
failure of the Copenhagen global warming talks, attention has
returned to the Senate, where cap-and-trade legislation is
languishing. For months, many proponents argued that we needed to
pass legislation -- no matter how compromised -- to produce
momentum for the Copenhagen talks. Posted.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-kieschnick/will-the-senate-castrate_b_419288.html?view=screen

Stimulus Aids Firms With Blemished Pasts. Stimulus funds in
California are flowing to firms that have previously been fined
for environmental damage or accused of fraud. Though many
companies in the country face lawsuits at one time or another,
the government should do a better job of considering a firm's
past when awarding the grants, reformers say. "It is very
upsetting that the government doesn't do more due diligence
before it hands money out," said Laura Chick, California's
inspector general for stimulus funds. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/print/2010/01/12/24

County To Grapple With Pluses, Drawbacks Of Solar Gold Rush.
Kern County's reliable relationship with the sun has become an
attractive lure for companies who want to convert sunlight to
electricity here. This year county planners will be able to
process 12 photovoltaic solar power plant projects that,
together, would cover thousands of acres of Kern County land. 
Posted.
http://www.bakersfield.com/news/local/x113239587/County-to-grapple-with-pluses-drawbacks-of-solar-gold-rush

Ford Says It Will Sell An Electric Focus Next Year. The
automaker also wins the North American Car of the Year and Truck
of the Year awards for the Ford Fusion Hybrid and Ford Transit
Connect, respectively, at the Detroit auto show. Ford Motor Co.
unveiled what it boasted was a "world-beating" next-generation
Ford Focus at the North American International Auto Show in
Detroit on Monday and announced its intentions to sell an
all-electric version of the vehicle starting next year. Posted.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-ford-focus12-2010jan12,0,4624506,print.story

Biggest Loser In Bay Area Transit Debacle May Be The
Environment. In the war over the future of public transit in the
eco-obsessed Bay Area, the biggest casualty could prove to be the
environment. Without a doubt, air quality inventories show that
the best way to cut greenhouse gases in the region is by removing
cars from the road. Posted.
http://www.insidebayarea.com/oaklandtribune/localnews/ci_14166899

Valley Clean-Tech Gets $260M Jolt. Hundreds, perhaps thousands,
of new clean-tech jobs should be created in the Silicon Valley in
the wake of the Obama administration's award of $2.3 billion in
tax credits for manufacturing projects that both stimulate
economic recovery and help curb greenhouse gas emissions. Posted.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/california/ci_14170077?nclick_check=1
http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_14170077 

Editorial: More Money For Port Of Oakland Truckers But Still Far
Too Little. AS SOME had prayed he would, Oakland Mayor Ron
Dellums has come to the aid of hundreds of truck drivers who
stand to lose their livelihoods because of strict new state air
regulations that took effect Jan. 1. Posted.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/opinion/ci_14161527

Environment At Risk As Public Transit Falls Out Of Favor. In the
war over the future of public transit in the eco-obsessed Bay
Area, the biggest casualty could prove to be the environment.
Without a doubt, air quality inventories show that the best way
to cut greenhouse gases in the region is by removing cars from
the road. Posted.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/news/ci_14171005

Murkowski And Her Lobbyist Allies. Sen. Lisa Murkowski
(R-Alaska) is likely to postpone offering an amendment (pdf) next
week that would bar the Environmental Protection Agency from
regulating carbon dioxide as a pollutant under the Clean Air Act,
according to sources familiar with the matter. Posted.
http://views.washingtonpost.com/climate-change/post-carbon/2010/01/murkowski_and_her_lobbyist_allies.html

Can East Coast Rocks Save The Climate? Buried volcanic rocks
along the coasts of New York, New Jersey and New England could
help lock away the carbon dioxide emitted by coal-fired utilities
and other sources, according to a study in the Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences. Posted.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/11/AR2010011103368.html

At Detroit Auto Show, The Hot Cars Use The Least Energy. The
2010 North American International Auto Show, which opened for
previews Monday, is more subdued than in years past and reflects
the diminished sales of the U.S. industry. But there were still
cars that caught people's attention, mostly by catering to the
new taste for fuel efficiency. Posted.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/12/AR2010011201237_pf.html

Study Predicts Big-City Dwellers Will Give Electric Cars An
Early Push. Electric vehicles could become a larger presence in
the streets of New York, Shanghai and Paris in the next five
years than elsewhere. According to independent research conducted
by McKinsey & Co., the cars could make up more than 15 percent of
new vehicles sold by 2015 in some mega-cities. The early buyers
of electric vehicles will be enthusiastic greens willing to
undergo some inconvenience to help the environment, the study
says. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2010/01/12/3

Toyota Introduces New Hybrid Concept Car. In a step toward
expanding its alternative-fuel vehicle options, Toyota yesterday
unveiled the FT-CH, a new hybrid compact car that is smaller,
lighter and more fuel-efficient than the Prius. The concept car,
which has no official date for sale to consumers, may be part of
a family of hybrid cars marketed under the Prius name, the
company confirmed. The car was unveiled at the North American
International Auto Show in Detroit. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2010/01/12/10

Little: Obama's Move to Reduce Carbon Emission Not Legal. It
appears the President Obama has decided he alone can dictate
emission standards for America's autos under "cap and trade." He
reportedly supports proposals requiring limited carbon emissions
without any involvement from Congress. Posted.
http://www.paradisepost.com/opinion/ci_14167383 

Blogs

Energy Department Awards $187 Million for Development of
Efficient Cars and Trucks. The United States secretary of Energy,
Steven Chu, announced Monday that the government was giving $187
million to nine projects to improve fuel efficiency in heavy duty
trucks and passenger vehicles. Mr. Chu made the announcement at
the headquarters of Columbus, Ind.,-based Cummins, Inc., which is
receiving $53 million for two projects: improving Class 8, or
so-called “super trucks,” by developing a cleaner diesel engine;
and developing new technology for powertrains for passenger
vehicles. Posted.
http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/12/energy-department-awards-187-million-for-development-of-efficient-cars-and-trucks/?scp=4&sq=climate%20change&st=cse


Should a Climate Bill Even Try to Fight Sprawl? The potential
for a cap-and-trade climate bill to set aside significant amounts
of money for reforming local land use and transportation planning
is often touted by Democrats, environmental groups, and this
particular Streetsblogger. But what does Mary Nichols, chair of
the California Air Resources Board and administrator of the
state's landmark effort to cut emissions by changing development
patterns, think of the idea of tackling sprawl via climate
legislation? Posted.
http://dc.streetsblog.org/2010/01/11/should-a-climate-bill-even-try/


California Cap-And-Trade: A Political Gamble? It may be no
accident that an advisory committee to the California Air
Resources Board today recommended that 75% of an expected $20
billion in annual revenue from the state's proposed global
warming measures be kicked right back to state residents.
"Household friendly" is the way the announcement put it. Posted.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/greenspace/2010/01/cap-and-trade-california.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+GreenspaceEnvironmentBlog+%28Greenspace%29

Last-Minute About-Face on Green Building. California is poised
to pass the first mandatory green building code in the nation
today, and green building groups that have long supported such a
move have come out against it.  They object to the governor's
rejection of a simple one-size-fits-all mandatory code in favor
of a two-tier ranking system that green builders and other
environmental groups say will create opportunities for developers
to wrap themselves in the green flag without actually meeting
industry standards.  Posted.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/green/detail?entry_id=55068

Climate Question? A UCI Scientist Answers. We’ve been inviting
readers to send us their questions about climate change, and
seeking answers from climate scientists at UC Irvine. Michael
Prather, who specializes in climate modeling and for years has
been an author of reports from the United Nations’
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, answers a question
about greenhouse gases from Jim Craig (blog name Jack Kreg).
Posted.
http://greenoc.freedomblogging.com/2010/01/11/climate-question-a-uci-scientist-answers/18397/

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