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California Air Resources Board News Clips for January 13, 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 Panel Considers Money From Climate Rules. San
Francisco — Offering an early glimpse of how California might
manage a central element of its ambitious greenhouse-gas law, a
state committee has recommended that residents receive cash or
tax breaks resulting from auctions of emission allowances to
industries and other polluters. Under the proposal, described by
the committee as a “household friendly” approach, Californians
would receive 75 percent of the proceeds from emissions auctions,
either in tax decreases or checks sent directly to residents.
Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/13/science/earth/13emissions.html?ref=us&pagewanted=print

State Adopts Greenest Building Codes In U.S. Sacramento -- Newly
constructed hospitals, schools, shopping malls and homes in
California will be some of the greenest in the world, after a
state commission voted unanimously Tuesday to approve the most
stringent, environmentally friendly building code standards of
any state in the nation. Posted.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/01/13/MNDR1BH9SA.DTL&type=printable
http://greenoc.freedomblogging.com/2010/01/12/state-adopts-mandatory-green-building-code/18515/
http://www.upi.com/Business_News/2010/01/13/California-mandates-greener-buildings/UPI-23331263398689/
                    
http://www.legalnewsline.com/news/224975-california-adopts-mandatory-green-building-code

Biomass Seen Fueling California Economic Revival. California
could tap the energy stored in wood, garbage, plants and animal
waste to fuel a job creation engine that could pull the state out
of its economic doldrums, biomass energy advocates said Tuesday.
So far, though, the engine has barely crept out of the station,
said James D. Boyd, vice chairman of the California Energy
Commission. "(Biomass) is a treasure sort of waiting to be
discovered," he said. Posted.
http://www.sacbee.com/business/v-print/story/2457556.html

Biobutanol Firm Aims To Compete With Ethanol In 4 Years. Having
launched its first pilot facility yesterday with Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger looking on, California startup Cobalt Technologies
is the latest in a growing number of biofuel ventures banking on
biobutanol as an attractive ethanol alternative. Like ethanol,
biobutanol can be fermented from plant sugars, either food grains
or cellulosic plant parts. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2010/01/13/2

Governor Touts Jobs Plan At New Biofuel Plant. Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger used the opening of a new biofuel plant in
Mountain View Tuesday to pitch his plan for keeping and creating
jobs, saying California can't afford to lose its burgeoning
green-tech industry to other states. Schwarzenegger toured a new
pilot plant built by Cobalt Technologies, which makes biobutanol
from wood scraps. Within the next two years, Cobalt plans to
build a full-scale plant to mass-produce its fuel - exactly the
kind of facility Schwarzenegger said California needs. Posted.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/01/13/BUC11BH76G.DTL&type=printable

Contentious Plant Closure Gets Final Approval. San Francisco --
San Francisco's last polluting power plant will be shuttered by
the end of this year - ending a decade of debate over what to do
with the Mirant Corp.'s Potrero Hill plant, one of the dirtiest
in California. City officials and the plant's owners reached an
agreement last summer to shutter the 40-year-old fossil fuel
plant on the southeastern waterfront. Posted.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/01/13/MN1L1BH8VK.DTL&type=printable

California Panel Nixes End To Reduced Emissions, Voters Still
Could Get Say. A bill to suspend implementation of the much
ballyhooed California greenhouse gas law has hit a brick wall.
However, the issue is likely far from over. The Assembly Natural
Resources Committee voted 6-3 Monday, Jan. 11, to reject a bill –
AB118 – that sought to put on hold the nearly four-year-old law
that is intended to cap greenhouse gas emissions at 1990 levels
by 2020. Posted.
http://www.landlinemag.com/todays_news/Daily/2010/Jan10/011110/011210-05.htm

Going Green, Environmentally And Financially. Philadelphia -- If
Charles Szoradi could figure out how to power a car or even a
light bulb with his caffeine-free personal pep reservoir, he just
might achieve his goal of ending America's energy-hogging ways.
But for now, the 43-year-old Philadelphia environmental
entrepreneur is gaining widespread acclaim and recognition as he
presses the case for going green in more conventional ways. In
the process, he's trying to make some money. Posted.
http://www.sacbee.com/702/v-print/story/2458215.html

Bill to Overturn AB 32 Global Warming Law Defeated. On Monday,
the Assembly Natural Resources Committee rejected AB 118,
legislation that would have overturned California's landmark
global warming law that has enjoyed broad bipartisan support. Not
only would AB 118 have jeopardized public health and the
environment, it would have imposed economic harm at a time when
California is already struggling to regain our financial footing.
Posted. http://www.californiaprogressreport.com/site/?q=node/7331


As Senate Climate 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. Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2010/01/12/12greenwire-as-senate-climate-bill-languishes-lobbyists-pr-15488.html


Group Claims Stolen E-Mails Show Risk In Accepting Climate
Change Science. A major trade group for the insurance industry is
warning that it is "exceedingly risky" for companies to blindly
accept scientific conclusions around climate change, given the
"serious questions" around the extent to which humans cause
atmospheric warming. The assertion was made in a letter to
insurance regulators, who will administer the nation's first
mandatory climate requirements on corporations in May. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2010/01/13/1

OPINION: A Smoking Dragon In Sheep's Clothing. New Delhi — China
presents itself as a schizophrenic power: a developing country on
select international issues, but in other matters a rising
superpower with new muscular confidence that supposedly is in the
same league as the United States. At the recent Copenhagen
climate-change summit, China was the former: It loudly emphasized
its membership in the developing world and quietly used poor
countries, especially from Africa, to raise procedural obstacles
in the negotiations. Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/14/opinion/14iht-edchellaney.html?pagewanted=print

Dirty Air: Utah Officials Urge Limit on Kids' Play. Salt Lake
City -- Schools in parts of Utah kept students inside for sports
and recess Tuesday after soaring pollution levels prompted state
health warnings on driving and outdoor activity. Highland Park
Elementary students with respiratory problems were kept inside
for morning recess and no one was allowed outside for lunch
recess, Principal Sue Parker said. Most students don't seem to
mind, but teachers have to make an adjustment to their plans, she
said. ''It's a drag,'' she added. Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/01/12/us/AP-US-Air-Quality-Utah.html?_r=1&pagewanted=print

Report Links Vehicle Exhaust to Health Problems. Exhaust from
cars and trucks exacerbates asthma in children and may cause new
cases as well as other respiratory illnesses and heart problems
resulting in deaths, an independent institute that focuses on
vehicle-related air pollution has concluded. Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/13/health/research/13exhaust.html
 
Nipomo Mesa Pollution Study Slated For Release in February.
County air pollution control officials say a much-anticipated
study linking the Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area to
high particulate pollution on the Nipomo Mesa will be released to
the public in early February. Posted.
http://www.sanluisobispo.com/news/local/story/986862.html 

Port Truckers Get Three More Weeks to Find Loans. More than 800
Port of Oakland truckers who renewed grant applications last week
to buy diesel trucks and filters are getting a few more weeks to
line up additional financing, the California Air Resources Board
announced Tuesday. Truckers who are eligible for the new grants
and need extra time to get loans may continue to work at the port
until Feb. 16 as long as they have a radio frequency
identification tag. Posted.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/news/ci_14175789

Energy-Only Option Tests Senate's Climate Bill 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. Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2010/01/12/12greenwire-energy-only-option-tests-senates-climate-bill-b-4157.html


County Of Marin Reaffirms Support For Marin Clean Energy. The
county of Marin Tuesday became the seventh member of the Marin
Energy Authority to reaffirm its commitment to the Marin Clean
Energy initiative, which will put the jurisdictions in
competition with Pacific Gas and Electric Co. as a retailer of
electricity in Marin. Posted.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/news/ci_14174958

Dem Candidate Promotes Energy In Bid For Utah Gov. Salt Lake
City -- Democrat Peter Corroon launched his gubernatorial bid
Tuesday by saying Utah should become energy independent within 10
years by investing in renewable energy. Posted.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/12/AR2010011202490.html

NH Officials: Ag Has Key Role In Saving Energy. Concord, N.H. --
A state official told a gathering of farmers Tuesday that they
will play a big part in the push for energy efficiency as climate
change affects New Hampshire. Posted.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/12/AR2010011202840.html

Texas Town Welcomed Drilling, Now Fears Pollution. DISH, Texas
-- Like thousands of other Texans living atop one of the
country's most productive natural gas fields, folks in this tiny
town were giddy when drillers started offering up the fat checks.
Posted.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/12/AR2010011202674.html

BLOGS

Q&A: Hong Kong’s Air-Pollution Problem. EPA Thick smog hangs
over Hong Kong. Air pollution reached dangerous levels one of
every eight days in 2009, according to news reports. The air
pollution in Hong Kong reached “life threatening” levels on
average one in every eight days in 2009, The South China Morning
Post reported in an article that was picked up widely by other
news media last week. Posted.
http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/13/qa-hong-kongs-air-pollution-problem/?pagemode=print