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California Air Resources Board News Clips for February 25, 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 webites to view some of the following news articles.

'Widespread Fraud' In California's Smog Test Program. State aims
to make major changes after finding that nearly a third of older
cars fail roadside smog checks within a year of passing at test
stations. Nearly a third of older-model cars stopped for roadside
smog tests in Southern California failed them, despite having
received a passing grade at inspection stations within a year, a
state audit has found. Posted.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-smogtest25-2010feb25,0,3851885,print.story
http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_14468959
http://www.contracostatimes.com/california/ci_14468959
http://www.fresnobee.com/2010/02/25/1836390/proposed-calif-law-aims-to-reduce.html

Biagi Bros. Fined For Emissions Violations. Napa-based trucking
firm Biagi Bros. was fined $14,400 this month by the California
Air Resources Board for emissions violations during 2008 and
2009. An investigation by the state agency showed Biagi Bros., on
Airpark Road south of Napa, failed to properly inspect its
diesel-powered vehicles for excess emissions. Posted.
http://www.napavalleyregister.com/news/local/article_043df668-21c1-11df-856a-001cc4c002e0.html?print=1

CEQA-Exemption Bills Stalled In Committee. Two bills backed by
business groups, with the blessing of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger,
that would exempt some public and private developments from
judicial review stalled Wednesday in the Senate Environmental
Quality Committee. In his State of the State address,
Schwarzenegger proposed judicial review exemptions under the
California Environmental Quality Act, saying that would speed
job-producing construction. However, environmental groups and
some labor unions opposed the proposal and lined up against the
two bills during Wednesday's hearing. Posted.
http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/capitolalertlatest/2010/02/ceqa-relief-bil.html

Cummins to Pay $2.1 M for Diesel Engine Violations. Cummins
Inc., a major motor vehicle engine company based in Columbus,
Ind., will pay a $2.1 million penalty and recall 405 engines
under a settlement agreement resolving violations of the Clean
Air Act, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Justice
Department announced Feb. 22. Posted.
http://eponline.com/articles/2010/02/25/cummins-to-pay-2.1-m-for-diesel-engine-violations.aspx

CMTA's Anti-Jobs Misinformation Campaign on CARB's Cool Cars
Program Misfires. Summary: On Thursday, the California Air
Resources Board is scheduled to take final action on a process to
enact federal standards making cars cleaner and more efficient.
This will fulfill CARB’s commitment as part of a deal struck last
May with nine of the world’s leading automakers, the two major
automaker trade associations and the federal government. Posted.
http://www.camajorityreport.com/index.php?module=articles&func=display&aid=4149&ptid=9&theme=print

Truckers Lose Bid For Injunction Against Port of L.A.   The Port
of Los Angeles' effort to reduce pollution and change the way
cargo is hauled to and from its terminal gates survived another
court battle Wednesday when a federal appeals panel refused to
block one of the plan's most controversial provisions. Three
judges from the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals denied a
request for an injunction against the port's plan to require all
independent haulers to become employees of approved concessions
or trucking companies. Posted.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-truckers25-2010feb25,0,6828579,print.story
http://www.contracostatimes.com/california/ci_14463141

EPA Will Need Increased Climate Funding as Regs Ramp Up, Jackson
Says. U.S. EPA will need increased funding for climate programs
in future years as the agency moves forward on efforts to curb
greenhouse gas emissions, Administrator Lisa Jackson said
yesterday. "I would expect that the needs would continue to grow
as we move into a world -- either through legislation, hopefully
through legislation, but possibly also with regulation -- of
increasing activity on climate change," Jackson told the House
Interior and Environment Appropriations Subcommittee. Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2010/02/25/25greenwire-epa-will-need-increased-climate-funding-as-reg-20989.html?pagewanted=print

Obama Speech to Business Group Leaves Greenhouse Gas Issues Up
in the Air. A speech by President Obama to top CEOs yesterday
left some climate experts and energy industry lobbyists searching
for stronger clues about White House policy preferences as
members of the Senate struggle to come up with a fresh proposal
for cutting greenhouse gas emissions. "If we decide now that
we're putting a price on this pollution in a few years, it will
give businesses the certainty of knowing they have time to plan
and transition," Obama told corporate executives at a Business
Roundtable meeting in Washington. Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2010/02/25/25climatewire-obama-speech-to-business-group-leaves-greenh-89135.html?pagewanted=print

Letter Of Editor: Green Jobs Help Kern. This is in response to
Tom Creswell's Feb. 14 Forum article, "It's not that hot, and
issue is solar, not CO2." Even as we watch a Winter Olympics
suffering from a lack of snow and warm temperatures and a parched
Central Valley where thousands are unemployed because of a lack
of water, it is not surprising that some oil companies are still
in denial about climate change. Let's be clear: scientists have
plenty of data that prove CO2 emissions produced by humans are
responsible for global warming. Posted.
http://www.bakersfield.com/opinion/letters/x431720025/Green-jobs-help-Kern

Reid Calls For Comprehensive Bill ASAP. Senate Majority Leader
Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is urging Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) to
quickly write comprehensive climate and energy legislation to
give the measure a chance of reaching the floor this year. Reid
and Kerry met Tuesday in the Capitol to discuss strategy on a
sweeping measure that is expected to include incentives for
nuclear power and domestic oil and gas production, as well as
some mechanism for pricing greenhouse gas emissions. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/print/2010/02/25/1

Official: Climate Change Treaty Unlikely This Year. BALI,
Indonesia—Industrialized and developing countries are not likely
to reach a treaty this year on cutting greenhouse gas emissions,
which have sparked fears of weather-related disasters, the U.N.
climate chief said Thursday. Posted.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/nation-world/ci_14468845

World Warming Unhindered By Cold Spells: Scientists. Singapore
(Reuters) - The pace of global warming continues unabated,
scientists said on Thursday, despite images of Europe crippled by
a deep freeze and parts of the United States blasted by
blizzards. Posted.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/25/AR2010022500199.html

Republicans Bash USDA's Investment in Climate Research. House
Republicans yesterday lashed out against the Obama
administration's proposal to ramp up funding next year for
research on the effects of global warming on farmers. Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2010/02/25/25greenwire-republicans-bash-usdas-investment-in-climate-r-94722.html

China Has No Emissions Cap Plan For Now -- State Media. China's
chief climate change negotiator says the country has no plans to
cap its greenhouse gas emissions for the time being, state media
reported today. Su Wei, who led China's negotiating team at the
U.N. climate talks in Copenhagen in December, said yesterday that
China "could not and should not" set an upper boundary on its
greenhouse gas emissions right now because the country's economy
is still growing, so its carbon emissions must be allowed to
increase. The country is currently the world's biggest carbon
polluter. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/print/2010/02/25/6

A Data with Destiny. We have known for two years that the
renewable fuel standard (RFS) would require biomass-based diesel,
but there has been a great deal of uncertainty about how the
program would treat the multitude of biodiesel feedstocks. The
National Biodiesel Board has labored tirelessly for the past 24
months to ensure that sound science was the basis of discussion,
and show all sustainable feedstocks are indeed viable
alternatives to imported petroleum. Posted.
http://www.biodieselmagazine.com/article-print.jsp?article_id=4046

Curbing Smokestack Emissions Tops EPA's 2011-2013 Enforcement
Goals. Slashing smokestack pollution from the coal-fired power
plants and other large sources will rank among U.S. EPA's top
enforcement priorities over the next several years, the agency
said yesterday. From 2011 to 2013, EPA said it plans to tackle
air pollution from the largest sources, especially coal-fired
utilities and the cement, glass and acid sectors. Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2010/02/24/24greenwire-curbing-smokestack-emissions-tops-epas-2011-20-83812.html?pagewanted=print

Bay Area Electric Car Dealerships Running Out Of Juice. In 2007,
Marc Korchin thought he had found his mission in life: To benefit
the environment and save his fellow Bay Area residents money by
selling zero-emission all-electric cars. Two years later, after
burning through his life savings, he was forced to close his
Berkeley dealership. Posted.
http://www.insidebayarea.com/oaklandtribune/localnews/ci_14463373