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Cool-Car Rules May Affect GPS. New Rules Require Special
Windshield Coatings On New Cars. Sacramento, Calif. -- Some new
so-called cool-car rules from the state are making law
enforcement hot under the collar. There are worries that the
rules will hurt global positioning system technology. GPS is used
extensively by the California Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation to monitor parolees statewide. 
GPS ankle bracelet technology has been in the news since the
arrest of parolee and accused kidnapper Phillip Garrido.
Questions center on whether those devices could be compromised,
resulting in a threat to public safety. Posted.
http://www.kcra.com/news/22805469/detail.html

Editorial: Landmark California Clean-Air Measure Deserves Fair
Chance to Succeed. THERE IS a major battle brewing over whether
to delay full implementation of Assembly Bill 32. That's the 2006
measure that requires California to limit its greenhouse gas
emissions to 1990 levels by 2020, or about 30 percent below the
level that would exist 10 years from now without AB 32. The
California Air Resources Board, which will implement the measure,
developed a plan in December 2008 to achieve emissions
reductions. It is scheduled to take effect by 2012. Posted.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/opinion/ci_14651643?nclick_check=1


Editorial: Repealing AB 32 Would Be a Disaster for California.
It's bad enough that state leaders who claim to represent the
best interests of Californians are backing an attempt to suspend
the state's landmark global warming law. Now, we've learned that
a signature-gathering campaign for the effort is being financed
by hundreds of thousands of dollars from two Texas oil companies.
Posted. http://www.mercurynews.com/opinion/ci_14675072 

Editorial: AB 32 Foes Are Slick – And Predictable. Looking for
hot air about global warming?  You don't have to look very far.
You can find it in columns by George Will and other pundits who
dismiss the preponderance of scientific literature that global
climate change is happening, and that human activities are
contributing to it. Posted.
http://www.sacbee.com/2010/03/14/2603820/ab-32-foes-are-slick-and-predictable.html#ixzz0iGUIQwYt

Our View: ‘Green' Could Worsen State Job Climate. Putting his
best foot forward, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proclaimed, "I'm
absolutely convinced that AB32 will create more jobs than kill
jobs." It may be the governor's first acknowledgement that his
legacy legislation, Assembly Bill 32, the Global Warming
Solutions Act, will, in fact, "kill jobs." Posted.
http://www.appeal-democrat.com/articles/jobs-92699-governor-create.html


Dust in the Wind. Opponents of off-roading in the Oceano Dunes
are hailing a recent study as more ammunition in their campaign
to shut down the off-highway vehicle park because it’s harming
the health of Nipomo Mesa residents. But off-roaders are
questioning the science of the study, saying the report is
incomplete and ignores certain facts. The report is the second
phase of a study of particulate air pollution on the Nipomo Mesa
conducted for the San Luis Obispo County Air Pollution Control
District. Posted.
http://www.santamariatimes.com/news/local/article_069191da-2e6f-11df-ab48-001cc4c002e0.html


EPA Rules on Bay Area Air. Bay Area transit planners have a new
challenge after the region was found out of compliance with
federal clean air standards. KCBS reports future highway and
transportation projects will be affected. It has to do with
particulate matter. Tiny particles that pose a significant health
risk. Posted.
http://www.kcbs.com/bayareanews/EPA-Rules-on-Bay-Area-Air/6568003


EPA Scientists Recommend Tougher Soot Standards. The latest
science supports substantially tightening U.S. EPA's air quality
standards for soot in order to safeguard public health and the
environment, according to a draft report from agency scientists.
Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2010/03/12/12greenwire-epa-scientists-recommend-tougher-soot-standard-26448.html

Group: Polluters Use Offsets To Avoid Carbon Cuts. Major
European polluters are buying their way out of making big cuts to
greenhouse gas emissions by purchasing carbon offsets that pay
for environmental programs in developing nations, a nonprofit
group said Friday. To avoid the high cost of becoming greener,
power companies and steel makers are using offsets to meet
emissions-reduction requirements, and thus undermining the EU's
cap-and-trade program that would otherwise punish them
financially for not cleaning up their operations, the group
Sandbag said. Posted.
http://www.modbee.com/2010/03/11/1084294/group-polluters-use-offsets-to.html#ixzz0iGDlLyhF

Agency Gives Electric Trucks the Green Light. Electrifying the
delivery of strawberries, bread, packages and other items, a
major state agency has approved zero-emission electric trucks
made by a Stockton company. The California Air Resources Board on
Thursday approved Electric Vehicles International's fully
electric return-to-base trucks. The term refers to trucks that
start out at a warehouse, deliver items and then return to the
starting point, which electric trucks need to do so they can plug
in and charge up overnight. Posted.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/california/ci_14657872
http://www.insidebayarea.com/california/ci_14657872
http://www.centralvalleybusinesstimes.com/stories/001/?ID=14612 
http://www.tirebusiness.com/subscriber/headlines2.phtml?cat=1204552929&headline=California+approves+electric+trucks+as+ZEVs&id=1268340217


Two Importers Of Motorcycles, Atvs Arrested. Two top executives
at Ontario importer Goldenvale Inc. on Thursday were arrested and
charged with illegally importing motorcycles, ATVs and related
vehicles from China. Authorities arrested Goldenvale President
and owner Kening N. Ma, 49, and vice President Shirley Hyunae Ji,
44, on a 70-count criminal complaint that alleges they profited
from false certificates of origin. Posted.
http://www.sbsun.com/ci_14659123?source=most_viewed 

High Desert Residents Struggle With Wind Turbine Regulations.
Oak Hills - When Gus Sansone decided to invest in a wind turbine
for his home in 2001, he had no idea just how much money, and
energy, he would be saving in the long run. He said he paid about
$36,000 to have the 80-foot-tall turbine installed, but with
state and federal rebates, the cost came out to just over
$16,000. After six years, the turbine paid for itself, expedited
by Southern California Edison rate increases and Sansone's
switching over to an electric dryer and an electric baseboard
heating system in his home. 
Posted. http://www.sbsun.com/ci_14676339

AP Interview: Kerry: Energy Bill More about Jobs. Sen. John
Kerry, hoping to win over wavering senators, said he is pushing
environmental reforms to create jobs and spark energy
independence, with climate benefits along "for the ride." In an
interview with The Associated Press, the Massachusetts Democrat
said legislation he's crafting with Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.,
and Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., will differ from a House-passed bill
that embraces a so-called "cap and trade" approach to reduce
pollution blamed for global warming. Posted. 
http://www.modbee.com/2010/03/12/1085482/ap-interview-kerry-energy-bill.html#ixzz0iGC3XqLV

Green Team Certifies First S.J. Business. About two years ago,
Green Team San Joaquin began voluntary audits of about 400 county
businesses to help make their practices environmentally
sustainable. On Thursday, the team announced the first business
to be officially certified: Stockton-based Premier Finishing.
Posted.
http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100312/A_NEWS/3120318/-1/a_news14


Blogs
Health Costs of California Air Pollution. Filthy air in
California cost federal, state and private health insurers $193
million in hospital costs, according to a RAND Corporation study
released last week. The report is the first to show how
California’s failure to meet federal clean air quality standards
is increasing hospital expenses and its impact on insurers, said
John Romley, the study’s lead author and a RAND economist.
Posted.
http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/12/health-costs-of-california-air-pollution/


Water Vapor Causing Global Warming. Some have argued that humans
cannot be responsible for global warming because water vapor, not
carbon dioxide (CO2) is a much more important greenhouse gas.
These climate change doubters could correctly point out that CO2
"accounts for only one in every 4000 molecules in the air" while
"water vapor accounts for one in every 20." They could also
correctly state that CO2 "absorbs only a quarter as much energy
from sunlight as water vapor, molecule for molecule" and conclude
from this that "water vapor is responsible for the majority of
atmospheric heating." Posted.
http://blogs.redding.com/dcraig/archives/2010/03/water-vapor-cau.html