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California Air Resources Board News Clips for May 26, 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.
 
CLIMATE CHANGE

US Envoy Hopeful $30 Billion Aid Can Be Raised To Combat Climate
Change. The United States is hopeful industrialized nations can
raise $30 billion in aid that was pledged last year to help
developing countries fight global climate change. U.S. climate
envoy Todd Stern said Wednesday the United States, the European
Union and Japan are working hard toward coming up with the
funding, which was promised over a three-year period starting
this year. Posted.
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/world/us-envoy-hopeful-30-billion-aid-can-be-raised-to-combat-climate-change-94910519.html#ixzz0p3ZaD29X

Senate Bill Would Provide $2 Billion for Transit Agencies. A
group of senators led by Sen. Chris Dodd (D., Conn.) proposed
Tuesday that Congress throw a $2 billion lifeline to struggling
public transit systems in New York and other big cities. The
bill, introduced with the support of seven Democratic co-sponsors
including Sen. Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) and lawmakers from New
Jersey, Ohio and Illinois, would allow transit agencies
nationwide to use federal money to reduce fares and restore
service cuts made after January of last year. The proposal's
prospects aren't clear at a time when Congress is under pressure
to cut federal spending. Posted.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703341904575266800269490946.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

AB 32

Voters Should Reject Suspension of AB32. When voters head to the
polls on June 8, they will be asked to decide on a proposition
sponsored by two Texas oil companies. Ridiculously calling
themselves the California Jobs Initiative Committee, the group
wants California to suspend its ground-breaking clean energy
bill, AB32. The bill, which has served as a model for other
states, is aimed at encouraging growth of the clean energy sector
and curbing climate change. Posted.
http://www.dailybruin.com/articles/2010/5/26/voters-should-reject-suspension-ab32/

Our View: Kicking Energy Prices Up, Jobs Out. A damning report
by the state's nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office says the
controversial Global Warming Solutions Act to reduce greenhouse
gas emissions will drive up energy prices, force businesses to
delay expansion or flee the state and put California at a
competitive disadvantage. We're not surprised. We've made that
case since the law, Assembly Bill 32, was passed in 2006. Posted.
http://www.appeal-democrat.com/articles/jobs-95310-ab32-economic.html

FUEL ECONOMY

The Propaganda Campaign against Obama's Tougher Fuel Economy
Rules. The following editorial appeared in the Los Angeles Times
on Tuesday, May 25: Detroit automakers fought successfully to
fend off tougher fuel economy rules for nearly two decades, so it
was a little disorienting to see them cheering last week as
President Obama announced a new crackdown. But even if General
Motors (now a partly owned subsidiary of the federal government)
and its competitors are no longer trying to block cleaner cars,
another powerful lobby remains very much opposed, and isn't above
issuing flagrant disinformation to achieve its goals: the fossil
fuel industry. Posted
http://www.sacbee.com/2010/05/26/2777605/the-propaganda-campaign-against.html

http://www.mercedsunstar.com/2010/05/26/1436171/the-propaganda-campaign-against.html#ixzz0p3YyqwE1

Industry Applauds Fuel Economy Policy. Trucking company and
truck maker leaders are on board with the policy President Obama
signed last week calling on two federal agencies to develop
national standards for fuel economy and greenhouse gas emissions
for medium and heavy trucks. "This will bring down costs for
transporting goods, serving businesses and consumers alike,"
Obama said. "We estimate that we can increase fuel economy by as
much as 25 percent in tractor-trailers using technologies that
already exist." Posted.
http://www.truckinginfo.com/news/news-detail.asp?news_id=70533 

DIESEL 

CARB Seeks Information From On-Road, Off-Road Fleets. The
California Air Resources Board is seeking information and ideas
from fleets on possible amendments to the truck and bus
regulation and off-road regulation. CARB is asking fleets to
share information by June 1. On-road fleets are asked to fill out
the Truck Fleet and Financial Information Survey. This fleet data
and financial information will help CARB evaluate the impact of
the economy on individual businesses subject to the truck and bus
regulation. The survey also requests the DOORS ID for fleets that
have off-road vehicles as well.  Posted.
http://www.truckinginfo.com/news/news-detail.asp?news_id=70531

AIR POLLUTION 

New Pollution Rules Planned For California. Reuters is reporting
the state of California is looking to double greenhouse gas
emissions cuts and fuel efficiency gains proposed new regulations
for vehicles that will start late this decade.
The new round of proposed regulation in 2017-2025 could have
similar cost consequences as the national standards adopted on
April 1 for model years 2012 to 2016, adding about US$1,000 per
vehicle in cost and delivering fuel savings of around US$3,000,
they said. Posted.
http://www.autoserviceworld.com/issues/story.aspx?aid=1000372448

EPA: Texas Refinery Permit Violates Clean Air Act. The
Environmental Protection Agency moved Tuesday to end a
long-running dispute with Texas over how the state regulates
emissions, including cancer-causing toxins such as benzene and
butadiene, from dozens of refineries that produce a third of the
nation's gasoline and billions of dollars of petrochemicals.
Posted.
http://www.modbee.com/2010/05/25/1181411/epa-bars-texas-operating-permit.html#ixzz0p3HLi3is

SMOG CHECK

Queen Of The Road: Smog Check: Who Needs It, Who Doesn't.
COMMUTER: I have a question regarding whether a natural-gas
vehicle needs a smog check or not. I've own a natural-gas vehicle
made by Honda, the Civic GX, for five years and never had to do a
smog check, but this time when I received my Department of Motor
Vehicles registration renewal, they require me to do a smog
check. I thought NGVs do not require smog checks because they
produce almost no exhaust/pollution/smog. And I have a "clean air
vehicle" decal. Please help. Posted.
http://www.insidebayarea.com/columns/ci_15158978 

GREEN/ENERGY

GOP, Silicon Valley 'Disconnect' Over Green. As President Obama
visits a 
Fremont solar panel manufacturing plant today to tout green
jobs, a huge divide is opening up between the state's top
Republican and Democratic candidates over their environmental
positions - in particular about how to attract and retain
clean-tech business. Posted.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/05/25/MNO11DJU3V.DTL#ixzz0p3Ja1ctE

Union City Seeking Ideas for Reducing Carbon Footprint. The city
is asking for the public's help in figuring ways to reduce its
carbon footprint over the next decade. The city has set a goal of
cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent below its 2005
level — or by about 111,938 tons of equivalent carbon dioxide —
by 2020. The city, along with 10 other local government agencies,
joined the Alameda County Climate Protection Project in 2006.
Posted. http://www.insidebayarea.com/green-living/ci_15160001

Victorville Campus to Unveil High-Efficiency Solar Project. The
sprawling solar installations gobbling up California's deserts
have a new competitor, one that claims to generate more energy at
lower costs while using less open space. Known as concentrator
photovoltaics, or CPV, the technology is featured in an
installation that will be revealed Tuesday at Victor Valley
College. Posted.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-solar-plant-20100525,0,4249399.story

Nissan Builds Battery Plant for Electric-Car Boom (Update1).
Nissan Motor Co. began building a battery factory next to its
main North American auto-assembly plant to support Chief
Executive Officer Carlos Ghosn's expectation of surging U.S.
demand for electric vehicles. When it opens in 2012, the plant in
Smyrna, Tennessee, will be able to supply lithium-ion battery
packs for 200,000 electric cars a year, topping Nissan's plan to
build as many as 150,000 rechargeable Leaf hatchbacks there
annually. Posted.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2010/05/25/bloomberg1376-L31DEZ1A74E9-1.DTL#ixzz0p3mdjMdI

BLOGS

Global Warming Tide Turning, Says (Ready For This?) NY Times.
Some news just can’t be hidden from sight forever. The New York
Times, no less, reports (emphasis ours): “Last month hundreds of
environmental activists crammed into an auditorium here to ponder
an anguished question: If the scientific consensus on climate
change has not changed, why have so many people turned away from
the idea that human activity is warming the planet?” Posted.
http://orangepunch.freedomblogging.com/2010/05/25/global-warming-tide-turning-says-ready-for-this-ny-times/26775/


Global Cooling. The Heartland Institute’s James M. Taylor, an
environmental policy expert, said global cooling is already
happening. Figures from the Rutgers University Global Snow Lab
show snow records from the last 10 years exceeded the records set
in the 1960s and 1970s. The past “decade set a record for largest
average global snow extent,” Taylor said. Posted.
http://orangepunch.freedomblogging.com/2010/05/25/global-cooling-2/26805/


California Air Resources Board Offers Backing To Obama Green
Plans. Earlier this week we told you about President Obama’s push
for a national policy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (see
article) – and now his plans have received backing from the
California Air Resources Board. Posted.
http://www.thegreencarwebsite.co.uk/blog/index.php/2010/05/26/california-air-resources-board-offers-backing-to-obama-green-plans/