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California Air Resources Board News Clips for July 23, 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/GHG’S

Senate Abandons Climate Effort, Dealing Blow To President.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid abandoned efforts to reduce
carbon emissions from the nation's power plants yesterday,
marking the first major legislative setback for President Obama,
who entered office vowing to address climate change. Reid
(D-Nev.) was cornered into the decision after a handful of
Democrats and Republicans failed to be swayed by an 18-month
effort in Congress to charge corporate polluters for releasing
carbon dioxide. 
Posted. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2010/07/23/1

Can The Climate Bill Be 'Rebranded' As A Republican Solution?
When Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said climate
legislation would be delayed, a few blocks down, on Pennsylvania
Avenue, Rep. Bob Inglis (R-S.C.) had just finished sketching out
what could become the next act of this long-playing political
drama. He was telling a group of utility executives and others
that combating climate change would require pricing carbon and
that pushing such legislation through Congress would partly
require rebranding it as a smart market-based, Republican
solution. Posted. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2010/07/23/2

Federal And State Regulations Can Drop CO2 Emissions, But Not To
Obama Goals – Study. The collapse of climate legislation in the
Senate yesterday raises the question of how far existing state
and federal policies can reduce greenhouse gas emissions on their
own. In that regard, an environmental think tank is releasing a
study today concluding that the most aggressive implementation of
current state and federal law would fall short in cutting
greenhouse gases to levels called for by the Obama
administration, although such action could bring the nation
"within range" of government targets for 2020. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2010/07/23/3/

As California's Temperature Rises, So Does The Ozone. First
you’ll get cooked and then you’ll get choked. That's what a new
state government report is predicting: As climate change causes
temperatures to rise in California, ozone levels will climb, too.
The report predicts that by the year 2050, Californians will
experience between six to 30 more days per year that exceed the
federal government’s ozone safety standards. Posted.
http://www.californiawatch.org/watchblog/235-californias-temperature-rises-so-does-ozone

Efforts to Block EPA's Greenhouse Gas Regulations Back in Play.
Over the past two years, cap-and-trade advocates used the threat
of U.S. EPA climate regulations as a key driver in the push for
climate legislation on Capitol Hill. Now, Democratic leaders face
the challenge of renewed bipartisan interest in handcuffing EPA
before it takes action. Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2010/07/23/23climatewire-efforts-to-block-epas-greenhouse-gas-regulat-50829.html

Climate And Energy Bill Delayed As Political Support Withers.
Bowing to a lack of support, Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid
on Thursday said there would be no vote this summer on a bill
that would put the nation's first limits on the carbon pollution
responsible for global warming. The decision could doom the
measure's long-term chances as well. Posted .
http://www.modbee.com/2010/07/22/1263489/climate-and-energy-bill-delayed.html

You Can't Explain Away Climate Change. The following editorial
appeared in the Los Angeles Times on Thursday, July 22: You
probably won't hear it from columnist George F. Will, Fox News
commentators or the plethora of conservative blogs that have
claimed global warming essentially stopped in 1998, but recent
figures released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration show that global land and ocean surface
temperatures in June were the highest since record-keeping began
in 1880. Posted.
http://www.modbee.com/2010/07/23/1264167/you-cant-explain-away-climate.html

Senate Abandons Climate Effort, Dealing Blow to President.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid abandoned efforts to reduce
carbon emissions from the nation's power plants yesterday,
marking the first major legislative setback for President Obama,
who entered office vowing to address climate change. Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2010/07/23/23climatewire-senate-abandons-climate-effort-dealing-blow-88864.html

Federal Agencies Must Fill in Blanks of Obama's Greenhouse Gas
Goals. Earlier this week, President Obama announced a seemingly
straightforward goal: Reduce the government's greenhouse gas
emissions by encouraging employees to bike, carpool or take
public transportation to work. Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2010/07/22/22greenwire-federal-agencies-must-fill-in-blanks-of-obamas-39825.html

Moss Landing Cement Venture Wins $20 Million In Stimulus Funds.
Los Gatos start-up Calera, which is pioneering a way to make
cement from greenhouse gas emissions, was awarded $19.9 million
in federal stimulus funds Thursday. The 3-year-old company, which
harnesses carbon dioxide from the Dynegy power plant in Moss
Landing, was one of six nationwide ventures recognized by the
Department of Energy for turning a harmful exhaust into a useful
industrial product. Posted.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/california/ci_15579687

AB 32/ Prop 23

California's Prop. 23 Fuzzy On Jobless Tally. 
Proposition 23 says California's greenhouse gas rules should be
suspended until the state's sky-high unemployment rate drops. The
problem is, the measure doesn't specify exactly what that means.
Posted.
http://www.fresnobee.com/2010/07/23/2015928/californias-prop-23-fuzzy-on-jobless.html
http://www.sacbee.com/2010/07/23/2909536/californias-prop-23-fuzzy-on-jobless.html#mi_rss=State%20Politics

Economists: Blocking California's Clean Energy Law Will Be
Costly. More than 100 economists with expertise in California
energy and climate issues have released an open letter, warning
against any delay in the implementation of California clean
energy policies. The letter was organized by the Union of
Concerned Scientists. A broad array of the nation's leading
economists disagree with those who support suspending
implementation of emission reduction policies, saying that
delaying action now will be more costly than taking action now.
Posted.
http://www.nawindpower.com/naw/e107_plugins/content/content_lt.php?content.6264

Proposition 23 Puts California’s Recovery at Risk. With so many
sectors of the economy faltering, Californians have reason to
celebrate the leadership our state is showing in promoting clean
energy and the dramatic potential for job growth it presents.
Since 2005, employment in the clean energy sector has grown ten
times faster than the statewide average. Posted.
http://www.camajorityreport.com/index.php?module=articles&func=display&aid=4433&ptid=9

Proposition 23, State Cuts Protested In Oroville. About 25
people converged on a representative of state Assemblyman Dan
Logue (R-Linda) on Wednesday afternoon in Oroville to protest
state cuts to In-Home Supportive Services and Proposition 23.
Outside Butte County Supervisor Bill Connelly's office on Lower
Wyandotte Road, members of the Northern California State Budget
Alliance, the Butte Environmental Council and the Peace and
Justice Center held signs protesting Proposition 23. Posted.
http://www.chicoer.com/news/oroville/ci_15574805

CARBON EMISSIONS 

Study Points To Limits On Arctic Ocean Carbon Absorption. The
Arctic Ocean may be reaching its limit as a carbon sink, suggests
a new study. Some scientists had projected that, as sea ice cover
receded and the ocean warmed, its waters could sop up increasing
amounts of carbon dioxide. Removing the barrier between ocean and
air, the reasoning went, would help provide a steady stream of
CO2 to feed microbes in the surface waters. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2010/07/23/6

U.S. Funds Efforts to Turn CO2 Emissions Into Products. Can
industrial CO2 emissions come in handy? The Department of Energy
is betting these carbon dioxide emissions, a culprit of climate
change, can be turned into useful products such as fuel,
plastics, cement and fertilizers. DOE announced Thursday $106
million in Recovery Act funding for six corporate projects that
will research the potential to use CO2 as an inexpensive raw
material. Posted.
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/greenhouse/post/2010/07/doe-funds-co2-efforts-/1

ENERGY

$122 Million Grant To Convert Sunlight To Fuel. New light at the
end of the carbon tunnel? Scientists from UC Berkeley, Stanford
University and the California Institute of Technology have been
given $122 million to come up with ways to produce fuels directly
from sunlight. The U.S. Department of Energy announced the grant
Thursday to a team led by Caltech in Pasadena, also including
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, UC Berkeley and Stanford.
Posted.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/07/23/BUP51EIF3H.DTL&type=printable

Manufacturers Push Energy Efficiency And Urge Caution On Natural
Gas. In the absence of a climate bill that puts a price tag on
greenhouse gas emissions, a group of U.S. manufacturers is
recommending that Congress pass major new incentives for energy
efficiency it says would cut emissions 13 percent and create U.S.
manufacturing jobs.  Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2010/07/23/4

'Green Revolution' In Cross-Border Energy Investments Is
Sputtering -- U.N. Report. United Nations -- Government policy,
both national and international, is largely failing to spark a
flood of cross-border investment into low-carbon technologies and
processes, a U.N. trade research agency concludes in a new
report. While some Kyoto Protocol systems like the Clean
Development Mechanism and the Joint Implementation program are
making some inroads, overall levels of foreign direct investment
into alternative energy and environmental manufacturing are low,
the report shows. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2010/07/23/5

Senate Dems Abandon Energy Bill, Blame GOP. Washington - Senate
Democrats on Thursday abandoned plans to pass an energy bill that
caps emissions of carbon dioxide, saying Republicans refuse to
support the measure. Posted.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/california/ci_15578702?nclick_check=1

Climate And Energy Bill Delayed As Political Support Withers.
Washington -- Bowing to a lack of support, Senate Democratic
leader Harry Reid on Thursday said there would be no vote this
summer on a bill that would put the nation's first limits on the
carbon pollution responsible for global warming. Posted.
http://www.fresnobee.com/2010/07/22/2015695/climate-and-energy-bill-delayed.html

Reid Will Introduce Scaled-Back Energy Bill, Lieberman Says.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid plans to introduce an energy
bill next week that won't include a cap-and-trade program in
which power plants buy and sell a declining number of carbon
dioxide pollution rights, said Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman.
Posted.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/22/AR2010072203510.html

Soul Searching For Enviro Groups -- And Desperate RES Push -- In
Wake Of Senate Defeat. Senate Democrats' decision yesterday to
dump major energy and climate legislation has some
environmentalists and carbon-cap advocates taking a long hard
look in the mirror, while others are pivoting today to a
last-gasp summer push for a renewable electricity standard. One
energy and environmental lobbyist is spreading the word that
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is considering tacking
an RES provision onto a small energy package that he plans to
bring to the floor next week.
http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/print/2010/07/23/1

California Farms Take Risks When Going Green. California dairy
farmers might soon start converting their cow waste to fuel, but
in doing so, they may be taking on more insurance risks — risks
that their insurance agents might not be aware of, said James D.
Redinger, principal engineer-director of engineering and
standards for The Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance
Co. Posted.
http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/west/2010/07/23/111832.htm

Sludge Power Plant Moving Forward. A $200 million project
outside Lost Hills that will make electricity from sewage sludge
will soon head to county planning commissioners for a vote. The
Liberty Energy Center will essentially be a major upgrade of an
existing composting facility -- formerly called San Joaquin
Composting, now called Liberty Composting -- that opened in 1989.
Posted.
http://www.bakersfield.com/news/local/x1062112162/Sludge-power-plant-moving-forward


AIR QUALITY

Climate Change Could Bring Back Smog Episodes. Sacramento – A
warming climate could mean a harsher smog season. A University of
California report found that rising temperatures stemming from
climate change will increase ozone levels.  Dimitri Stanich at
the State Air Resources Board says that applies to the South
Coast Air Basin and the state’s other major air basins.
“California could experience as many as six to 30 more days with
ozone concentrations that exceed federal air standards depending
on the higher temperatures and assuming that the emissions stayed
at 2004 levels.” Posted.
http://www.inlandnewstoday.com/story.php?s=15235

DIESELS

EPA, CARB Workshop Examines Driver Defeat of SCR Engines.
Changes to the EPA's 2010 emissions regulations relating to
selective catalytic reduction technology are being proposed as a
result of a suit brought against the EPA by Navistar. During a
California workshop Tuesday, both sides had a chance to present
comments. The Navistar lawsuit challenged guidelines issued
during the implementation of the SCR technology. Posted.
http://www.truckinginfo.com/news/news-print.asp?news_id=71106

CARB’s SCR Workshop Draws Fire. Truck and engine manufacturers
that have chosen selective catalytic reduction (SCR) technology
to meet new diesel emissions requirements are not happy that
regulators are considering changes to rules governing SCR use. 
“We question the need to make modifications to SCR strategies
just six months after SCR products were brought to market,” said
Steve Berry, Volvo Powertrain dir. of government relations.
Posted.
http://fleetowner.com/green/archive/carb-navistar-scr-complaints-0721/

CARB Fines 16 Companies for Diesel Violations, Distributes
$100,000. The California Air Resources Board reached settlements
last month with 16 companies that had violated state diesel
regulations. Violations included failure to: Conduct smoke
inspections on heavy-duty diesel vehicles; Report diesel-powered
cargo handling equipment; Comply with trash truck regulations;
and Install certified emissions reduction equipment on diesel
engines. Posted.
http://www.landlinemag.com/todays_news/Daily/2010/July10/071910/072210-05.htm

AG BURNING

Fate of Open-Field Burning Up In The Air At Florez Hearing. The
battle over burning is heating up again. The local air district
has continued allowing open-field burning of agricultural waste
in cases where it considers the alternative methods too
expensive, prompting State Sen. Dean Florez to schedule a hearing
next Wednesday in Sacramento. Posted.
http://www.bakersfield.com/news/local/x1062112144/Fate-of-open-field-burning-up-in-the-air-at-Florez-hearing

FUELS

Ethanol, Biodiesel Fuels Now Available. Drivers of vehicles that
run on ethanol and biodiesel fuels can now fill up in Ventura.
Silvas Oil Co., which for 30 years has specialized in commercial
fleet fueling stations, has opened its first station open to the
general public. The station offers E85 Flex Fuel, a mix of 85
percent corn ethanol and 15 percent gasoline, and B20 Biodiesel,
a blend of 80 percent petroleum diesel and 20 percent biodiesel
made from soybean oil. It also offers two other types of diesel
and three grades of conventional gasoline. Posted.
http://www.vcstar.com/news/2010/jul/22/ethanol-biodiesel-fuels-now-available/

BLOGS

Pelosi: No Regrets Passing Climate Change. On the same day that
Senate Democrats rolled out a more limited energy proposal, House
Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that she didn’t think it was a mistake
to push a comprehensive climate change bill through her chamber
last year.  At her weekly briefing on Thursday, Ms. Pelosi said
the House had “staked out a bold position” and rattled off a
number of reasons why she said it was “absolutely essential” to
pass the measure – including to help reduce the country’s
dependence on foreign oil and to be competitive in producing
green jobs. Posted.
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/22/pelosi-no-regrets-passing-climate-change/

California Mandates Tire Pressure Checks--Is It All Hot Air? The
California Air Resources Board (CARB) has mandated that all
service centers are required to check and inflate customer’s
tires to the manufacturer’s recommended pressure--regardless of
whether or not the car’s service has anything to do with tires.
California’s goal is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from cars
driving around with under-inflated tires, which have higher
rolling resistance. Posted.
http://blogs.consumerreports.org/cars/2010/07/california-air-resources-board-carb-mandates-tire-pressure-checks.html