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newsclips -- Newsclips for August 19, 2010.

Posted: 19 Aug 2010 12:23:25
California Air Resources Board News Clips for August 19, 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

Frustrated Scotts Valley Council Recommends Reining In Greenhouse
Gas Emissions. Scotts Valley - City leaders on Wednesday
expressed frustration with state-requested goals to rein in
greenhouse gas emissions that council members say are baseless
but fear could be used against them if not met. "This is nuts
that we're even having this discussion," said Scotts Valley City
Councilman Dene Bustichi. "We don't have any data. What we do if
we don't make it?" Posted.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/california/ci_15820616

Democrats, After Opposing Climate Bill, Still Face GOP Attacks. A
group of Democrats who defied their party to oppose a landmark
climate bill last year is facing attacks by political challengers
from an unexpected direction: Cap and trade is being used against
them, despite the fact that they voted no. Forty-four Democrats
broke ranks last summer on the muscular measure seeking to create
a carbon limit for thousands of factories and power plants.
Posted. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2010/08/19/1

Scientists: Blame Climate Change, Not Man, for Ancient Species
Loss. Blame a vast reduction in grasslands and not hunting humans
for the disappearance of the woolly mammoth and other animals
from the Earth. That's the conclusion of a new study which likely
will trigger a new debate within scientific circles. The study
points to a sharp decline in the amount of habitat available for
grazing after the last ice age. Posted.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-501465_162-20014091-501465.html

Oxford Dictionary Adds Climate Change Terms To New Edition.
Climate change vernacular is being officially recognized in the
latest edition of the Oxford Dictionary of English, which
reflects how language is commonly used. Among the new additions
are "carbon capture and storage," the process of trapping and
storing carbon dioxide produced by burning fossil fuels; and
"geo-engineering," the manipulation of environmental processes to
counteract the effects of global warming. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/print/2010/08/19/8

Caribbean Storm Damage Costs May Rise 505 With Global Warming.
Climate change may add 50 percent to the storm damage costs
incurred by some Caribbean nations over the next two decades,
said Swiss Reinsurance Co., the world’s second-largest
re-insurer. Wind, storm surges and inland flooding already cost
some Caribbean nations up to 6 percent of their economic output
each year, the Zurich-based company said today in a statement on
its website. Global warming could add costs amounting to another
1 to 3 percent of output by 2030, it said. Posted.
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-08-19/caribbean-storm-damage-costs-may-rise-505-with-global-warming.html

AIR QUALITY

Cooler Weather Means Cleaner Air For Bay Area. This summer's
cool, clammy weather has undoubtedly thwarted many a day at the
beach. But all that unwelcome fog and wind has had one major
upside: better air. So far this summer the Bay Area Air Quality
Management District has not issued one Spare the Air alert - days
when ground-level smog reaches harmful concentrations. "We've
been fortunate this year," said Kristine Roselius, spokeswoman
for the air district. Posted.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/08/19/MNBG1EVCUE.DTL&type=printable

EMISSIONS

Communities Get Rolling on Developing Sustainable Transit, Land
Use Plans. SBCAG's approach for meeting SB 375 standards to curb
emissions and sprawl is raising red flags for one environmental
group. Communities in Santa Barbara County and throughout
California have been working to meet the state’s Senate Bill 375
obligations by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, curbing
suburban sprawl and expanding public transit. SB 375, also known
as the Sustainable Communities and Climate Protection Act of
2008, is designed to cut down on greenhouse gas emissions by
revamping regional transportation and land use strategies for the
next 25 years. Posted.
http://www.noozhawk.com/local_news/article/081810_sb_375/

Focus Back On Regional Emission Trading Programs For Analysts.
Market analysts training their sights on regional trading schemes
view the Western Climate Initiative as the "second coming" for
carbon trading in the United States. A new analysis from British
investment bank Barclays Capital finds that the seven-state,
four-province WCI could actually see allowance prices rise in the
later years of its cap-and-trade regime, which is slated to start
in 2012 and end in 2020. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2010/08/19/3

A New EPRI Computer Model Makes The Case For Regional Climate
Solutions. The utility industry's top research group is making
the case that regional solutions to the nation's climate policy
challenges offer the best deal for consumers. A new economic
analysis being developed by the Electric Power Research Institute
in Palo Alto, Calif., indicates that the ideal responses to
future federal limits on carbon emissions -- from economic and
technical standpoints -- would vary greatly across major regions
of the country, as utilities replace conventional coal-fired
power plants with different mixes of generation and efficiency
programs. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2010/08/19/2

Researchers Find Carbon Offsets Aren't Justified For Removing
Understory. Correction appended. Reducing forest fire risk by
thinning thickets of understory can have many benefits for
communities, but in the short term, providing carbon offsets for
this does not appear to be justified, according to
government-funded research to be published this fall. During the
past four years, a team of researchers tried to quantify how
removing smaller fuels from forests and conducting prescribed
burns helps stave off intense wildfires and reduces greenhouse
gas emissions. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2010/08/19/5

U.K. Companies Slow To Track Emissions For Mandatory Program.
Only a quarter of British companies have begun measuring their
greenhouse gas emissions for a mandatory government program that
began in April, officials say. The Carbon Reduction Commitment
Energy Efficiency Scheme, or CRC, requires the United Kingdom's
biggest energy users to report emissions and trade carbon dioxide
permits. Companies that reduce their footprints will be rewarded
with program proceeds. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2010/08/19/7

Old Tugboats Slowly Make Way for Cleaner, Energy Efficient Hybrid
Tugboats. Conventional diesel tugboats are significant sources of
pollution in the world’s seaports, but that is on the verge of
change. The Foss Maritime Company is adding a second energy
efficient hybrid tugboat to its Southern California fleet. Its
first hybrid vessel, the Carolyn Dorothy, was launched in 2009
and at the time it was believed to be the first and only tugboat
of its kind in the world. Posted.
http://cleantechnica.com/2010/08/19/old-tugboats-slowly-make-way-for-cleaner-energy-efficient-hybrid-tugboats/

ENERGY

Full Steam Ahead For California Geothermal Plans? Right below
your feet is enough potential clean energy to keep the whole
country humming with electricity for 30,000 years, according to
Department of Energy calculations. And this geothermal energy
could play a big role in California as the state strives to reach
an ambitious clean energy target by 2020. But there is a catch:
We have to get to it. Running Out Of Steam. About two hours north
of San Francisco, atop a ridge crisscrossed with pipes, is the
world's biggest field for producing geothermal energy: Posted.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129282183

Can A Stiff Carbon Price And Generous Rebate Policy Change Energy
Use? A report out this week is revisiting a basic question of
climate policy: Can it be designed to benefit the poor rather
than the wealthy? The cap-and-trade schemes that have led the
debate haven't ignored the poor; they have tried to shelter the
broad public from higher energy prices, and they've also targeted
the least wealthy with programs. Nevertheless, some economists
say these approaches still skew toward the well-off. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2010/08/19/4

Greenpeace Pushes For Renewable Energy In Safrica. Johannesburg
-- South Africa has renewable resources that can provide
solutions to the country's energy problems and create jobs -
while fighting global warming, Greenpeace officials said
Wednesday. Posted.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/18/AR2010081803443.html

DIESELS

EPA Agrees To Examine Truck Emissions Claims In Navistar
Settlement. U.S. EPA has finalized a settlement with truck
manufacturer Navistar International Corp., which agreed earlier
this week to drop three lawsuits on the condition that EPA
examine whether truckers can cheat the emissions control
technology used by Navistar's competitors. In filings with the
U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia,
Navistar claimed EPA had failed to consider that selective
catalytic reduction (SCR) might not reduce tailpipe emissions as
intended. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/print/2010/08/19/2

Rypos Provides Early CARB Compliance Coupon Program. Assisting
transport refrigeration unit (TRU) owners and operators to comply
early with the new TRU model year 2003 California Air Resources
Board (CARB) advisory, Rypos is offering up to a $400 savings on
its Rypos diesel particulate filter/low-emission TRU (DPF/LETRU)
and Proventia flow-through filter (FTF) trailer-mount filter
products. The deadline for the model year 2003 CARB Airborne
Toxic Control Measure (ATCM) compliance is December 31, 2010.
Posted.
http://refrigeratedtrans.com/2010-emissions/rypos_provides_early_carb_compliance_coupon_program_0819/

BUSES

Fresno Unified Rolls out 30 Clean-Air Buses. The Fresno Unified
School District this week unveiled 30 new compressed-natural-gas
buses thanks to more than $5 million in federal, state and local
air quality grants. The buses replace 30 diesel-powered buses
built in 1977. The San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control
District estimates that the new CNG buses will emit 98% less
particulate pollution over their lifetimes. The old buses emitted
over 330 tons of particulates in their lifetimes, while the new
buses will emit less than seven tons. Posted.
http://www.thebusinessjournal.com/transportation/5986-fresno-unified-rolls-out-30-clean-air-buses

'Straddling Bus' Could Clear Roads, Reduce Emissions In China. A
company in southern China has designed a bus that can carry up to
1,200 passengers while taking up almost no road space and has the
added benefit of partially running on solar power. The
"straddling bus" is extra wide and extra tall and runs high above
the road. The passenger compartment is the width of two traffic
lanes and runs on a pair of wide stilts, leaving the road below
free for cars to pass underneath. The bridge-bus hybrid runs
along a fixed route and draws some of its power from solar panels
on the roof of the vehicle. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2010/08/19/8

FUELS

Air Resources Board Is Clinging To Old Science. This week, the
California Air Resources Board (CARB) convened a group of experts
to discuss issues related to the Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS)
that was approved last year. The Expert Working Group has been
working to examine the gaps in the original research produced by
CARB staff which was used as the basis for fuel regulation,
including the highly disputed indirect land use change (ILUC)
theory which threatens the future of biofuels in California and
across the country. Posted.
http://www.capitolweekly.net/article.php?_c=z2hzjlnvfipb86&xid=z2hzat2bm7l9z5&done=.z2hzjlnvfjeb86#

Finding New Ways to Fill the Tank. Cambridge, Mass. — Most
research on renewable energy has focused on replacing the
electricity that now comes from burning coal and natural gas. But
the spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the reliance on Middle East
imports and the threat of global warming are reminders that oil
is also a pressing worry. A lot of problems could be solved with
a renewable replacement for oil-based gasoline and diesel in the
fuel tank — either a new liquid fuel or a much better battery.
Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/19/business/energy-environment/19fuel.html?_r=1&ref=science&pagewanted=print

Whiskey Byproducts Used To Craft Fuel. Scientists in Scotland are
using the byproducts of whiskey distillation to make a biofuel
that could be used in conventional cars. Using spent grains and
the liquid from copper stills, researchers at Edinburgh Napier
University have created a method that produces butanol, which
provides 30 percent more power than traditional ethanol. The fuel
could be used in cars and jet planes and as the basis for acetone
and other chemicals. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2010/08/19/9

VEHICLES

Hybrids Running Out of Gas. Despite the region's eco-friendly
image, the appetite for fuel-efficient hybrid cars in the Bay
Area appears to be on the decline. According to R.L. Polk & Co.,
which analyzes the auto industry, new hybrid-car registrations in
the San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland area have steadily declined
since peaking in 2007. That year in the region, there were new
27,292 registrations of hybrid cars, which are more
fuel-efficient than cars that run only on gasoline. By 2009, that
number had dropped 36%, to 17,575 registrations. Posted.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704868604575433491885339452.html?mod=WSJ_WSJ_News_SanFranciscoBayArea68_4

Electric Car Stations Coming To Santa Cruz County. With new
plug-in electric cars scheduled to arrive in Santa Cruz County
soon, so too should a means to juice them. That's why a coalition
of public and private stakeholders has secured tens of thousands
of dollars to begin laying out a network of vehicle charging
stations across the Monterey Bay Area. Posted.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/california/ci_15820802

BLOGS 

EPA Decides To Take e-Waste (Sort of) Seriously. Finally.  The
Environmental Protection Agency has been frustratingly lax on
e-waste issues, paying little attention to quality enforcement of
policies, or even putting stringent policies in place at all. But
finally, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said on Tuesday that
e-waste is now one of the top five priorities for the agency.
While vague in exactly what the EPA would do to improve the
immense problem of e-waste, it was at least put down in writing
that it is a major concern, and one that will get at least some
attention. Posted.
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/08/epa-decides-to-take-e-waste-sort-of-seriously-finally.php?campaign=th_rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+treehuggersite+%28Treehugger%29

Could Going Green Mean Trashing Our Landscape? Environmentalists
may spend a lot of time battling against the fossil fuel lobby,
but the awkward truth is that there is plenty of fighting between
"green" groups too—perhaps most notably when it comes to what
constitutes 'sustainability', and how do we manage the sometimes
competing demands of clean energy and conservation. From Earth
First! protesting against wind turbines to concerns over luxury
LEED condos and gentrification, one person's green panacea can
easily be another person's worst nightmare. Posted.
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/08/going-green-trashing-landscape.php?campaign=th_rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+treehuggersite+%28Treehugger%29

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