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California Air Resources Board News Clips for September 3, 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.

AB 32

What Would Proposition 23 Cost Us? In its August 30 edition, The
Tribune gave space to Pismo Beach City Councilman Ed Waage to
list his reasons why California’s Global Warming Solutions Act,
AB 32, should be suspended by the oil industry-supported ballot
initiative known as Proposition 23 (“Boost
economy by voting for Proposition 23”). Posted.
http://calcoastnews.com/2010/09/what-would-proposition-23-cost-us/

CLIMATE CHANGE/GHG’S

Inland Business Leaders Want Greenhouse-Gas Cuts Suspended.
Riverside County Supervisor Jeff Stone, joined by local business
leaders, urged voters Thursday to support the suspension of
California's greenhouse gas law. The 2006 law, known as AB 32,
requires that the state reduce emissions to 1990 levels by 2020.
Opponents of the law say the enormous investments needed to
comply with AB 32 will kill jobs and burden local businesses.
Posted.
http://www.pe.com/localnews/stories/PE_News_Local_D_prop03.b2dc9.html


Koch Firm Donates $1 Million To Campaign To Suspend Climate
Change Law. A company headed by oil billionaires Charles and
David Koch have contributed $1 million to the campaign to
rollback the state's landmark climate change law. Filings with
the California Secretary of the State show that Flint Hills
Resources, a wholly owned subsidiary of oil conglomerate Koch
Industries Inc., made the contribution to the Yes on 23 Committee
on Thursday. Tesoro Co., a San Antonio-based oil refiner, also
contributed $1 million to the pro-Proposition 23 committee on
Thursday. Posted.
http://www.sacbee.com/2010/09/03/3003630/koch-firm-donates-1-million-to.html#ixzz0yU9iHCUv

U.S. Affirms 17% Climate Target; Envoys Cite Progress on `Green
Fund'. The U.S. failure to pass cap-and- trade legislation won’t
change its target for 2020 to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions by
roughly 17 percent, climate negotiator Todd Stern said today. The
House approved a bill last year to set limits on carbon dioxide
linked to global warming and create a market in pollution
allowances. The bill, supported by President Barack Obama,
stalled in the Senate. Posted.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2010-09-03/u-s-affirms-17-climate-target-envoys-cite-progress-on-green-fund-.html

OPINION: Next In Combating Climate Change. We’ve all heard that
something needs to be done about global warming but may have
wondered what concrete steps were being taken. How do we reduce
greenhouse gases and turn down the heat? California became a
leader in climate change policy when it passed the Global Warming
Solutions Act of 2006, which called for a reduction of greenhouse
gases back to 1990 levels by the year 2020 and 80 percent below
1990 levels by 2050. Posted.
http://www.santamariatimes.com/news/opinion/editorial/commentary/article_2ce43fda-b723-11df-8779-001cc4c03286.html?print=1

OPINION: Hicks: We'd Rather Not Let The Facts Get In The Way Of A
Good Opinion. This just in -- and it's a biggie: Someone with a
public stance on a controversial issue has changed his mind.
Danish political scientist and statistician Bjorn Lomborg -- a
supposedly famous (no, really) skeptic of climate change -- has
reversed his position that any climate change that was really
happening wasn't worth the effort to combat. Posted.
http://www.mercurynews.com/entertainment/ci_15975464
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/sciencefair/post/2010/09/bjorn-lomborg-climate-changes-mind/1

AIR POLLUTION

Texas Coal Plant’s 50,000 Air Pollution Violations Lead to Legal
Challenge. Action Taken After Texas Agency Ignores Problem and
Fails to Act. More than 50,000 air pollution violations at the
massive Martin Lake coal-fired power plant led the Sierra Club,
represented by Earthjustice and Environmental Integrity Project,
to file a lawsuit today in federal court against plant owner
Luminant (formerly TXU). Posted.
http://yubanet.com/usa/Texas-Coal-Plant-s-50-000-Air-Pollution-Violations-Lead-to-Legal-Challenge.php

SCAG Rejects Air Pollution Reduction Targets. The Southern
California Association of Governments on Thursday rejected
stronger greenhouse gas emission reduction targets recommended by
the state's clean air agency. The standards set by the California
Air Resources Board aimed to help reduce air pollution. The board
requested that greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles be reduced
by 6 percent by 2020 and by 13 percent by 2035. Posted.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/california/ci_15977584?nclick_check=1
http://www.vcstar.com/news/2010/sep/02/builders-environmentalists-split-on-decision-on/

http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_15975758?nclick_check=1
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9I0GNK81.htm

Valley Businesses to Foot Bill for $29 Million Ozone Fine.
Businesses across the Central Valley can expect higher fees from
the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District because of
a violation of an ozone standard. The violation of the one-hour
ozone standard was recorded last week due to a spike in
back-to-school traffic, triple-digit temperatures and smoke from
area fires. As a result, the Central Valley is on the hook for a
$29 million fine this year and every year until the standard is
met. Posted.
http://www.turnto23.com/south_county/24863281/detail.html
http://www.turnto23.com/news/24856550/detail.html 

GREEN/ENERGY

Solar Projects Still Sorting Out Tortoises' Fate. BrightSource
Energy Co. has pounded hundreds of wooden surveyor stakes into
the earth in northeast San Bernardino County while awaiting final
decisions from state and federal agencies on whether to turn 5.6
square miles of public land into a solar energy plant. Posted.
http://www.pe.com/localnews/stories/PE_News_Local_D_solar03.4df0585.html

TIRE CHECK

California Now Requires Tire Pressure Checks. California
automobile service providers are now required to check tire
pressures for every vehicle being maintained or repaired at their
facility. The regulation, issued by the California Air Resources
Board, applies to auto maintenance/repair providers but not to
auto parts distributers/retailers, auto body/paint facilities,
auto glass installers or wreckers/dismantlers. It went into
effect September 1, 2010. Posted.
http://www.autoserviceworld.com/issues/story.aspx?aid=1000384293

EDITORIAL: The EPA's New Gas-Mileage Labels Are Good but Not
Perfect. THE ENVIRONMENTAL Protection Agency is asking for
comments on its proposed new gas mileage stickers for automobiles
-- so here's ours. On the whole, both of the agency's two
suggested alternative stickers represent much-needed improvement
over current fuel-economy labeling. They more clearly and
brightly inform consumers of exactly how much fuel the various
models can be expected to consume, how much greenhouse gases they
can be expected to emit and how they perform in comparison to
similar models. Posted.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/02/AR2010090204526.html

FUELS 

Chicken Waste As Fuel Source Gets Initial OK. A private company's
plan to use chicken waste to power an energy generation project
south of the city of Sonoma cleared a preliminary hurdle
Thursday. In a 10-minute special meeting, the Sonoma County Board
of Supervisors gave its consent to financing the project through
$35 million in state-issued bonds. Posted.
http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20100902/ARTICLES/100909859/1350?Title=Chicken-waste-as-fuel-source-gets-initial-OK
MISCELLANEOUS

Scientist's Firing After 36 Years Fuels 'PC' Debate at UCLA. A
longtime professor at UCLA, told that he would not be rehired
because his "research is not aligned with the academic mission"
of his department, says he's being fired after 36 years at the
prestigious school because his scientific beliefs are
"politically incorrect." But UCLA says Dr. James Enstrom's
politics have nothing to do with its decision. Posted.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/08/31/pc-professors-firing-fueling-exhaustive-debate/

BLOGS 

Up In The Air...In An All-Electric Plane. The electric Cri-Cri
airplane was airborne Thursday – for all of seven minutes. The
4-engine aircraft, from Airbus parent corporation EADS, is the
first of its kind. Its maiden flight took place at Le Bourget
airport near Paris. The flight was smooth, the company said, and
quiet. The plane has lithium batteries and four electric prop
motors that don’t emit carbon dioxide like standard aircraft.
Posted.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/greenspace/2010/09/cri-cri-electric-plane.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+GreenspaceEnvironmentBlog+%28Greenspace%29

Another Item for Climate Panel’s To-Do List. A committee convened
by the InterAcademy Council, the association of the world’s
leading national science academies, delivered a long to-do list
to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change on Monday,
including steps ranging from limiting the term and policy
recommendations of its leadership to fostering more transparency
in its machinations and being more careful to describe the
science determining the strength, or weakness, of particular
conclusions. Posted.
http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/03/another-item-for-climate-panels-to-do-list/?pagemode=print