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California Air Resources Board News Clips for November 16, 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.

AIR POLLUTION

San Joaquin Valley Misses Air Pollution Control Deadline. Twenty
years ago, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency set firm
ozone standard deadlines for cities and regions across the
nation. The Clean Air Act of 1990 gave San Joaquin Valley until
Nov. 15, 2010 to clean up its air but the area failed. Several
environmental advocacy groups, including medical professionals
fighting for healthy air, and EarthJustice lawyers in Oakland,
are filing petitions against the EPA for not enforcing its
policies and punishments on the valley's oil, agriculture, and
automotive industries. Posted.
http://www.news10.net/news/story.aspx?storyid=106271&catid=2

EPA Asked to Enforce Central Valley Clean Air Regs. A dozen
public health and clean air advocacy groups petitioned the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency on Monday to enforce federal
standards for clean air in the Central Valley. The petition says
that 20 years ago Congress set Nov. 15, 2010 as the deadline for
the Valley to meet ozone air pollution limits. But the Valley is
far from attaining the standards, the petition says. Posted.
http://www.centralvalleybusinesstimes.com/stories/001/?ID=16858

America's Dirtiest Cities. At the ballot box this November
California voters showed that they are determined to clean up
their state's deplorable air quality. They quashed Proposition
23, which would have temporarily suspended key
emissions-reduction tenets in the Golden State's Global Warming
Solutions Act of 2006. How temporarily? Until pigs fly, or rather
until the state unemployment level dropped to 5.5%--from the
12.4% it's at now. Having survived the challenge (62% of voters
rejected Prop 23) the emissions cuts are now set to begin in
2012. A carbon cap-and-trade program will be launched later.
Posted.
http://www.forbes.com/2010/11/15/americas-dirtiest-cities-business-energy-dirty-cities_print.html

New Technology, Standards Turning Apparatus Green. Manufacturers
have developed complex systems that convert pollutants into
harmless components. The sworn duty of virtually every
firefighter on Earth is to protect life and property, so it makes
sense that firefighters would want to protect the planet with
green apparatus. There's a bit of a disconnect, however, when it
comes to the equipment needed for controlling emissions and the
firefighting mission. Posted.
http://www.firehouse.com/news/top-headlines/new-technology-standards-turning-apparatus-green

CLIMATE CHANGE

Governor Cheers Prop. 23 'S Defeat At Climate Conference.
Emboldened by what Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger called clean
energy's "greatest referendum in history," California officials
are pushing ahead with a new greenhouse gas deal with foreign
countries. Schwarzenegger on Monday launched his third Governors'
Global Climate Summit at the University of California, Davis. He
said this month's landslide defeat of Proposition 23, a ballot
measure backed by oil companies that would have rolled back the
state's landmark climate change law, shows broad support among
voters for policies to cut greenhouse gases.
http://www.sacbee.com/2010/11/16/v-print/3188044/governor-sees.html

Schwarzenegger Pushes New Greenhouse Gas Initiative. Encouraged
by what Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger called clean energy's
"greatest referendum in history," California officials are
pushing ahead with a new greenhouse gas accord with developing
foreign countries. Schwarzenegger today launched the third
Governors' Global Climate summit at the University of California,
Davis, saying this month's landslide defeat of Proposition 23, an
oil industry backed initiative to roll back the state's landmark
climate change law, shows broad support among voters for climate
change initiatives. Posted.
http://www.sacbee.com/2010/11/15/v-print/3187342/schwarzenegger-pushes-new-greenhouse.html

Lawyers, Lobbyists, Politicians Scramble To Determine Impact Of
Prop. 26. The 'sleeper' initiative on November's ballot could
make it nearly impossible for state or local governments to pass
oil severance fees, cigarette and alcohol surcharges, toxic waste
cleanup levies, and more. It was the "sleeper" ballot initiative
of California's election season: Few paid heed to Proposition 26,
besides the oil, tobacco and alcohol companies that funneled
millions of dollars into promoting it in the final weeks of the
campaign. Posted.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-prop26-impact-20101115,0,3435594,print.story

Schwarzenegger Action Figure Hero For Global Warming Climate
Change. Governor Schwarzenegger was introduced to his third
Governors’ Global Climate Summit 3 as an action figure hero for
global climate change with a “muscle and heart,” by UC Davis
Chancellor Dr. Linda Katehi. Katehi continued that Schwarzenegger
had upset the status quo with his leadership on the defeat of
California initiative Proposition 23 clean energy supporters
framed as the Dirty Energy Initiative which was funded by two
Texas oil companies who portrayed their support as being
concerned about Californians losing their jobs. Posted.
http://www.examiner.com/environmental-news-in-san-francisco/schwarzenegger-action-figure-hero-for-global-warming-climate-change

Leaders At California Summit See Upside In Climate Policies.
Government policies aimed at fighting climate change and
supporting development of clean energy can drive economic growth
and job creation, officials from California and other states and
provinces said Monday at a climate summit. California Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger, who hosted the summit, suggested that lawmakers
in the U.S. and around the world should set aside political
differences to agree on policies that favor conservation, energy
efficiency and alternative energy. Posted.
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20101115-718049.html

Schwarzenegger Pushes For Regional Climate Change Pact. DAVIS,
Calif. In the year since an attempt for a global climate-change
treaty failed, California has been trying a different strategy to
reduce greenhouse gases worldwide. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is
pushing state and regional governments around the globe to act,
saying the effort must be led locally in the absence of national
and international momentum. Starting Monday, the outgoing
Republican governor hosts his third and final California climate
summit, at the University of California, Davis, just outside the
state capital. Posted.
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/climate/globalwarming/2010-11-15-california-climate-pact_N.htm

Calif. Summit Seeks To Join Jobs With Climate Regs. Davis, Calif.
Unlocking economic prosperity in a low-carbon world was a key
theme Monday at a climate-change summit headlined by Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger, who is among regional government leaders seeking
to join private investors with green technology projects. The
outgoing governor of California has been bringing together local
government leaders from around the world for three years to
reduce greenhouse gas emissions after saying the U.S. and other
countries failed to take the lead. Posted.
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9JH05A00.htm

Governor Touts Prop. 23's Failure at Climate Summit. Hosting his
third and final Governors’ Global Climate Summit on Monday, Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger used the occasion to speak more of shifting
political winds than of the warming of the atmosphere. Describing
the campaign over Proposition 23 this fall as “an epic battle”
between “special interests that profit from fossil fuels” and the
forces for a clean energy future, Schwarzenegger said California
voters delivered a strong verdict on environmental policy with
their overwhelming defeat of the initiative designed to roll back
the state legislation to reduce carbon emissions. Posted.
http://www.vcstar.com/news/2010/nov/15/governor-touts-prop-23s-failure-at-climate/#ixzz15SuyUwYS


Time For GOP to Change Business-Climate Rhetoric. For most of
this century, Republicans running for high office in California
have proclaimed that only they can stem the tide of jobs and
businesses leaving California, a phenomenon they blame on the
Democrats they often say have controlled state government for
decades. The theme has only worked once, for outgoing Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger when he seemed to spend more time in the parking
lots of small businesses that anywhere else as he ran in the 2003
recall election. Posted.
http://www.vcstar.com/news/2010/nov/15/time-for-gop-to-change-business-climate-rhetoric/#ixzz15TAspdzb


Schwarzenegger To Broker Subnational Climate Pact. Davis, Calif.
-- California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) will announce a
clean energy financing agreement between regional governments
today as one of his last acts as governor. At his third and final
Governors' Global Climate Summit, a star-studded conference with
attendees from 80 countries, Schwarzenegger will unveil the
'R20,' a public-private partnership designed to commercialize
technologies, reduce carbon dioxide emissions and generate
renewable energy. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2010/11/16/4

DIESEL EMISSION

Cali. Truckers Fume Over New Diesel Regulations. Barstow, Calif.
New California diesel regulations that are going to be phased in
over the next few years have some truck drivers fuming about the
cost. The California Air Resources Board plans to require almost
all trucks that are operated within the state to upgrade their
emissions by 2022. The oldest trucks will have to be replaced or
upgraded first based on a timetable. Posted.
http://www.oaoa.com/common/printer/view.php?db=odessa&id=55873

Industry Stakeholders, Environmentalists Weigh In On Fuel
Efficiency Proposal. Chicago — New fuel economy rules for
heavy-duty trucks and buses must be economically and
technologically feasible and also must be uniform and not allow
for a patchwork of inconsistent rules state by state, said
trucking stakeholders weighing in during a hearing here on the
proposal. The EPA proposed greenhouse gas emissions standards
under the Clean Air Act and the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration under the Department of Transportation has
proposed fuel consumption standards under the Energy Independence
and Security Act of 2007. Posted.
http://www.thetrucker.com/News/Stories/2010/11/16/Industrystakeholdersenvironmentalistsweighinonfuelefficiencyproposal.aspx

FUELS

DOE Loan Guarantee Program Looks To Clear Biofuels. The Energy
Department's controversial energy loan guarantee program may
greenlight its first biofuel projects soon, allowing such
proposals to move beyond DOE internal review for the first time.
"We actually have three or four biofuels projects in the late
stages of due diligence now," Jonathan Silver, executive director
of the department's loan office, said yesterday. No proposed
biofuel project had gotten that far before, he said. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2010/11/16/5

GREEN ENERGY

Governor Schwarzenegger Announces 2010 Top Environmental
Leadership Awards. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger honored 13
companies and organizations that have made extraordinary
contributions to California’s environment and economy by awarding
them with the Governor’s Environmental and Economic Leaderships
Award (GEELA) at the Governors’ Global Climate Summit 3. The
award recipients were selected for their outstanding
environmental leadership by voluntarily working to conserve the
state’s precious natural resources, improve the environment and
contribute to the economy. Posted.
http://imperialvalleynews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=8531&Itemid=1

In Japan, A Glimpse Into A Possible Nuclear Energy Future. As
part of my whirlwind "energy" trip across Japan, I went to visit
the crown jewel of the nation's nuclear future: an experimental
fast-breeder reactor called Monju. The remarkable thing about
Monju is that it “breeds” fuel, instead of just consuming it. So,
in the end, the plant generates more fuel than it uses,
theoretically allowing it to continuously recycle its own waste.
It's a concept similar to the one that Bill Gates, and a
Seattle-based energy company called Terra Power, are also
interested in pursuing. Posted.
http://www.californiawatch.org/watchblog/japan-glimpse-possible-nuclear-energy-future-6684

VEHICLES

Electric Car Boosters Hoping Bipartisan Support Can Drive Action
In GOP Congress. Despite failed attempts at passing electric
vehicle-friendly bills over the past year, legislators and
business leaders say the technology has an appeal that will
survive beyond the lame-duck congressional session. Democratic
leaders are sifting through a laundry list of legislative actions
to take up before the House officially flips Republican in
January. But when it comes to promoting electric vehicles,
politicians and business leaders see an opening to show
bipartisan spirit. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2010/11/16/7

OPINION

Why We Need High-Speed Rail and Why Trains Are Needed Now. Rapid
rail progress in California (and in America), well, frankly, has
been anything but “rapid,” which means America still has quite a
ways to go to if we expect to rival what Europe and Asia have
already achieved high-speed-rail-wise. Japan, in fact, was an
adherent of fast trains well before its first Shinkansen bullet
train logged its first revenue mile in 1964. The Asian nation is
among the world’s leaders in high-speed rail technology and use.
Posted.
http://www.californiaprogressreport.com/site/?q=print/8384

Putting The Lid On `Fees' If it looks like a tax and acts like a
tax, it should be harder to make it bigger. California
conservatives didn't have much to celebrate after the last
election, but that doesn't mean voters are lefties when it comes
to Big Government. Give them a chance and they'll tighten the
lid. Proposition 26 is a classic example. The LA Times, which
opposed it on the editorial page, pegged 26 as one of the most
sweeping ballot-box changes in decades. They got that right
(though we certainly disagreed on the editorial page). Posted.
http://www.presstelegram.com/opinions/ci_16622661

BLOGS

Climate: At the Governator's Climate Swan Song. I'm back from
vacation (I'm sure I was missed), but I didn't go home. I'm out
in rather lovely Sacramento today and tomorrow, to moderate a
couple of panels at the third Governor's Global Climate Summit.
The meeting is outgoing California Governor Arnold
Schwarzenegger's annual gathering of governors and other
subnational leaders from around the U.S. and the world, to talk
about what states—as opposed to nation-states—can do about
climate change and energy on their own. Posted. 
http://ecocentric.blogs.time.com/2010/11/15/climate-at-the-governators-climate-swan-song/#ixzz15TJ9kJXd

What the Gov's Global Climate Summit and "Goonies" Have in
Common. When the parents aren't taking action, sometimes the kids
need to step in and solve the problem in whatever ways they can
piece together. I’m at the Governors’ Global Climate Summit in
Davis this week, where representatives from more than 80 regional
and local governments have come together for two days to try to
figure out ways to reduce emissions and put the brakes on climate
change.  Posted.
http://blogs.kqed.org/climatewatch/2010/11/15/what-the-govs-global-climate-summit-and-goonies-have-in-common/

The Top Ten Way(s) to Slow Climate Change. A significant part of
the solution to climate change is sitting on every retail shelf
in America, waiting for consumers to notice. Every year, we
replace hundreds of millions of everyday appliances and
electronics at or near the end of their useful lives. In general,
thanks to a combination of regulation, programs like Energy Star,
and the general progress of technology, we replace those products
with more energy-efficient models. Posted.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/seth-bauer/the-top-ten-ways-to-slow_b_784095.html

Gloom And Doom On Climate Can Backfire, New Study Says. Talking
gloom-and-doom about global warming may backfire with the public,
according to a new study on climate attitudes from the University
of California, Berkeley. While the researchers' sample is hardly
comprehensive or representative of America--the two psychologists
conducted one experiment on 97 UC Berkeley undergraduates, and a
second with 45 volunteers recruited from 30 U.S. cities via
Craigslist--it raises an intriguing question about how
environmentalists' outreach on climate change. Posted.
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/post-carbon/2010/11/gloom_and_doom_on_climate_can.html