What's New List Serve Post Display

California Air Resources Board News Clips for November 22, 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

Governor Schwarzenegger Delivers Remarks Highlighting Green Cars
at Los Angeles Auto Show. Los Angeles, California -  Chairman
Nichols: Good morning, everybody. I’m Mary Nichols, the chair of
the California Air Resources Board. I want to welcome you all
here this morning and thank you for being here. This is an
exciting occasion. I have never been surrounded by so many
gorgeous and extremely clean and advanced cars. Just to give you
one little preview of coming attractions, after today one of the
next big highlights on our clean-car agenda here in California is
going to be the unveiling of a product that's a strategic plan
for how California is going to stay at the very forefront of the
new plug-in world of transportation. Posted.
http://imperialvalleynews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=8582&Itemid=2

California Rules for Reformulation of Household Products to Cut 
Emissions by Nearly Seven Tons. California has adopted a new
regulation that mandates about 2,000 household cleaning products
such has window cleaners and metal polishes to be reformulated to
reduce smog-forming compounds. The new mandate expects to reduce
emissions by nearly seven tons a day in the state. It could also
have an impact nationally. Posted.
http://www.medicaldaily.com/news/20101122/4046/california-rules-for-reformulation-of-household-products-to-cut-emissions-by-nearly-seven-tons.htm

CLIMATE CHANGE

Study: Lower Carbon Emissions Linked to Recession. Carbon dioxide
dioxides, widely considered the chief cause of global warming,
decreased from 2008 to 2009, largely because of the global
economic slowdown, says a study released Sunday. "There is a
close link between the world's gross domestic product and
emissions of carbon dioxide," says study lead author Pierre
Friedlingstein of the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom,
according to a story by USA TODAY colleague Doyle Rice. Posted.
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/greenhouse/post/2010/11/study-lower-carbon-emissions-linked-to-recession/1
     
http://www.vcstar.com/news/2010/nov/21/weak-world-economy-cuts-carbon-pollution-last/
                                       
http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/2010/11/22/8/ 

Task Force Wants Jerry Brown to Create Climate Change Panel. A
task force of California politicians, business people, academics
and environmentalists is calling on incoming Gov. Jerry Brown to
appoint a climate risk council within his office to focus
statewide attention on adapting to the effects of global warming.
In a report to be released Monday, the 23-member California
Adaptation Advisory Panel, a group convened by the Los
Angeles-based Pacific Council on International Policy calls for
stepped-up data-gathering, monitoring and coordination among
state agencies and in the private sector to prepare for a steep
sea level rise, diminishing water supplies and the spread of
wildfire, as studies have predicted. Posted.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-climate-california-20101122,0,4205899.story

Cap-And-Trade Likely To Be Buried By New Congress. This is what
the 2010 midterm elections will change about U.S. climate policy:
Cap-and-trade was dead. Now it will be deader. The Republican
rout on Nov. 2 swept in dozens of new representatives and
senators opposed to using a cap-and-trade scheme to tackle
greenhouse gas emissions. By one estimate, almost half of GOP
freshman legislators don't even believe there is sound science
behind the theory of man-made climate change. Posted.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/11/21/MNEI1GFHLK.DTL#ixzz1629MKpaA

Coalition Advises New Governor to Form Climate Risk Council. A
coalition of politicians, business people, academics and
environmentalists is calling on incoming Gov. Jerry Brown (D) to
establish a climate risk council to help California adapt to the
effects of global warming. The California Adaptation Advisory
Panel, a 23-member group, launched a report today recommending
increased data gathering and coordination between state agencies
to prepare for rising sea levels, decreasing water supplies and
more wildfires. A climate risk council inside the governor's
office could be a "a cross-cutting entity" that facilitates this
coordination, much like the White House's Council on
Environmental Quality. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/2010/11/22/7/

FUELS

CARB to Reduce ILUC for Corn Ethanol. The California Air
Resources Board has decided to re-evaluate its greenhouse gas
emission modeling regarding indirect land use change (ILUC)
considerations for ethanol. The current model used in the state’s
low carbon fuel standard (LCFS) includes life cycle analysis
calculations which result in a higher carbon rating for corn
ethanol than for gasoline. The decision to re-evaluate the model
was made during a board meeting held Nov. 18, during which CARB
staff determined they should adopt a form of modeling created by
Purdue University. Posted.
http://ethanolproducer.com/article.jsp?article_id=7160

Sparring Continues in Wake of Calif.'s Ethanol Adjustment. The
California Air Resources Board's decision last week to revisit
the greenhouse gas scores of corn ethanol and other fuels was
welcomed by ethanol advocates, but others cautioned against
handing them a full victory just yet. The state's low-carbon fuel
standard goes into effect at the start of 2011 and is aimed at
reducing the "carbon intensity" of fuels used in the state by 10
percent by 2020. To achieve that, fuel refiners, importers and
blenders have to use the state's estimates of each fuel's carbon
footprint to meet an average emissions standard for the fuel they
sell in California. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2010/11/22/6/

GREEN ENERGY

Green Your Home for the Holidays. It's mid-November and the
thought of guests descending on your home for the holidays may
have you in an all out redecorating rush. Do Your Part this
holiday season and go green while you paint, clean, and even
accessorize. We all know that paint can completely and
inexpensively change the look of any space. But did you know that
it's one of the biggest sources of indoor air pollution? That's
because conventional paints contain volatile organic compounds -
or VOCs - which are known to cause everything from headaches to
certain cancers.  Posted.
http://www.sacbee.com/2010/11/22/v-print/3203418/green-your-home-for-the-holidays.html

Energy and the Environment: More Certainty, More Innovation. The
U.S. needs to diversify its energy supply. That's a given. But it
also must work to restore its leadership in developing and
exporting energy technology, not just to curb waste at home but
to create markets abroad. Those were just a few of the themes
that emerged from the task-force discussion on energy and the
environment, moderated by The Wall Street Journal's Jeffrey Ball.
Posted.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703688704575620843847497452.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

Where the Rubber Meets the Rails: BART to San Jose Will Ride On
Old Tires. Thousands of cars are expected to be removed from Bay
Area freeways with the project to extend BART to San Jose. But
cars -- or more specifically, their old tires -- are also shaping
up to be a key building material for the job. Construction crews
plan to use at least 250,000 old tires, ground up into 3-inch
chunks and laid under large sections of the tracks, to act as
shock absorbers, reducing vibration and noise along the route as
BART is built from Fremont to San Jose's Berryessa neighborhood
in the next seven years. Posted.
http://www.mercurynews.com/bay-area-living/ci_16675673

Toyota, Panasonic Move into Green-Housing Sector. In what
promises to be a fascinating contest between industry leaders in
relatively unfamiliar territory, two of this nation's
manufacturing giants, Toyota Motor Corp. and Panasonic Corp., are
attempting strong advances in the housing sector. Both firms
believe there are huge opportunities ahead for energy-saving
technologies, with the introduction of the so-called smart grid -
a next-generation power network that will optimize supply to
residential and other properties - likely to accelerate demand
for such products. Posted.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/11/21/BUHQ1GE3ES.DTL#ixzz1627qg3kn

Salinas-Based Green Vehicles Welcomes New Partner. Salinas
residents have been invited to help celebrate the partnership
between Green Vehicles and a  battery-technology company. The
electric car company, set to fully relocate in  Salinas within a
month, will host a reception today at its Firestone Business Park
factory to inaugurate  its relationship with Fremont-based Leyden
Energy. Posted.
http://www.thecalifornian.com/article/20101120/BUSINESS/11200325


On The Path to the Smart Grid: PG&E Smartmeters Stirring Up
Compliments, Controversy. Pacific Gas and Electric Corp. has
started installing SmartMeters for Humboldt County homes, but
responses have been mixed locally and across the state regarding
the new technology. SmartMeters are designed to transmit power
use data electronically instead of having a meter reader
physically come by each home or business. The plan is to
eventually allow customers to see how and when they are using
power so they can find ways to save money and use less, according
to PG&E. Posted.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/california/ci_16666525?nclick_check=1

OPINION

Editorial: Change Terms of Climate Debate. Political leaders
stymied by the partisan polarization and paralysis over energy
policy could learn something from folks who gathered at the
University of California, Davis, last week. The Governor's Global
Climate Summit came on the heels of the landslide defeat of
Proposition 23, the initiative backed by three Texas and Kansas
oil companies that would have overturned California's pioneering
AB 32 law, which aims to cut greenhouse gas emissions. George P.
Shultz, who was President Ronald Reagan's secretary of state and
President Richard Nixon's first budget director, explained the
significance of that vote: It's "the only vote on energy policy
anywhere in the world." Posted.
http://www.sacbee.com/2010/11/21/3199407/change-terms-of-climate-debate.html


Editorial: Brown's Appointees Must Address Public Health Aspects
Of Global Warming. In Gov.-elect Jerry Brown's new
administration, the California Department of Public Health has an
opportunity and an obligation to help drive home the implications
of climate change. As outgoing Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has
explained, global warming does not affect only penguins and polar
bears. He points to air pollution-related implications on the
health of Central Valley children who suffer from asthma. There
is a growing realization, led in part by California public health
experts, that climate change is having significant implications,
and could become worse as temperatures and sea levels rise.
Posted.
http://www.sacbee.com/2010/11/21/3199408/editorial-browns-appointees-must.html


A Year After Climategate, Applying Lessons Learned. A year ago at
this time, while policymakers and journalists (including myself)
were gearing up for the Copenhagen Climate Summit, a story began
percolating in the blogosphere about a voluminous trove of stolen
emails sent between prominent climate scientists. The emails
purportedly contained evidence that climate scientists had fudged
temperature data and interfered in reviews of studies that did
not adhere to mainstream views of manmade climate change. Posted.
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/capitalweathergang/2010/11/a_year_after_climategate_apply.html
                           
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gov-arnold-schwarzenegger/a-year-after-copenhagen-c_b_785686.html


The EPA Permitorium. President Obama is now retrenching after his
midterm rebuke, and one of the main ways he'll try to press his
agenda is through the alphabet soup of the federal regulators. So
a special oversight priority for the new Congress ought to be the
Environmental Protection Agency, which has turned a regulatory
firehose on U.S. business and the power industry in particular.
The scale of the EPA's current assault is unprecedented, yet it
has received almost no public scrutiny. Since Mr. Obama took
office, the agency has proposed or finalized 29 major regulations
and 172 major policy rules. Posted.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704658204575610924168519824.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

BLOGS

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Signs Climate-Change Pact at Mexico
City Summit. Hoping to place cities at the forefront of global
climate-change policy efforts, leaders of more than 100 urban
centers, including L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, pledged on
Sunday in Mexico City to commit their governments to reducing
greenhouse gas emissions. The so-called Mexico City Pact is a
precursor to climate-change talks with world governments opening
next week in the Mexican resort city of Cancun. Posted.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/11/mayor-villaraigosa-signs-climate-change-pact-at-mexico-city-summit.html


On Our Radar: 2010 May Set Emissions Record. Global carbon
dioxide emissions may hit record levels this year, exceeding the
previous high set in 2008, a new study estimates. Emissions have
rebounded sharply this year in tandem with the recovery of the
world economy. [Wired] The same analysis finds that global carbon
dioxide emissions dropped about 1.3 percent last year as a result
of the recession, a significantly smaller decline than some
analysts had expected. Posted.
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/22/on-our-radar-2010-may-set-emissions-record/?partner=rss&emc=rss


Clean Air Action Plan May Be Getting Cleaner. ...but how's the
action? Harbor officials from Long Beach and Los Angeles meet at
Banning's Landing today at 2:00 p.m., to vote on updating the
joint Clean Air Action Plan to improve air quality at the ports.
The Clean Air Action Plan came into existence four years ago -
it's a planning document. Posted.
http://www.scpr.org/blogs/environment/2010/11/22/clean-air-action-plan-may-be-getting-cleaner/

Latinos, Asians, Care A Lot About The Environment: Do These
Results Surprise You? A new LATimes/USC study had some pretty
interesting findings about the environment. You can read more
about the study here. What's interesting about it, of course, is
that the truths it reveals should and will direct the way
environment reporters like me will look at the problems and
solutions we've got in southern California going forward. Posted.
http://www.scpr.org/blogs/environment/2010/11/21/latinos-asians-care-lot-about-environment-do-these/