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California Air Resources Board News Clips for December 14, 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.

ZERO EMISSIONS VEHICLES

Plan Unveiled to Bring Plug-In Cars to California. Low gas
prices, weak batteries and a lack of cooperation between
carmakers and utilities caused past efforts to introduce electric
vehicles to fizzle. But this time, advocates say, an alliance of
automakers, utilities and regulators are squarely behind an
ambitious project to make California a national leader in
accommodating electric vehicles for the mainstream car market.
Their plan to build charging terminals in thousands of homes,
office buildings, shopping malls and other sites within the next
decade was released Monday. Posted.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jMz_N88LgT2nuY9dQOnaxf3BP5eQ?docId=55bd043d5fa84b90a5ef682a23498c56
         
http://www.modbee.com/2010/12/13/1470283/group-wants-plug-in-cars-to-hit.html
                                                      
http://www.vcstar.com/news/2010/dec/14/plan-unveiled-to-bring-plug-in-cars-to/
http://www.sacbee.com/2010/12/13/3254997/group-wants-plug-in-cars-to-hit.html

Group Wants Plug-In Cars to Hit Calif. Mainstream. An alliance of
automakers, utility companies, regulators and clean-air advocates
are touting an ambitious plan to make charging a car in
California easier than fueling at a gas station within the next
10 years. The California Plug-In Electric Vehicle Collaborative
released the plan Monday as the first mass-market, all-electric
cars - the Nissan Leaf and Chevrolet Volt - hit California roads
this month. The plan outlines steps to get charging stations
easily installed at homes and then in high-traffic public areas
and apartment buildings to encourage drivers to switch from
gasoline-powered vehicles to plug-in electric vehicles. Posted.
http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_16847492
http://www.modbee.com/2010/12/13/1469920/group-wants-plug-in-cars-to-hit.html#ixzz186pAvYPp
                      
http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20101213/A_NEWS/101219971/-1/A_NEWS14
                              
http://www.vcstar.com/news/2010/dec/13/group-wants-plug-in-cars-to-hit-calif-02/


Group Pushes For 1M Calif. Electric Vehicles By 2020. A group of
public and private officials, including representatives of Tesla
Motors Inc., Pacific Gas & Electric Co. and Better Place, issued
a report Monday calling for 1 million electric vehicles on
California roads by 2020. The report was released at Universal
Studios Hollywood where the electric car in "Back to the Future"
was introduced 25 years ago. "It's a bright, clean new world when
automakers, electric utilities, infrastructure providers,
regulators, public health organizations and others join hands to
support a new transportation plan for California," said Diane
Wittenberg, executive director and chairman of the California
Plug-In Electric Vehicle Collaborative. Posted.
http://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/news/2010/12/13/group-pushes-for-1m-calif-electric.html


California Plans Charging Network for 1 Million Electric-Powered
Vehicles. California, the U.S. state that buys the most cars and
trucks, set up an alliance of state agencies, utilities and
automakers aimed at creating a charging network to handle 1
million electric vehicles by 2020.  The California Plug-In
Electric Vehicle Collaborative said today at a conference at
Universal Studios in Los Angeles that it will work to simplify
the process of installing home-chargers and seek to ease
restrictions on vehicle charging in apartments and condominiums.
The group, made up of 30 agencies, organizations and companies,
will promote installation of public charging equipment and
off-peak charging rates.  Posted.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-12-13/california-plans-charging-network-for-1-million-electric-powered-vehicles.html

Energy Independence: Gas Prices and Plug-In Vehicles. What comes
first, the chicken or the egg? Pretty interesting plans coming
out of California to create a very robust charging infrastructure
to support electric cars. Such a plan it seems should help more
and more early adopters plug-in. Obviously, you can’t have the
chicken without the egg, and you can’t have viable, short-range
electric cars without some place to charge them. Posted.
http://www.favstocks.com/energy-independence-gas-prices-and-plug-in-vehicles/1429816/

Think City Wins California "Zero Emissions Vehicle" Approval. The
California Air Resources Board has certified the Think City small
electric car as a Zero Emissions Vehicle (ZEV.) The designation
has numerous ramifications for Think in California and the 12
other states that subscribe to CARB's electric vehicle mandates,
but on a more basic level, it means that the downsized EV is one
step closer to hitting roads next year. Vehicles that meet ZEV
requirements are subject to a host of effective subsidies for the
carmaker that builds them and the consumers who buy them. In the
United States, most of those buyers will initially be public and
private fleets. Posted.
http://www.plugincars.com/think-city-wins-carb-zev-approval-106562.html

US: THINK City Approved By CARB as a ZEV. THINK has announced
that the California Air Resources Board (CARB) has approved the
THINK City as a zero-emissions vehicle (ZEV). The approval paves
the way for THINK to sell the battery-electric THINK City in
California, 12 other states and the District of Columbia that
have adopted California's ZEV requirements. A THINK spokesperson
commented: "CARB certification is critical for fleet sales, not
just in California, but in the other CARB states as well. These
states make up more than 35% of the automobile market in the US
and represent a significant share of the fleet market." Posted.
http://www.automotiveworld.com/news/powertrain/85105-us-think-city-approved-by-carb-as-a-zev

California Plug-in Electric Vehicle Collaborative Talks EV Plans
for California. The mass EV adoption is being billed as a good
thing for the environment and as a means to reducing our
reliances on foreign oil. The promise of mass adoption of EVs is
something that electric companies are looking at with a love/hate
relationship.  The load that EVs will put on the electrical grid
will mean that the electric companies need to improve the
infrastructure in some areas, and the cost of all the
improvements in the grid could mean that everyone ends up paying
more for their electricity. Posted.
http://www.dailytech.com/California+Plugin+Electric+Vehicle+Collaborative+Talks+EV+Plans+for+California/article20388c.htm

Group Pushes To Make California The U.S. Mecca Of Electric
Vehicles. A lobby group consisting of vehicle manufacturers,
regulators, clean air advocates, and motorist associations
unveiled a plan on Monday to make California the leading state in
the country to have electric vehicles on its streets. To make
their plan viable, the group wants to install plenty of charging
terminals in homes, malls, office buildings, car parks, and other
accessible areas in the next ten years. Posted.
http://empowerednews.net/group-pushes-to-make-california-the-u-s-mecca-of-electric-vehicles/184692/

The Key to Electric Car Adoption? Make It Simple. With Nissan
delivering its first Leaf this evening and the Chevrolet Volt now
in production, the hard work is set to begin: "Getting the
blueprint in place for a supportive rollout, so electric vehicles
become a sustainable piece of the marketplace," said Diane
Wittenberg, the executive director of the California Plug-In
Electric Vehicle Collaborative. She unveiled a report Monday that
outlined 10 major recommendations "to pave the way for healthier,
cleaner and cheaper transportation options for the 21st century."
Posted.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/greenspace/2010/12/the-key-to-electric-car-adoption-make-it-simple-says-new-ev-collaborative-plan.html

AIR POLLUTION

Environmentalists Sue Exxon Mobil over Air Laws. The largest U.S.
oil refinery released 8 million pounds of illegal pollution in
the last five years, violating federal air pollution laws
thousands of times, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday by
environmental groups. The lawsuit against ExxonMobil is the
latest by Sierra Club and Environment Texas as part of their
campaign to rein in what they call "illegal emissions" by dozens
of refineries and chemical plants that operate in the Texas Gulf
Coast. In recent months, the groups have reached
multimillion-dollar, out-of-court settlements with Shell and
Chevron Phillips after filing similar suits. The groups say this
is the largest of the lawsuits based on the size of the plant.
Posted.
http://www.sacbee.com/2010/12/14/3256710/environmentalists-sue-exxonmobil.html
http://www.modbee.com/2010/12/14/1471278/environmentalists-sue-exxonmobil.html#ixzz186oNoBGa
                             
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/14/AR2010121403512.html
 http://www.vcstar.com/news/2010/dec/14/environmentalists-sue-exxonmobil-over-air-laws/


CLIMATE CHANGE

Scientist Warns of Quake Risk From 'Carbon Capture'. Efforts to
stem global warming by pumping emissions of carbon dioxide deep
into the Earth's crust could trigger widespread earthquakes, a
Stanford geophysicist warned Monday. Although those quakes would
not be particularly destructive, they would be widely felt and
disruptive - and it would also cost billions of dollars to create
thousands of disposal sites for the greenhouse gas, said Mark
Zoback, one of the country's leading seismic experts. Posted.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/12/13/MNUQ1GQ3AQ.DTL#ixzz186nquylG

Scientists See the Southwest as First Major U.S. Climate Change
Victim. A 60-year drought that scorched the Southwest during the
12th century may be a harbinger of things to come as greenhouse
gases warm the Earth, according to research published yesterday
in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The
study's authors used tree rings to reconstruct a portrait of
droughts that struck the Southwest over a 1,200-year period
stretching back to 900 A.D. They believe that understanding the
droughts of the past could help water managers plan for future
dry periods that are expected to become more intense as climate
change worsens. Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2010/12/14/14climatewire-scientists-see-the-southwest-as-first-major-78170.html

One Republican, Unhappy With His Party's Position on Carbon,
Prepares a New Agenda. Sen. Lindsey Graham is concerned that the
Republican Party faces political dangers by resisting efforts to
reduce carbon dioxide and other air pollution. That assertion
seems to challenge GOP campaigns this year, in which candidates
often rejected the science behind climate change. Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2010/12/14/14climatewire-one-republican-unhappy-with-his-partys-posit-93728.html

Climate Funds Move Beyond Wind, Solar. The poor performance of
some sectors aiming to slow climate change is pushing money
managers to cast further afield for investments that both carry
green credentials and are likely to post better returns. Some
renewable-energy stocks, such as those in solar and wind
industries, have fallen spectacularly in recent years, belying
hopes that they were poised to break out. Money managers say this
poor performance is due in part to a lack of hoped-for policies
to help these industries grow. As a result, say the managers,
they are looking at other areas of the market that are part of
the climate-change story, such as recycling and energy
efficiency. Even eBay Inc., as a promoter of reusing goods, fits
the bill. Posted.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703727804576011583311567892.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

Developers Eye New Opportunities in California. Mexican project
developers are eyeing opportunities to generate California
compliance offsets. California regulators set to approve rules
for the US state’s future cap-and-trade system next week, and
developers south of the border are racing to supply the new
market with carbon credits. “We have a demand for offsets and we
don’t yet have the supply that we need, so we hope there is a
rush,” Linda Adams, head of the state’s Environmental Protection
Agency, said at a side event to the UN climate summit in Cancun.
Posted. http://www.pointcarbon.com/news/1.1491122

White House Science Adviser Sees Price on Carbon Emissions
'Eventually'. The White House "has lost some momentum" on energy
and climate policy, presidential science adviser John Holdren
said yesterday, but that doesn't mean it's giving up. In remarks
to a scientific meeting here and later, in a session with
journalists, Holdren said he was optimistic about the prospects
for making progress on climate despite long odds. Democrats
failed in their effort to pass comprehensive climate and energy
legislation this year. Republicans, set to take control of the
House next month, have made it clear they plan to block as much
of President Obama's climate and energy agenda as possible.
Posted. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2010/12/14/3/

Cap and Trade Could Generate Billions for California. In
November, Californians chose to move forward with, not derail,
the state’s sweeping climate change law when they defeated
Proposition 23, which would have suspended it. A key milestone in
the implementation of that law will take place next week, when
officials adopt regulations for a cornerstone emissions trading –
or cap and trade – program. With the economy in the tank and what
some call a jobless recovery, there’s much at stake in the
ultimate design of an emissions trading program that could
generate billions in revenue annually and create jobs. Posted.
http://www.californiaprogressreport.com/site/?q=node/8477

Timber Companies and Greenhouse Gases. Later this week, the
California Air Resources Board is expected to approve a major set
of new rules regarding greenhouse gas emissions. As many
industries are forced to go on a low-carbon diet, timber
companies are in position to benefit. For one thing, trees are
big storehouses for carbon dioxide, a major greenhouse gas. For
another, the industry has had a lot of input in shaping the
rules. Posted.
http://www.californiareport.org/archive/R201012140850/a

California’s Strong Climate Law Gets Green Light. In a
significant victory, California voters last month soundly
defeated Proposition 23, the industry-backed ballot initiative
that would have blocked the Golden State’s Global Warming
Solutions Act (AB32). It marked the first time a global warming
law was put before voters. By a stunning 61% to 39%, Californians
endorsed a clean energy future and preserved the momentum for
global warming action. “With the world’s eighth largest economy,
California can influence not just national climate policy, but
global policy as well,” said Steve Cochran, EDF’s vice president
for climate. Posted.
http://www.favstocks.com/californias-strong-climate-law-gets-green-light/1429810/

GREEN ENERGY

Will A GOP-Led House Un-'Green' The Capitol? Just outside the
doors of Congress, the U.S. Capitol Christmas tree glows with
strands of energy-efficient LED lights. Inside the Capitol,
thousands of compact fluorescent light bulbs illuminate the final
days of the session. Staffers print with recycled paper, eat with
compostable forks and grab sodas from low-emission vending
machines. Congress has gone to great lengths in recent years to
reduce its carbon footprint, with a substantial share of that
effort stemming from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's "Green the
Capitol" initiative. Posted.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/13/AR2010121305889.html

Maximizing Small-Business Assets. Across the United States,
small-business owners are finding new ways to reduce costs to
maximize the bottom line. One place to cut costs and increase
efficiencies can be the traditional office printer. A few simple
steps can greatly reduce printing costs while helping the
environment, a win-win scenario. Here are a few suggestions: 
Establish a Printing Policy—Direct employees to print in color
only when preparing clientfacing documents and presentations.
Expand page margins when printing to get more on each page. 
Posted.
http://imperialvalleynews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=8868&Itemid=1

San Francisco Eyes Goal Of 100% Green Power By 2020. Outgoing
Mayor Gavin Newsom (D) last week launched an initiative that he
says will result in 100 percent renewables to meet this city's
power demand within a decade. Newsom, who becomes lieutenant
governor of California next month, announced the program during a
speech commemorating the completion of the Sunset Reservoir Solar
Project, which at 5 megawatts is the largest municipal solar
facility in the state. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/2010/12/14/3/

Study Shows U.S. Installations Are High. The United States
installed $3.6 billion worth of solar energy in 2009, according
to a survey by the Solar Energy Industries Association and GTM
Research released today. Its domestic value added up to $2.6
billion, with the rest going to foreign markets. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2010/12/14/5/


BLOGS

'Revenge of the Electric Car' Trailer Debuts on Youtube. It's
been four years since "Who Killed the Electric Car?" riled up
greenies with an incendiary documentary about General Motors' EV1
and its ultimate demise in the claws of a car crusher. Now
director Chris Paine is back, not so much with a follow-up to his
acclaimed film but the next chapter in EVs' convoluted history.
"Revenge of the Electric Car" won't be in theaters until early
2011, but the trailer was released on YouTube Friday and is
already pulling in impressive numbers. Posted.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/greenspace/2010/12/revenge-of-the-electric-car.html

Global Warming Protesters Ramp Up With Climate Talks' Failure.
The failure of global climate negotiations to slow greenhouse gas
emissions is fueling protest movements in the U.S. and other
countries, as the effects of sea level rise, longer droughts and
stronger storms begin to take a toll. More than 190 nations sent
some 9,000 government officials, scientists and technicians to
Cancun over the last two weeks, but the diplomatic arm-wrestling
yielded little progress. That didn’t sit well with thousands of
environmentalists and social activists, many of them from
California, who converged on the seaside resort to pressure
negotiators. Posted.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/greenspace/2010/12/cancun-climate-protests-photos-cop-16-images.html

Columbia River Coal Export Facility Challenged On Greenhouse
Gases. Plans to open the first major coal export facility on the
West Coast are likely to be delayed until next year because of an
appeal filed by a coalition of environmental groups, which say
shipping coal to Asia throws a wrench in U.S. efforts to reduce
international greenhouse gas emissions. On Nov. 23, commissioners
in Cowlitz County, Washington, approved the
5.7-million-ton-a-year shipping facility on the Columbia River.
The appeal argues that efforts to shut down coal-fired power
plants in the U.S. are fruitless if American coal, unburned here,
goes to power plants in China. Posted.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/greenspace/2010/12/coal-export-columbia-longview-china.html

Energy: Will the Tax Bill Be Good for Renewable Energy? Amid all
the political agony over the tax compromise taking shape in
Congress right now there are side measures that could be
incredibly important for renewable energy in the U.S. The final
bill is obviously still evolving, but the compromise agreed to by
Senators Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell contains a few provisions
that will impact the alternative energy industry—potentially for
good and ill. That includes: An extension of the 50 cent per
gallon tax credit for liquid coal transportation fuels, provided
in Sections 6426 and 6427 of the federal tax code. This is one
environmentalists are against, vociferously—liquid coal can be
incredibly polluting for the climate, producing more than twice
as much carbon pollution as convention fuels. Posted.
http://ecocentric.blogs.time.com/2010/12/13/energy-will-the-tax-bill-be-good-for-renewable-energy/#ixzz186sDkXiR

Electric Trucks Pick Up Speed. While the delivery of the first
Nissan Leaf electric car to a California buyer over the weekend
made headlines, there’s been relatively little attention paid to
the small but growing electric truck and bus market. As the
workhorses of the economy, delivery trucks, city buses and other
heavy-duty vehicles don’t carry the cachet of, say, a Tesla
Roadster electric sports car. But electrifying urban fleets could
go a long way to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and pollutants
as well as helping wean the United States off imported oil.
Posted.
http://blogs.reuters.com/environment/2010/12/14/electric-trucks-pick-up-speed/

Carbon Storage Could Be Shaky Proposition. Some say storing
carbon underground as a way to curb greenhouse gas emissions is
risky. The container has to last essentially forever, and what if
an earthquake rips through the seal? But new research is showing
that pumping CO2 underground could itself trigger earthquakes.
Stanford University geophysicist Mark Zoback looked at saline
aquifers, one of the main types of geologic formations under
assessment for carbon sequestration. He found that adding CO2 gas
could increase the geologic pressure underground and set off a
quake. Not a big one, mind you. Posted.
http://blogs.kqed.org/climatewatch/2010/12/14/carbon-storage-could-be-shaky-proposition/

Climate Change Endangers Public Health in the United States. The
Cancún climate conference has ended with many issues unresolved
and U.S. commitments will be hampered by the expected attacks
from the incoming Congress on the EPA's authority to regulate
greenhouse gases. Meanwhile the urgency for solutions is rapidly
increasing and leading medical and public health groups across
the country agree: climate change is hazardous to our health. In
the past two decades, extreme heat events have killed tens of
thousands around the globe, including populations here in the
United States. Posted.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cecil-b-wilson-md/climate-change-endangers-_b_796425.html