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California Air Resources Board News Clips for December 20, 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.

DIESEL EMISSIONS

California Eases Diesel Soot Crackdown. The construction industry
gets a break, but the rules remain the nation's toughest.
Reporting from Sacramento — California regulators on Friday
delayed the state's pioneering crackdown on diesel soot from
trucks and construction equipment, bowing to industry demands for
relief during a stubborn economic recession. The newly relaxed
rules "balance the needs of citizens for cleaner air," said Mary
D. Nichols, chairman of the California Air Resources Board. "And
they provide meaningful relief to industries that are very hard
hit." Posted.
http://articles.latimes.com/2010/dec/18/local/la-me-diesel-pollution-20101218

California Backs Off Strict Diesel Rules. Sacramento - --
California's air regulators significantly scaled back the
nation's toughest diesel pollution rules Friday, giving owners of
trucks and other diesel-powered machines more time and more
options to reduce their emissions. The changes, which were
prompted by the economic downturn that has idled many trucks and
construction machines, also came after the California Air
Resources Board acknowledged that some of the original rules had
been based on a major miscalculation of how much pollution the
engines produce.  Posted.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/12/18/MNTO1GS7LN.DTL&type=printable

California Delays Diesel Air Pollution Rules Til 2014.
California's construction and trucking industries will get more
time to comply with stringent new diesel emissions regulations.
Citing the sluggish economy, the California Air Resources Board
on Friday voted unanimously to push back the implementation of
the new rules by four years to 2014. The rules require businesses
to retrofit existing trucks, bulldozers, front loaders and other
heavy equipment to lower diesel emissions. Posted.
http://www.sacbee.com/2010/12/20/v-print/3270946/california-delays-diesel-air-pollution.html

California's Tough Smog Rules Delayed. California air pollution
regulators decided Friday to give the state's struggling trucking
and construction industries a reprieve on tough emissions-control
rules that would have started taking effect Jan. 1. The Air
Resources Board voted unanimously to delay for several years
various rules adopted two years ago that require diesel truck and
construction equipment owners to replace older, more polluting
engines or retrofit them with soot traps. Posted.
http://www.pe.com/localnews/stories/PE_News_Local_D_diesel18b.3cd37e8.html

AIR POLLUTION

EPA Clamps Down On Gold Mines' Mercury Emissions. RENO, Nev. --
Conservationists are hailing a new federal rule to cut emissions
of the toxic metal mercury from the nation's gold mines, calling
it a long overdue measure to protect the health of people and the
environment. The regulations announced Friday will reduce
airborne mercury pollution from the mines to about 1,200 pounds a
year, a 77 percent reduction from 2007 levels, said the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency. The rule represents the first
national standard for mercury air emissions from gold mines, the
seventh largest source of such pollution in the country. Posted.
http://www.sacbee.com/2010/12/17/3265879/gold-mines-face-epa-rules-for.html

CLIMATE CHANGE

California Leads Way On Global Warming. Washington failed
miserably to take action on climate change this year. The
nation's best hope is California, which made a historic leap
forward last week when its Air Resources Board approved a
broad-based cap-and-trade program for greenhouse gases. It was no
simple task to get here. After the Legislature passed AB32, the
state contended with enormous pressure to scale or roll it back. 
Posted.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/12/20/EDDA1GS8B9.DTL&type=printable

Cap And Trade: Details On Emissions Up In The Air. Businesses as
different as breweries, drug factories and power plants will have
to trade in California's new carbon market, created this week by
state regulators as a way to fight global warming. But many
companies aren't sure what the rules will be. As approved by the
California Air Resources Board on Thursday, the nation's largest
cap-and-trade system for lowering greenhouse gas emissions is
dizzyingly complex and still incomplete. It treats different
industries in different ways. Posted.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/12/18/BUKO1GRUPP.DTL&type=printable

3 States In Regional Compact Raid Pollution Funds. Two of the 10
Northeast states that agreed to dedicate millions of dollars to
reduce carbon emissions and promote green energy have reneged on
their promise, instead diverting substantial funds to saving
their budgets. New York and New Jersey over the past year have
raided accounts set up under the Regional Greenhouse Gas
Initiative, the first mandatory U.S. cap-and-trade program for
carbon dioxide. The accounts were created to pay for energy
efficiency programs aimed at reducing the region's pollution by
10 percent by 2018. Citing their example, New Hampshire dipped
into its fund in June to help balance its budget. Posted.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=132183628

First Major Cap And Trade Market For Greenhouse Gas Approved In
California. The California Air Resources Board has approved the
first program in the United States that’ll cap greenhouse gas
emissions and charge polluters for the carbon dioxide they
release. The state board voted as national efforts to counter
global warming are at a standstill. Voters last month beat down a
proposition to suspend AB 32 - the state's landmark climate law:
it lost by 22 percentage points. With that obstacle gone, little
could stop a four-year plan to create what's known as a
cap-and-trade market. Posted.
http://www.scpr.org/news/2010/12/18/arb-cap-final/

Calif. Suggests A Way To Mesh Its Climate Rules With Epa's.
California has proposed a way to mesh its nascent cap-and-trade
system with U.S. EPA's new limits on greenhouse gas emissions
from power plants and other stationary sources. California air
regulators sent EPA a letter last month setting out their case
for controlling emissions through a market-based system that
allows industry to trade emissions rights among themselves,
rather than reduce emissions at each facility, as EPA's
regulations would do. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2010/12/20/4

California Enacts New Cap and Trade Program. It has been
difficult for the US federal government to pass sweeping
legislation that will spur renewable energy development, but
California's new cap and trade program shows that states can
lead. New Hampshire, USA – Again and again renewable energy
advocates have rued the U.S. federal government's failure to come
up with real clean energy goals for the nation to stand behind.
Posted.
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/print/article/2010/12/california-enacts-new-cap-and-trade-program

Environmental Group Takes Aim at California's Cap-and-Trade
Program. The Center for Biological Diversity, an environmental
organization, contends that the cap-and-trade program approved
Thursday by the California Air Resources Board contains loopholes
that would promote forest clear-cutting. Regulations like the new
one in California have the potential to significantly boost the
use of solar electricity as a cost-competitive way to generate
electricity while limiting emissions of greenhouse gases. Posted.
http://solarhbj.com/news/environmental-group-takes-aim-at-californias-cap-and-trade-program-01226

California Embraces Cap And Trade. This last Thursday, California
regulators voted to approve the basic fundamentals of the cap and
trade system that will implement the state’s landmark 2006 Global
Warming Solutions Act (AB 32).  Under the law, the California Air
Resources Board (“CARB”) is to develop a set of regulations to
implement the law itself. These regulations are the more
detail-oriented, “where the rubber meets the road” rules for
industry to follow beginning in 2012.  CAP’s Araceli Ruano has
the story. Posted.
http://theenergycollective.com/josephromm/48828/california-embraces-cap-and-trade

Last Potential Barrier To Implementation Of EPA Climate Rules
Falls. It is now full-speed ahead for federal climate regulations
set to take effect on Jan. 2 after the final legislative
challenge to their implementation was put on ice Friday
afternoon. West Virginia Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D) said he is
postponing his push for a vote on his bill to enact a two-year
timeout on U.S. EPA's ability to regulate greenhouse gases due to
lack of bipartisan support. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2010/12/20/1

FUELS

Carmakers, Engine Makers Challenge Rule Allowing 15% Ethanol in
Gas. U.S. carmakers and engine manufacturers asked an appeals
court to force the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to
reconsider its October decision allowing the sale of gasoline
with 15 percent ethanol. Organizations including the Alliance of
Automobile Manufacturers today asked the federal appeals court in
Washington to review whether the EPA’s “partial waiver” allowing
so-called E-15 fuels violates the Clean Air Act. Posted.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2010-12-20/u-s-carmakers-engine-makers-challenge-rule-allowing-15-ethanol-in-gas.html
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iSJHJiBMH9ohykKMYQY1cwuNQ8Ug?docId=91005cc9ab7246a0a91b4329588b743c
http://www.bizjournals.com/wichita/news/2010/12/20/auto-engine-makers-challenge-epa.html

More Ethanol On Roads, But Trouble In Garages? It seems like a
great idea: Increase the amount of renewable ethanol from grain
at the gas station and decrease America's reliance on foreign
oil.  But a push to add another 50 percent to the ethanol content
of some automobile fuel has opened a barrel of worms. Automakers
say they don't know how it will affect their cars;
power-equipment and boat manufacturers are predicting calamitous
mis-fueling; and gas station owners are looking at a slew of
legal and logistical impediments. Posted.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/19/AR2010121903838_pf.html

A Climate Skeptic Sends Money To A 'Carbon Neutral' Fuel Program.
The Senate's leading climate change critic has sought to direct
$1.5 million toward research on low-carbon fuel derived from
ponds of algae, a move that doesn't alter his position that
global warming believers should "get a life." An earmark promoted
by Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) would send $750,000 to the
University of Tulsa to continue its work on converting oil from
the water-soaked plants into gasoline, diesel and jet fuel.
Posted. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2010/12/20/3

GREEN ENERGY

State To Phase Out Energy-Sucking Light Bulbs. Say goodbye to
your 100-watt incandescent light bulbs. On Jan. 1, it’ll become
increasingly challenging to find one on a store shelf in
California. That’s because the state has ordered a phaseout of
the high energy-consuming light bulb. The state is pressing to
have the old incandescents replaced with newer, more efficient
bulbs, such as compact fluorescents, halogens and light-emitting
diode light bulbs, or LEDs. And beginning in 2012, 100-watt
incandescents will be off the shelves completely. Posted.
http://californiawatch.org/dailyreport/state-phase-out-energy-sucking-light-bulbs-7558

OPINION

Editorial: California Leads Way On Global Warming. Washington
failed miserably to take action on climate change this year. The
nation's best hope is California, which made a historic leap
forward last week when its Air Resources Board approved a
broad-based cap-and-trade program for greenhouse gases. It was no
simple task to get here. After the Legislature passed AB32, the
state contended with enormous pressure to scale or roll it back.
Posted.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=%2Fc%2Fa%2F2010%2F12%2F19%2FEDDA1GS8B9.DTL
 
Editorial: Lead The World? Yes, But Do It Wisely. When Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the Global Warming Solutions Act of
2006, California's economy was strong and the state's
trailblazing efforts were courageous. Although the Golden State
was ahead of the nation in adopting a comprehensive program to
cap greenhouse gases, it didn't seem as if the state would be an
outlier for long.
http://www.sacbee.com/2010/12/19/3266412/lead-the-world-yes-but-do-it-wisely.html?storylink=lingospot

The Wind Subsidy Bubble. Green pork should be a GOP budget
target. Ethanol isn't the only heavily subsidized energy source
that won a multibillion dollar jackpot in last week's tax deal.
The other big winner was the wind industry, which received a one
year extension of a $3 billion grant program for renewable energy
projects. Talk about throwing good money after bad. Despite more
than $30 billion in subsidies for "clean energy" in the 2009
stimulus bill, Big Wind still can't make it in the marketplace.
Posted. 
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB20001424052748703395204576023820064646268.html

Opinion: Our View On Energy: Electric Car Market Gets Useful
Jump-Start. When Toyota unveiled its gasoline-electric Prius
hybrid in Japan in 1997, car executives here scoffed that the car
was little more than an expensive novelty. When Honda began
selling the first hybrid in the U.S. market in 1999, the two-seat
Insight was derided as cramped and impractical. OPPOSING VIEW:
Subsidies? Just say no. Eleven years later, more than 2 million
Priuses have been sold worldwide, and there are about 1.5 million
hybrids on the roads here, including models from the U.S.
automakers. 
Posted. 
http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2010-12-20-editorial20_ST_N.htm

Editorial: Even Warming Skeptics Can See Taxes Are Real. In
pushing to suspend California’s “cap and trade” system to curb
carbon dioxide emissions via November’s failed Proposition 23,
opponents of the anti-global warming law argued that the state’s
wobbly economy cannot afford the added burden of higher energy
costs that the law will inevitably bring. Most Shasta County
residents shared that sentiment, but California voters as a whole
did not. Posted.
http://www.redding.com/news/2010/dec/20/even-warming-skeptics-can-see-taxes-are-real/?print=1

Editorial: Does Dirty Air Put Us On Road To Autism? We in the
Central Valley know all too well about the problems associated
with air pollution -- respiratory ailments and, as the California
Air Resources Board maintains, thousands of premature deaths
annually. New research suggests yet another reason to fear our
notoriously smoggy air: autism. Air pollution might be a factor
in causing the childhood development syndrome, according to a
study by the Saba Research Institute of Children's Hospital in
Los Angeles. Posted.
http://www.bakersfield.com/opinion/editorials/x1680088357/EDITORIAL-Does-dirty-air-put-us-on-road-to-autism

Clean Air Industry Vitally Important. Like thousands of people in
our region, I visited the LA Auto Show this past month. The LA
Auto Show is unique as the international showcase for new hybrid
and electric vehicles. This year, the plug-in Chevy Volt and
all-electric Nissan Leaf took center stage alongside Santa
Monica’s own Coda, which is releasing its all-electric sedan in
2011. Other manufacturers such as Mitsubishi, Volvo, Honda, and
Toyota also displayed new electric and hybrid vehicles that are
scheduled to reach consumers in the next couple of years. Posted.
http://www.smmirror.com/?ajax#mode=single&view=31512

Editorial: More Bold Steps On Protecting State's Coast. Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger's environmental legacy certainly includes
Assembly Bill 32, the law that aims to reduce carbon emissions to
1990 levels by 2020. Equally significant, and less well known, is
his support for conserving California's diverse coastal and
marine wildlife and habitats along the 1,100-mile coastline.
During his tenure, much of the process for creating a network of
regional marine protected areas has come to fruition. Posted.
http://www.sacbee.com/2010/12/20/v-print/3269439/more-bold-steps-on-protecting.html

BLOGS

Treasury Grant Program For Renewable Energy Projects Extended By
Congress. The 1603 Treasury grant program -– a popular government
incentive for renewable energy projects -– was extended Thursday
night as Congress passed a major tax cut deal. The measure, which
covers up to 30% of the cost of solar, wind and other alternative
energy installations, was considered a key buffer for the
industry during the recession. It was due to expire at the end of
the year. Smaller startups and companies were especially pleased
with the renewal, which President Obama is expected to sign by
Friday afternoon. Posted.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/greenspace/2010/12/treasury-grant-program-for-renewable-energy-projects-extended-by-congress.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+GreenspaceEnvironmentBlog+%28Greenspace%29

Ruling Change On Diesel Particulate Emissions. The California Air
Resources Board has amended its diesel particulate emission
regulations for businesses with the aim of reducing today’s
levels by 50 per cent by 2014; and by 70 per cent by 2020.
Amendments to the Truck and Bus regulation and Off-Road
regulation have been formed with the aim of targeting fleets
adversely affected by the economy to take into account the fact
that emissions are now lower than previously predicted. Posted.
http://www.thegreencarwebsite.co.uk/blog/index.php/2010/12/19/ruling-change-on-diesel-particulate-emissions/