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California Air Resources Board News Clips for January 14, 2011. 


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.

VEHICLES

Transit Expert Speaks At League Of Women Voters Luncheon. The
Woodland League of Women Voters invites everyone to their 17th
annual State of the Community luncheon on Wednesday, Feb. 23, at
the Woodland United Methodist Church in Woodland. The Woodland
League has been studying climate change and sustainability of
resources over the last two years. In keeping with this they have
invited Dr. Dan Sperling, the director of the UCD Institute of
Transportation Studies to speak. In his talk titled "Toward Two
Billion Cars and What to Do About it," Dr. Sperling will address
whether this is sustainable not only in the U.S. but worldwide.
Posted. http://www.dailydemocrat.com/news/ci_17095274

California May Have The Highest Costs For Charging Electric
Vehicles, Study Says. The state's tiered rate system, in which
rates rise as people use more power, could make owning plug-in
hybrids and all-electric vehicles more expensive than in other
states. Californians may end up paying the highest electricity
rates in the country to charge their electric vehicles, a new
study says. The state's tiered rate system, in which customers
are charged higher rates as they use more electricity, could make
plug-in hybrid and battery-powered vehicles more costly to own,
according to a Purdue University study. Posted.
http://www.latimes.com/news/science/environment/la-fi-autos-electric-rates-20110114,0,5583251,print.story

CalStart to Manage CARB Hybrid and Electric Incentive Program.
The California Air Resources Board has chosen CalStart for the
second year in a row to manage the nation's largest incentive
program for hybrid and electric trucks and buses. Last year's
program resulted in the purchase of more than 650 hybrid trucks
in California. The CARB Hybrid Vehicle Incentive Program (HVIP),
initiated in late 2009, encourages fleet operators to purchase
hybrid trucks instead of conventional ones. Posted.
http://www.truckinginfo.com/news/news-print.asp?news_id=72712

MIT Panel Says Charging Infrastructure, Not Technology, May Be
The Bigger Roadblock For Electric Vehicles. A Massachusetts
Institute of Technology report, issued yesterday, concludes that
creating a nationwide infrastructure for electric vehicles
appears to be a bigger challenge than producing affordable
batteries to power the cars. The report, authored by professors
Ernest Moniz and John Deutch, summarizes an MIT symposium last
year on the electric vehicle. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2011/01/14/2

AIR POLLUTION

LNG and Pollution, Questions and Answers. We asked SDG&E
spokesman Art Larson to answer some questions via e-mail about
the use of LNG in the county, then ran his responses past Bob
Kard, who heads the San Diego County Air Pollution Control
District. Question: The air pollution folks in San Diego aren't
just concerned about its use in vehicles, but also homes and
businesses, and say that its use in San Diego would lead to an
additional 4 to 5 tons of pollutants in our air. How do you
respond to that allegation? Posted.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/jan/13/lng-and-pollution-questions-and-answers/

Gas From Afar Pollutes Here, Critics Say. San Diego’s air quality
folks are worried that natural gas imported from overseas could
erase decades of work cleaning San Diego’s air. County officials
say that San Diego Gas & Electric, which operates the region’s
natural gas pipelines and distribution lines, is allowing the
import of the extra-polluting gas and hasn’t taken steps to
minimize its impact. “If you’re doing something today that is
increasing the emissions in the air, you have an obligation to
clean that up,” said County Supervisor Ron Roberts, who also
serves on the state Air Resources Board. Posted.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/jan/13/gas-from-afar-pollutes-here-critics-say/

CLIMATE CHANGE

California Carbon Market May ‘Hurt’ Refiners, S&P Says.
California’s planned cap-and-trade program to cut greenhouse
gases may hurt the credit of refinery owners in the state, such
as Tesoro Corp. and Valero Energy Corp., Standard & Poor’s said.
Companies with California refineries will have to buy “a
substantial number of carbon credits” in the program that is set
to start next year, a “potential adverse development” for
corporate credit, New York-based S&P said today in a report. The
California Air Resources Board approved last month the
cap-and-trade regulation that will force power plants,
refineries, factories, cars and trucks in the state to cut their
pollution roughly 15 percent by 2020. Posted.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2011-01-13/california-carbon-market-may-hurt-some-oil-refiners-s-p-says.html

Proponents of California’s Global Warming Law Were Against
Renewables Before They Were For Them. Just forget about that
whole global warming scare that was still in vogue up until just
over a year ago before the “climategate” scandal erupted, to say
nothing of updated research that interlinks natural forces with
warming and cooling trends as opposed to human activity. In fact,
over 1,000 scientists from the across the globe have gone on
record to question earlier claims advanced through the United
Nations that have been used to justify “cap and trade” schemes
modeled after the Kyoto Protocol of 1997. Posted.
http://biggovernment.com/kmooney/2011/01/13/proponents-of-californias-global-warming-law-were-against-renewables-before-they-were-for-them/

East Asian Businesses Snub Cap And Trade. Companies in Japan and
South Korea have taken stances opposing carbon emissions markets,
saying the system would harm business. The Federation of Korean
Industries stated that an emissions trading scheme would add to
the cost of doing business, unless Japan and China also initiate
a scheme. Keidanren, Japan's largest business lobby, said 61 of
64 companies opposed the introduction of carbon trading,
according to a survey from September. Japan and South Korea are
two of Asia's top carbon emitters. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2011/01/14/9

GREEN ENERGY

Which Cities Charge Exhorbitant Fees For Solar Permits? If you’re
a business hankering to save the planet in San Clemente, a permit
to install solar panels will set you back nearly $14,000. If
you’re a business hankering to save the planet in Anaheim, Santa
Ana, Mission Viejo or Laguna Beach, it will cost you nothing.
Some Orange County cities are strangling progress by charging
exorbitant fees for solar installation permits, the Sierra Club
says. Posted.
http://taxdollars.ocregister.com/2011/01/13/which-cities-charge-exhorbitant-solar-permit-fees/72540/

China Has The Highest Wind Power Capacity In The World, According
To Its Official Government News Agency. Last year it added 62
percent -- or 16 gigawatts -- in new wind power capacity, the
Xinhua News Agency reported yesterday. By the end of 2010, the
country's total wind power capacity stood at 41.8 gigawatts. That
ranks slightly higher than U.S. capacity, which measured 40.2
gigawatts by the end of last year. The United States added 5
gigawatts in capacity last year. The report didn't specify the
amount of Chinese capacity able to access power transmission and
distribution networks. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2011/01/14/11

Calif. Agency Mulls 'Opt Out' Or Wired Substitutes As Fallout
Persists. San Francisco -- A burst of opposition to smart meters
in a Northern California county appears to have turned heads in
the state commission with jurisdiction over the emerging
technology, with at least two prominent officials yesterday
signaling they would consider letting consumers opt out. In
separate interviews, California Public Utilities Commission
members Nancy Ryan and Timothy Simon said they were open to
looking at new policies that would either let ratepayers reject
smart meter installation outright or pursue wired rather than
wireless connections. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/print/2011/01/14/1

In Los Angeles, Officials Announce Attainment of a Cleaner-Energy
Goal. Although solar electricity is still a tiny fraction of its
portfolio, Los Angeles officials have made progress in adding
renewable energy and are marking the milestone of obtaining 20
percent of the city’s power from renewables in 2010. The total
actually comes to 19.7 percent, officials from the Los Angeles
Department of Water and Power reported, but the trend is clear.
Posted.
http://solarhbj.com/news/los-angeles-officials-mark-attainment-of-cleaner-energy-milestone-01294

OPINION

The Energy Deal That's Still Possible. President Obama promised
in the fall that a top priority of his legislative program for
2011 would be an energy policy "that helps us grow at the same
time as it deals with climate change in a serious way." With
global warming deniers now in charge of the House of
Representatives, there would seem to be little hope for major
legislation on clean energy or climate in this Congress. Posted.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/13/AR2011011306212_pf.html

Editorial: Reasons to Cool It on Global Warming. A man perhaps as
responsible as anyone for debunking global warming hysteria was
in town last week to speak to the curious and the converted at
Chapman University. Dr. Fred Singer also spoke with us about the
state of global warming. Dr. Singer, chairman of the Science and
Environmental Policy Project and professor emeritus of
environmental sciences at the University of Virginia, concedes
that global warming alarmists persist in their efforts to control
our lives, fortunes and economies, but he notes that opposition
from scientists and others like him have significantly impeded
that cause. Posted.
http://www.ocregister.com/opinion/-284004--.html

Air Pollution Isn’t Just Dirty, It’s Poisonous! I spent the
year-end holidays in a surprising way: helping friends set up a
nursery. They are expecting a baby in March, but when troubling
signs of a premature delivery threatened, the mother was rushed
into the hospital and put on bed rest. She’s one of the busiest,
most active people I know, so the next few months (touch wood)
aren’t going to be easy for her. But she will do whatever it
takes to protect her infant. Posted.
http://www.favstocks.com/air-pollution-isnt-just-dirty-its-poisonous/1431267/

BLOGS

Largest Renewable Energy Projects of 2010. A recently published
round-up of the biggest renewable energy projects completed
during the year shows that, despite the global recession, the
renewable energy sector remained buoyant during 2010. The list of
record-breaking projects was put together by the editors of
Renewable Energy World. Offshore wind. 2010 was the year in which
offshore wind came of age. Posted.
http://www.sustainablebusiness.com/index.cfm/go/news.printerfriendly/id/21719

GE Begins Move Into Green Data Centers With $520 Million Deal. GE
wants a slice of the burgeoning green-data-centers pie — and it’s
willing to spend half a billion dollars to get it. The company,
which manufactures everything from wind turbines to electric car
charging stations, announced today it has acquired power
conversion technology company Lineage Power for $520 million from
Gores Group; an offering that GE says will help it leverage huge
opportunities in telecom and making data centers more efficient.
Posted.
http://venturebeat.com/2011/01/13/ge-kicks-off-green-data-center-play-with-520-million-acquisition/

Ports Of Los Angeles And Long Beach To Test New Seawater Scrubber
Device To Cut Vessel Emissions. The Ports of Los Angeles and Long
Beach are co-sponsoring a project to test a seawater scrubber
system for the first time on a container ship, beginning this
spring. The technology uses seawater to filter pollutants from
ships’ auxiliary engines and boilers. The Hamworthy Krystallon
Seawater Scrubber is designed to run cold but can be operated at
temperatures up to 450°C. Posted.
http://www.favstocks.com/ports-of-los-angeles-and-long-beach-to-test-new-seawater-scrubber-device-to-cut-vessel-emissions/1331227/