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California Air Resources Board News Clips for January 27, 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.

AIR POLLUTION

Soot Crackdown Lags As EPA Wrestles Other Deadlines. U.S. EPA's
air division has made headlines under President Obama for its
push to limit greenhouse gases and toxic pollution, but the busy
office is running late with new limits on asthma-inducing soot,
close observers of the rulemaking process say. The Obama
administration is nearing a decision point on particulate matter
(PM), a pollution cocktail that includes run-of-the-mill dust and
the chemical-laden soot that is released when fossil fuels are
burned. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/print/2011/01/27/1

CLIMATE CHANGE

Obama Seeks New Path To Environmental Goals. Washington (AP) —
Facing a Congress that is more hostile to environmental
regulation, President Barack Obama is moderating his
environmental goals: a clean energy standard that mixes nuclear,
natural gas and "clean coal" with wind, solar and other renewable
sources. In his State of the Union address Tuesday night, Obama
called for 80 percent of the nation's electricity to come from
clean sources by 2035. That goal represents a new strategy to
reduce emissions of carbon dioxide blamed for global warming,
following the death of cap-and-trade legislation that Obama
pushed in Congress for the last two years. Posted.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5i5brUcNLuTRn0QPkb1pvLrFy1JTA?docId=1035b44296c84ed39e62276a1158374f

Administration Seeking Momentum for Clean Energy Standard.
President Obama and key members of the administration fanned the
nation yesterday to promote his plans to expand clean energy
initiatives, moving quickly to build momentum behind a key agenda
item pitched to a national audience on Tuesday. The effort
contrasts with Obama's low-key approach last summer, when Senate
Democrats were struggling to advance climate legislation that
collapsed before midterm elections. Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2011/01/27/27climatewire-administration-seeking-momentum-for-clean-en-12429.html?pagewanted=print

Obama's Clean-Energy Goals Have Industry Questioning Feasibility.
Plans call for 1 million electric vehicles on the road within
four years and 80% of the nation's power coming from green
sources by 2035. Executives say the ability to get steady funding
would help. President Obama has grand plans for a green nation —
1 million electric vehicles on the road within four years and
clean power sources providing 80% of the nation's energy by 2035.
Posted.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-obama-clean-energy-20110127,0,5225775,print.story

South Korean Parliament to Debate Carbon-Trading Bill. (Updates
with committee's comment in fourth paragraph.) South Korea's
presidential committee plans to submit legislation on
carbon-emissions trading to parliament next month amid opposition
from business groups. The bill will have flexibility on the
timing of its introduction and the quota for free permits,
according to a report from the Committee on Green Growth to
President Lee Myung Bak, as shown on the government website.
South Korea, Asia's fourth-biggest polluter, said in November it
aims to adopt a carbon-emissions trading system in 2013 to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions and fight global warming. Posted.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2011/01/26/bloomberg1376-LFNUCW6KLVR801-7FT67KEM5OE88RPB5FJO1C3C3T.DTL&type=printable

Administration Preparing Plans For International Climate Aid. The
Obama administration is developing blueprints to guide billions
of dollars in U.S. funding to poor countries that face threats
from climate change or are transitioning to clean energy
economies. The strategies for international adaptation and clean
energy finance remain under wraps. Even businesses and aid groups
that have been asked to comment on the strategies say they have
not been permitted to actually see the plans they are assessing.
Posted. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2011/01/27/3

Obama’s Green Focus Now Firmly On Clean Energy. Barack Obama’s
State of the Union address has confirmed the writing on the wall
in his administration’s desire for a price on carbon in the US;
there will be no pursuit in the last two years of his first term
on his once-desired policy for cap and trade to tackle climate
change. This was confirmed not by what Obama said on the subject
in his speech. He didn’t talk of climate change, global warming,
greenhouse emissions caps, UN climate treaties or cap and trade.
Posted.
http://www.carbonpositive.net/viewarticle.aspx?articleID=2252

California Using Carbon Markets to Clean up Ozone-Killers.
Decades after most industrialized countries banned Ozone
Depleting Substances (ODS), tons of the stuff is still lurking in
old refrigerators and foam insulation. Now the US state of
California is using carbon markets to pay for the destruction of
this environmental WMD, which can have up to 10,000 times the
global-warming impact of carbon dioxide. Jeff Cohen has spent
more than 25 years developing environmental protocols and
formulating policy for everyone from the Chicago Climate Exchange
to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).  Posted.
http://www.ecosystemmarketplace.com/pages/dynamic/article.page.php?page_id=7978§ion=news_articles&eod=1

FUELS

US Agencies And California Agree To Timetable For Fuel Efficiency
Standards. The US state of California has agreed to work to the
same timetable as the Department of Transportation (DOT) and
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on new fuel efficiency
standards for the next generation of cars and light-duty trucks.
The agreement will see the California Air Resources Board (CARB)
release its proposals for fuel economy and greenhouse gas
emissions standards for model years 2017-2025 in September, at
the same time as the DOT and EPA. CARB had been planning to
release its proposals in March. Posted.
http://www.energyefficiencynews.com/policy/i/3751/

California, EPA Agree to Set New Fuel Economy Numbers Before
September. In 2017, the federal government's Corporate Average
Fuel Economy (CAFE) mandate will enter a new phase of increases
that are likely to be the most dramatic in the law's history. In
order to give the automotive industry time to gear up for
compliance, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had been
scheduled to map out its CAFE recommendations the 2017 through
2025 model years by October. Posted.
http://www.hybridcars.com/news/california-epa-reach-agreement-set-new-fuel-economy-numbers-september-29327.html

Clean Energy Industry Skeptical Of Obama's Goals. Despite the
President's strong affirmation of his clean energy goals during
Tuesday's State of the Union Address, the clean energy industry
has been reserved in its enthusiasm. Among President Obama's
promises were that the U.S. would reach 80 percent dependence on
renewable sources by 2035, and that he would put 1 million
electric vehicles on the road by 2015. But Obama has set clean
energy goals before that have failed to materialize in the
governmental support necessary for their completion. Posted.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/27/clean-energy-obama_n_814720.html?view=print

GREEN ENERGY

Obama's Clean-Tech Vision Meets With Skepticism. Los Angeles --
President Barack Obama has grand plans for a green nation - 1
million electric vehicles on the road within four years and clean
power sources providing 80 percent of the nation's energy by
2035. But after getting a surprisingly extensive shout-out in
Obama's State of the Union address - he sees clean tech as the
country's best chance to seize its "Sputnik moment" - industry
officials this week were less than enthused and questioned
whether the ambitious targets were even attainable. Posted.
http://www.sacbee.com/2011/01/27/v-print/3356396/obamas-clean-tech-vision-meets.html

Down Side Of Energy Efficient Flourescent Bulbs. Ann Scalapino
never leaves home without an incandescent light bulb tucked into
her purse. She suffers from migraines that she believes are
triggered by fluorescent lights, so when she visits friends who
use the energy-efficient bulbs in their homes, she asks them to
replace them while she visits. But now that traditional
incandescent light bulbs are being phased out as California leads
the nation in adopting stricter energy efficiency standards,
Scalapino is one of a committed group of incandescent light bulb
lovers who are buying them in droves. Posted.
http://www.pressdemocrat.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110126/articles/110129569&template=printart

One Of County's Largest Solar Projects Moves Forward. One of the
largest planned solar projects has been given the green light for
development. The California Public Utilities Commission recently
approved a renewable energy contract for San Diego Gas and
Electric, said Andy Horne, Imperial County deputy executive
officer of natural resources development. The CPUC approved a
20-year power purchase agreement with Centinela Solar Energy,
operated by LS Power. Posted.
http://www.ivpressonline.com/news/ivp-news-solar-project-20110127,0,2149122,print.story

GE, NRG, Conocophillips Team Up To Fund Energy-Tech Ventures.
Three major energy companies announced the formation today of a
new joint venture to back promising energy technologies, putting
a $300 million initial investment into the new company. General
Electric Co. (NYSE: GE), NRG Energy Inc. (NYSE: NRG) and
ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) said their Energy Technology Ventures
would fund in the next four years about 30 companies in their
early and growth stages. The collaboration will launch with
investments in three startups, the companies said. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/print/2011/01/27/6

California Wilderness Proposals Face Dicey Political Environment.
Washington – The next California wilderness fights will stretch
from the desert to the Delta, in a dicey new political
environment. This week, the state's two Democratic senators set
the stage by introducing wilderness-related bills. Their
prospects are unclear, but their ambitions are undeniable. "I've
still got 1 million acres to go," Sen. Barbara Boxer said of her
aspirations Wednesday. In Tehama and Shasta counties, for
instance, Boxer wants to designate a 17,869- acre Sacramento
River National Recreation Area. Posted.
http://www.sacbee.com/2011/01/27/v-print/3355434/california-wilderness-proposals.html

BLOGS

For Excess Solar Flow, a Veg-O-Matic for Voltage. Until very
recently, the solar industry was mainly concerned with getting a
toehold in the production of electricity at a utility-level
scale. Now a New Jersey company is looking for its niche in a
different field — how to handle a system that is saturated with
solar energy, sometimes enough to destabilize the electric grid.
Petra Solar. The company, Petra Solar, has a highly visible
product: it is under contract to supply 200,000 panels that
Public Service Electric & Gas will attach to utility poles around
New Jersey. Posted.
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/27/for-excess-solar-flow-a-veg-o-matic-for-voltage/?pagemode=print

Obama Ducks and Covers on Climate. The “C-word,” climate, appears
to have become to the Beltway what  the “P-word,” population, has
been in climate treaty negotiations for a long time —
unmentionable. It’s one thing to cave to a wave of naysaying
climate rhetoric and build a new American energy conversation on
points of agreement rather than clear ideological flash points
like global warming. It’s another to duck and cover entirely on
climate, as President Obama did in his State of the Union
message. Posted.
http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/26/the-c-word-vanishes/?scp=6&sq=climate%20change&st=Search

Government Scientists Warn Of California 'Superstorms'. If
climate change isn't on your radar yet, perhaps a massive
'superstorm' dumping as much as 10 feet of rain across California
would put it there. USGS scientists unveiled a scenario that
would cause such a storm at a conference last week, noting that
the damage a 'superstorm' would cause would dwarf that caused by
a large earthquake by a factor of five. A quarter of all homes in
the state would likely experience flooding. Posted.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/green/detail?entry_id=81790#ixzz1CG41cxSz