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California Air Resources Board News Clips for February 23, 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

APNewsBreak: EPA to ease cost of regulation.  WASHINGTON -- Faced
with stiff opposition in Congress and a court-ordered deadline,
the Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday will make it
much cheaper for companies to reduce toxic air pollution from
industrial boilers and incinerators.  Posted. 
http://www.modbee.com/2011/02/23/1569089/apnewsbreak-epa-to-ease-cost-of.html

http://www.nctimes.com/news/national/article_51bd4643-bca3-59d0-b649-e454d2fee1c6.html

http://www.fresnobee.com/2011/02/23/2282977/apnewsbreak-epa-to-ease-cost-of.html#storylink=misearch

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/23/AR2011022301979.html

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2011/02/23/national/w082016S76.DTL

http://www.sacbee.com/2011/02/23/3424022/apnewsbreak-epa-to-ease-cost-of.html

http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_17460709 
http://ww.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/feb/23/apnewsbreak-epa-to-ease-cost-of-regulation/


Cannella introduces bill to ensure California companies get full
benefit of air quality regs.  SACRAMENTO – State Sen. Anthony
Cannella (R-Ceres) said he introduced Senate Bill 358 to ensure
California companies receive the full benefit of state grant
funding designed to support efforts to meet and exceed
California’s rigorous air quality regulations by exempting these
grants from the state income tax.  Posted. 
http://www.sacbee.com/2011/02/22/3423308/cannella-introduces-bill-to-ensure.html

http://www.mercedsunstar.com/2011/02/22/1782195/cannella-introduces-bill-to-ensure.html

Fouling the Clean Air Act.  Largely hidden in its attack on the
federal budget, the House of Representatives has approved a key
Republican campaign promise to big business: Protecting it from
what the new majority argues are the handcuffs of environmental
safeguards. The Republicans would cuff the Environmental
Protection Agency instead.  Posted. 
http://www.sacbee.com/2011/02/23/3423719/fouling-the-clean-air-act.html


EPA Overhauls Boiler Rules After Complaints About Cost.  The
Obama administration issued pollution rules for industrial
boilers that it said are 50 percent less expensive than
regulations proposed last year that drew industry opposition. 
Posted. 
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-23/epa-overhauls-u-s-boiler-rules-cuts-costs-50-after-industry-protests.html

CLIMATE CHANGE

UN 'climate vulnerability' list urged to guide aid.  A climate
"vulnerability index" to 
judge which developing countries are most at risk from global
warming and in need of aid is among the proposals submitted to a
U.N. body ahead of new climate talks in April.  The proposal is
among submissions to the United Nations that also show a deep
split between rich and poor countries about how to oversee
billions of dollars to help developing nations adapt to impacts
such as droughts, heatwaves, floods or rising seas.  Posted. 
http://www.latimes.com/sns-rt-climateadaptationlde71m139-20110223,0,3275616.story


GREEN ENERGY

US scrambles to dig out of a rare earths hole.  In the Mojave
Desert just off Interstate 15 on the way to Las Vegas, workers
are digging for dirt that may be worth far more than a casino
full of chips.  The massive hole is about to get even bigger.
Molycorp Inc., which owns the open mine, plans to dig out about
40,000 tons of dirt a year by 2014, up 1,200 percent from the
current rate of about 3,000 tons.  Posted. 
http://www.sacbee.com/2011/02/23/3423718/us-scrambles-to-dig-out-of-a-rare.html

 
Ohio Is Best in the Midwest for Advanced Energy Manufacturing. 
It takes 8,000 components to construct a typical utility-sized
wind turbine. Sourcing components can be a logistical challenge
often involving many suppliers spread around the world.
Complexity in the supply chain can lead to unwanted delivery
delays and quality concerns. Supply chain complexity can destroy
profitability. It leads to hidden costs such as longer cycle
times, excess safety stock for critical parts and decreased
flexibility in enacting design changes. One proven practice to
decreasing supply chain complexity and the resultant cost is to
co-locate manufacturing operations with critical suppliers. 
Posted. 
http://www.sacbee.com/2011/02/23/3423778/ohio-is-best-in-the-midwest-for.html


RICS Releases Sustainability Report on the Financial Performance
of Green Office Buildings in the USA.  RICS has announced the
release of a new report, "Sustainability and the Dynamics of
Green Building": New Evidence on the Financial Performance of
Green Office Buildings in the USA.  Posted. 
http://www.sacbee.com/2011/02/23/3424441/rics-releases-sustainability-report.html


MISCELLANEOUS

NASA delays launch for Earth-orbiting satellite.  Officials at a
military base in central California have delayed the launch of a
rocket carrying an Earth-observation satellite.  Tech Sgt. Ben
Rojek of the 30th Space Wing at Vandenberg Air Force Base
confirmed that the launch was scrubbed five minutes before its
planned takeoff early Wednesday.  Posted. 
http://www.nctimes.com/news/national/article_2bdf7b22-4000-59bc-b895-19227264c5ab.html


T. Coraghessan Boyle's 'When the Killing's Done,' an
environmental novel.  In his superbly marketed blockbuster
"Freedom," Jonathan Franzen lectured at us for a long time about
the dire plight of the environment. Readers who had been busy in
another room during the past 50 years learned from his earnest
hero that the population is exploding, pollution is poisoning
rivers and industries such as coal mining are destroying forests.
 Posted. 
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/22/AR2011022206578.html


OPINION

Renewable energy 'on' switch.  California is blessed with
renewable energy resources that it has barely begun to harvest,
an enlightened electorate that understands the importance of
doing so and a venture-capital community eager to make green
investments. In fact, the state has everything it needs to lead
the world in clean energy development, except for one thing: a
functional government.  Posted. 
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-renewable-20110223,0,7081433.story


BLOGS

EPA Overhauls Controversial Regulation That Spurred Business
Complaints.  WASHINGTON – Faced with stiff opposition in Congress
and a court-ordered deadline, the Environmental Protection Agency
on Wednesday will make it much cheaper for companies to reduce
toxic air pollution from industrial boilers and incinerators. 
Posted. 
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/23/the-watchdog-epa-regulation-overhaul_n_827023.html

Striking PCB Levels Found at a New York School.  The federal
Environmental Protection Agency has found the highest levels of
leaking PCBs to date in its inspections of New York City schools,
at Public School 45 in Bushwick, Brooklyn.  Agency officials said
that an inspection of lighting ballasts at the school on Feb. 12
revealed PCB levels of up to 660,000 parts per million, far
beyond the regulatory limit of 50 parts per million.  Posted. 
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/22/striking-pcb-levels-found-at-new-york-school/


Global warming, extreme events and weird weather.  I've never
been a fan of absolutes. People who espouse rigid beliefs - be
they about climate change, religion, or politics (or a mix of all
three) - instinctively make me question their evidence. As a
reporter, I tend to see things in varying shades of gray, rather
than black and white, and I gravitate towards stories that are
full of nuance and complexity, where absolutes are rarely, if
ever, to be found.  Posted. 
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/capitalweathergang/2011/02/sifting_through_evidence_on_cl.html


Money Pollution: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Darkens the Skies. 
In Beijing, they celebrate when they have a “blue sky day,” when,
that is, the haze clears long enough so that you can actually see
the sun.  Many days, you can’t even make out the next block. 
Washington, by contrast, looks pretty clean: white marble
monuments, broad, tree-lined avenues, the beautiful, green spread
of the Mall. But its inhabitants -- at least those who vote in
Congress -- can’t see any more clearly than the smoke-shrouded
residents of Beijing.  Posted. 
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bill-mckibben/chamber-of-commerce_b_826636.html


Hybrids vs. Nonhybrids: The 5-Year Equation.  A car buyer who
lays out an extra $6,200 extra to buy the hybrid version of the
Lexus RX will get the money back in gas savings within five
years, according to Consumer Reports magazine, but only if
gasoline averages $8.77 a gallon. Otherwise, the nonhybrid RX 350
is a better buy than the Hybrid 450h, the magazine says. The
hybrid gets 26 miles per gallon, and the nonhybrid, 21, in the
magazine’s calculation.  Posted. 
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/23/hybrids-vs-nonhybrids-the-5-year-equation/


Smart Forspeed Concept EV Gets 85 Miles Per Charge, Recharges in
45 Minutes.  Do you remember the Smart fortwo? That adorable tiny
clown car that's perfect for electric car lovers? We haven't
heard a whole lot about it lately, though it's no matter because
now Daimler's minicar maker is unveiling out a concept car called
Smart forspeed. And it is every bit as adorable.  Posted. 
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2011/02/smart-forspeed-concept-electric-car-gets-85-miles-per-charge-recharges-in-45-minutes.php


Renault introduces electric Kangoo Maxi ZE, its fifth electric
model.  Renault is adding a fifth model to its lineup of four
electric vehicles (earlier post), the new Kangoo Maxi ZE; Renault
will thus have two electric vehicles in the small van segment by
the end of 2011, the other being the Kangoo Express ZE.  Posted. 
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2011/02/maxize-20110223.html#more