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newsclips -- Newsclips for April 22, 2011.
Posted: 22 Apr 2011 13:13:52
California Air Resources Board News Clips for April 20, 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 State Regulators List 33 Ways EPA Rules Aren't Working. If the administration is going to strip away some red tape, as President Obama said when he penned an executive order telling federal agencies to get rid of ineffective and outdated regulations, one group of top state officials has 33 good places for U.S. EPA to start. The executive order, which was signed in January, asked the members of the public to air their grievances. Posted. http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2011/04/21/21greenwire-state-regulators-list-33-ways-epa-rules-arent-91396.html?pagewanted=print Heating Oil Phase-Out Part Of NYC Clean-Air Plan. The city will phase out the use of polluting heavy oils to heat buildings and will begin building solar power plants on capped landfills, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Thursday in his first update to a 4-year-old environmental plan that aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 30 percent by 2030. Under the plan, the phase-out of heavy oils from the city's boilers would start right away and be completed by the 2030 deadline. Posted. http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9MO6C380.htm Tougher Air Rules Coming, Air District Says. Imagine a ban on leaf blowers. Or no new businesses allowed. Or even a restriction on all fossil fuel burning in the San Joaquin Valley. Those are some of the restrictions that could kick in if the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency adopts tough new pollution controls this summer, said Seyed Sadredin, executive director of the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District. Posted. http://www.hanfordsentinel.com/news/local/article_25b06a62-6c32-11e0-ad9c-001cc4c002e0.html Black Carbon Testing Finds High Levels. When the City Council passed an ordinance in early April to reduce emissions from construction equipment working on city jobs, it touched on a larger problem: harmful amounts of diesel exhaust in Chicago’s air. Residents of several neighborhoods are most likely exposed to diesel emissions at levels several times higher than the national average for urban areas, testing by the Chicago News Cooperative shows. Posted. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/22/us/22cnccarbon.html?_r=1&scp=4&sq=air%20pollution&st=cse&gwh=9238126272D2F9AE8E5DA44E5E4BD88D CLIMATE CHANGE Carbon Footprint Varies By Location, Income. What is your carbon footprint? Like the real estate slogan, it depends on location, location, location. For a single-person household earning less than $10,000, living in California, the annual carbon footprint is about 16 tons of greenhouse gasses. But for a couple earning $90,000 living in the Bay Area, it's about 57 tons annually. That is almost the same as a family of five living in St. Louis, with half of the annual income. Posted. http://californiawatch.org/dailyreport/carbon-footprint-varies-location-income-9951 Global Warming Doesn't Mean The End Of Winter. Here's some good global warming news -- for folks who likes snowball fights and shoveling out their driveway -- we still have some chilly winters ahead, despite climate change. Still good -- Winter scene of Arctic National Wildlife Refuge with snow and trees. CAPTIONUS FWSA 2008 series of National Academies of Sciences reports concluded average global atmospheric temperatures will likely rise from 2 to 11 degrees by the end of this century, continuing a 1.4 degree rise over the previous one. Posted. http://content.usatoday.com/communities/sciencefair/post/2011/04/global-warming-doesnt-mean-the-end-of-winter/1 New York City Studies Feasibility And Cost Of 80% Greenhouse Gas Cut. New York -- This city will pursue 132 new initiatives as part of a multi-decade effort to improve air and water quality and sharply curb greenhouse gas emissions, Mayor Michael Bloomberg (I) announced yesterday. New schemes include a utility-scale solar power plant on closed New York City landfills and pilot projects that would convert solid waste into energy. Posted. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2011/04/22/3 To States, Climate Change Means Plan Now, Or Pay More Later – Report. Unmitigated climate change will deal a significant blow to state coffers, according to new work from a national security group. A state-by-state map detailing the economic, public health and tourism impacts of climate change across the 50 states was rolled out by the bipartisan American Security Project this week. It is expected to become fodder for future climate policy debates. Posted. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2011/04/22/4 Carbon-Footprint Labels Face Obstacles In Calculations, Recognition. Despite pushes for eco-consciousness, few consumers recognize carbon-footprint labels at the store, and even fewer agree on how emissions should be calculated in the first place for common products. While some countries have begun developing labeling schemes, there are no international standards, and the United States falls behind countries such as Japan and France. In many cases, consumers must turn to online carbon-footprint calculators. Disagreements on how to calculate carbon footprints continue to be an impediment. Posted. http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/print/2011/04/22/18 FUELS Linking Mileage to Pump Price. Auto makers are pushing to link federal fuel-economy and emissions targets to the price of gasoline, saying consumers won't pay enough for fuel-efficient cars to make them profitable if gas prices aren't high. The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, the industry's main trade group, is proposing that regulators periodically review gas prices and other market factors, and scale back fuel-mileage and emissions requirements if gas prices don't hit certain targets. Posted. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704889404576276782973215212.html Court Declines To Rehear Case On Renewable Fuel Standard. A federal appeals court today declined to reconsider its decision to reject the petroleum industry's challenge of U.S. EPA's biodiesel blending requirements. In December, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia held that EPA had followed the correct procedures in issuing the new regulations (E&ENews PM, Dec. 21, 2010). Today, the court rejected a request from the National Petrochemical and Refiners Association and the American Petroleum Institute that the entire court rehear the case en banc. Posted. http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/print/2011/04/22/17 VEHICLES Cupertino Looks Into Installing Electric Car Charging Stations At City Hall. The city of Cupertino plans to leverage grant money to bring electric car charging stations near city hall and the Cupertino Library. The council unanimously voted earlier this month to bring stations to Rodrigues Avenue. The city is accepting a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy and plans to partner with Coulomb Technologies, a Campbell-based business that deploys charging stations in municipalities, utilities, office buildings and parking garages. Posted. http://www.mercurynews.com/san-jose-neighborhoods/ci_17904678?nclick_check=1 GREEN ENERGY Opportunities For California Seen In China's Green-Tech Industries. China's leadership in the green technology sector represents "a wake-up call" for California companies but it also provides opportunities, a top state official said Wednesday. In just a few years, China went from being "barely on the map" to the largest manufacturer of solar panels and the largest energy consumer in the world, said Margret Kim, a deputy director at the California Environmental Protection Agency and head of the agency's China program. Posted. http://www.sacbee.com/2011/04/21/v-print/3568509/opportunities-for-california-seen.html In Oakland, A Creative Strategy for Financing the City's Solar Roofs. The city of Oakland, Calif., is getting its residents to help build out a clean energy economy, one solar tile at a time. By selling 5,000 tiles at $100 each to locals, the city is aiming to piece together entire rooftop solar arrays at seven budget-strapped schools, youth centers and houses of worship. Posted. http://solveclimatenews.com/news/20110422/oakland-creative-strategy-financing-citys-solar-roofs REGION: More Builders Turning To Eco-Friendly Practices. The average customer at the University Avenue McDonald's in Riverside probably doesn't realize that the restaurant's water is heated by solar power, its countertops are made with recycled glass and the parking lot's permeable pavers eliminate polluting storm water runoff. Posted. http://www.pe.com/localnews/stories/PE_News_Local_D_earthday22.132b57d.html Regulators, Recyclers And Retailers Build 'Urban Mining' Industry. Each year, new electronics hit the market and capture consumers' attention, giving them reason to throw away the old VCR or standard television and engross themselves in state-of-the-art gadgetry. Most of the time, the old electronics end up in the garbage, despite holding plenty of reusable material. But a push for recycling them has gained ground in recent years through both new state laws and a developing "e-recycling" industry. Posted. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2011/04/22/2 Google Exec Hopes New Wind Power Deal May Spark Industry Trend. San Francisco -- Google Inc.'s point man on energy hopes a deal the company cut yesterday for 100 megawatts of wind power to fuel a data center in Oklahoma sparks a trend that others in the information technology sector will soon follow. Bill Weihl, Google's green energy czar, spoke about the contract with NextEra Energy Resources during a conference here in which he explained why the Internet search giant decided to pursue its second agreement to date with the wind power developer. Posted. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2011/04/22/5 A National Clean Energy Standard Should Curb Natural Gas Use, Group Says. A national clean energy standard could fail to spark future renewable energy technologies if the program doesn't cap utilities' use of natural gas, according to a leading think tank. The system proposed by President Obama to double low-emission electricity by 2035 will also need to regulate at least 666 utilities, which produce 92 percent of the nation's power, to approach the goal of generating 80 percent clean energy nationwide, the group says. Posted. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2011/04/22/7 MISCELLANEOUS As Consumers Cut Spending, ‘Green’ Products Lose Allure. When Clorox introduced Green Works, its environment-friendly cleaning line, in 2008, it secured an endorsement from the Sierra Club, a nationwide introduction at Wal-Mart, and it vowed that the products would “move natural cleaning into the mainstream.” Sales that year topped $100 million, and several other major consumer products companies came out with their own “green” cleaning supplies. Posted. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/22/business/energy-environment/22green.html?scp=4&sq=green%20energy&st=cse&gwh=2862090C679582777EAC73826D6D2398 OPINION The Clean Air Act Keeps Us Healthy. Congress can't be trusted to interfere with the EPA's scientific standards. I love American success stories. Start-up companies that change the marketplace, inventors who create new technologies, and, of course, immigrants who make it big in Hollywood. That's why I love the Clean Air Act, one of the most successful laws in American history. Over the last 40 years, it has made our air dramatically cleaner, saved hundreds of thousands of lives, and substantially boosted our economy. Posted. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703789104576273120525192318.html?mod=googlenews_wsj Editorial: Battle Of The Greenhouse Gas Regulators. It's risky to predict what the U.S. Supreme Court will do, but a broad consensus in the media this week concluded justices are likely to dismiss a case brought by California and five other states seeking to use "public nuisance" lawsuits to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. That would be the proper decision. The issue is which arm of government is appropriate for the task. Posted. http://www.ocregister.com/opinion/greenhouse-297408-court-epa.html BLOGS In Texas, Questions of Drought and Climate Change. The severe drought across Texas has hit the oil and gas city of Midland especially hard, as I reported in Friday’s New York Times and Texas Tribune. Since Oct. 1, Midland has received only 0.13 inches of rainfall — making it “most likely the driest six-and-a-half-month period in recorded history,” said David Hennig, a Midland-based meteorologist with the National Weather Service. Posted. http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/22/in-texas-questions-of-drought-and-climate-change/?pagemode=print For a Few, Focus on Green Products Pays Off. These days, it seems, the provenance of green products matters. Manufacturers who have long aligned themselves with environmental causes, like Seventh Generation and Method, have rebounded better from the recession than the “green” lines of larger, more traditional manufacturers. Posted. http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/21/rebound-for-product-makers-with-green-focus/?gwh=D0FD3DA5D3C816F0B1B5644457371ABF Smog Season Is Almost Here -- And We're The Culprits, Too. Take a look back 10 years ago in the San Joaquin Valley's ozone records and see how bad it was: 162 violations in summer 2001. Ouch. So, flash forward to last year and note there were only 93. Improvement, yes. You can see it when you look at the chart of violations. But the Valley still has major ozone problems. The months of July and August are still an assault on the lungs. And most of us are culprits. Posted. http://fresnobeehive.com/news/2011/04/smog_season_is_almost_here_--.html#storylink=misearch Greenpeace Gives Apple Low Marks On Green Tech. ust in time for Earth Day, Greenpeace published a report Thursday on cloud computing that asserts Apple is the company with the dirtiest data. The report looks at the practices of several tech companies that rely on cloud computing and scored the companies on coal power use, policy transparency, data center sites and how the companies offset their energy use. Posted. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/faster-forward/post/greenpeace-gives-apple-low-marks-on-green-tech/2011/04/21/AFWWPwOE_blog.html Solar Panels Boost Home Prices. A new study from Lawrence Berkeley National Lab could help California's homeowners decide whether or not to "go solar." Researchers found that on average, homeowners who recently installed solar photovoltaic (PV) panels recouped most or all of their investment when they sold their homes. “A house that has a PV system compared to a house that doesn’t have a PV system is expected to sell for more,” said Ben Hoen, the lead researcher on the study and a principal research associate at Berkeley Lab. Posted. http://blogs.kqed.org/climatewatch/2011/04/22/report-solar-panels-boost-home-prices/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+kqed%2FClimateWatchBlog+%28KQED%27s+Climate+Watch+Blog%29 Going Green For Innovation. As a former member of the California Coastal Commission, the California Air Resources Board and current member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, I have long been an active steward of environmental issues. What these experiences have taught me is that it is difficult to be an environmentalist without encountering some sort of paradox that suggests otherwise. Posted. http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/energy-a-environment/157333-going-green-for-innovation?tmpl=component&print=1&page=