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California Air Resources Board News Clips for May 30 - 31, 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

EPA exempts Calif. plant from pollution standards.  AVENAL,
Calif. -- The Environmental Protection Agency has approved a
natural gas-fueled power plant in California's agricultural San
Joaquin Valley, exempting the facility from current air quality
standards.  The permit authorizes Avenal Power Center, LLC to
build and operate a 600-megawatt plant near the rural communities
of Avenal and Kettleman City, about 70 miles south of Fresno. The
area already houses the biggest toxic waste dump in the West. 
The plant won't be held to air pollution requirements adopted in
2009 for nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide emissions.  Posted. 
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2011/05/30/state/n142420D97.DTL
http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/2011/05/31/1/ 
http://www.fresnobee.com/2011/05/30/2408073/epa-exempts-calif-plant-from-pollution.html#storylink=misearch
http://www.sacbee.com/2011/05/30/3664443/epa-exempts-calif-plant-from-pollution.html#storylink=misearch

http://www.nctimes.com/news/national/article_32f325ab-98f1-5b92-aebd-f5283336d7ad.html

http://www.insidebayarea.com/ci_18171263
http://www.contracostatimes.com/ci_18171263 
http://www.modbee.com/2011/05/30/1710976/epa-exempts-calif-plant-from-pollution.html


CLIMATE CHANGE

Global carbon output spikes to record high.  Greenhouse gas
emissions jumped to a record high last year, resulting in the
highest carbon output in history, according to unpublished
estimates from the International Energy Agency.  Most scientists
agree the threshold for potentially "dangerous climate change" is
a temperature rise of more than 2 degrees Celsius. But given the
IEA's findings, preventing this is likely to remain just "a nice
Utopia," said Fatih Birol, chief economist of the IEA.  A record
30.6 gigatons of carbon dioxide was emitted into the air last
year, mostly from burning fossil fuel. It amounted to a rise of
1.6 gigatons from 2009, according to IEA estimates.  Posted. 
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2011/05/31/7/ 

Record rise in CO2 output is an 'inconvenient truth,' U.N.
climate chief says.  The fact that carbon dioxide emissions rose
by a record amount last year, according to new estimates from the
International Energy Agency, is an "inconvenient truth" the world
must face, the United Nations' climate change chief said.  The
IEA figures, which show that efforts to control greenhouse gas
emissions have had little effect, are likely to add pressure to
already strained relations between developed and developing
countries at this week's climate meetings in Bonn, Germany. 
Posted.  http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/2011/05/31/7/ 

New York, Portland Tap Efficiency to Beat UN to Climate Fix.  May
31 (Bloomberg) -- Cities from Johannesburg to Los Angeles are
changing street lights, insulating buildings and promoting
bicycling to slash carbon emissions as envoys at United Nations
talks bicker about binding greenhouse-gas goals.  "While national
governments continue their excruciatingly frustrating dialog on
climate change, we in the cities are acting," Portland, Oregon
Mayor Sam Adams said in an interview. "It's sheer common sense.
Becoming more efficient with your city's energy needs means
you're also more economically secure."  Posted. 
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2011/05/31/bloomberg1376-LM11776K50Y601-42URRSLS5B3P27EI1EJL5932NS.DTL


DIESEL EMISSIONS

APL Singapore begins cold-ironing.  The technology, being used
occasionally at the US ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles,
connects the ship to a shore-side electric power source.  The
port of Oakland received a US$5 million grant from the Bay Area
Air Quality Management District in April for its shore-side power
programme.  Shore power provides grid-based electric power from
land to vessels, allowing those vessels to turn off their
diesel-fuelled auxiliary engines when they are at dock. 
http://www.ifw-net.com/freightpubs/ifw/index/apl-singapore-begins-cold-ironing/20017876616.htm


In Oakland's port, ships plug in to cut emissions.  In a
clean-air milestone for the Port of Oakland, the APL Singapore, a
900-foot container ship, plugged into shoreside power Thursday
night for its 24-hour stay in port, eliminating the hundreds of
pounds of noxious emissions its diesel engines ordinarily would
spew into the air.  "This is the beginning of a new era on the
Oakland waterfront," said Gene Seroka, president of the Americas
for APL, a cargo-ship line based in Singapore.  Posted. 
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/05/28/BUIL1JL3OH.DTL

http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_18157200?nclick_check=1 

GREEN ENERGY

Ceramic Fuel Cells Rises Most in Year After Getting Contract. 
May 31 (Bloomberg) -- Ceramic Fuel Cells Ltd., an Australian
developer of low-carbon energy systems, rose the most in more
than a year in Sydney trading after getting a contract to supply
25 natural-gas fuel cells.  The shares advanced as much as 23
percent on the Australian stock exchange, their biggest gain
since March 22, 2010.  Posted. 
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2011/05/30/bloomberg1376-LM1MPF1A74E901-58QSQ80PQOUBO04COVD7OBE6N9.DTL


MISCELLANEOUS

School programs inspire teens to go green.  Not many students
plant corn in their spare time. Not many students grow organic
kale, broccoli and potatoes.  But not many students are Diego
Garcia.  Garcia, a 15-year-old student at Media Academy in
Oakland, is part of his high school garden club, a program aimed
at encouraging students to grow organic produce on school
grounds.  Environmental programs for teens have sprung up around
the nation to promote healthy green living. Many teachers have
even incorporated the environment into their curriculum -- but do
these programs actually change the habits of teens who
participate in them?  Posted. 
http://www.mercurynews.com/teens/ci_18149265 

OPINION

When we will stop denying climate change?  Regarding Bill
McKibben’s thoughtful May 24 op-ed, “See no climate change”:
While Mr. McKibben took a rather witty approach to the linking of
weather disasters and climate change, there’s nothing humorous
about Americans’ (and especially American lawmakers’) continued
insistence that nothing out of the ordinary is going on. Mr.
McKibben covered a lot of points, but he could have included
more: declines in the number of migrating songbirds, or
extinctions of climate-sensitive animals such as amphibians,
among other alarming environmental trends.  Posted. 
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/when-we-will-stop-denying-climate-change/2011/05/25/AGiel0CH_story.html


Harassing climate-change researchers.  FREEDOM OF information
laws are critical tools that allow Americans to see what their
leaders do on their behalf. But some global warming skeptics in
Virginia are showing that even the best tools can be misused. 
Lawyers from the Environmental Law Center at the American
Tradition Institute (ATI) have asked the University of Virginia
to turn over thousands of e-mails and other documents written by
Michael E. Mann, a former U-Va. professor and a prominent climate
scientist. Another warming skeptic, Virginia Attorney General Ken
Cuccinelli II (R), recently demanded many of the same documents
to determine whether Mr. Mann somehow defrauded taxpayers when he
obtained research grants to study global temperatures.  Posted. 
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/harassing-climate-change-researchers/2011/05/27/AG1xJMEH_story.html


BLOGS

60 MPG by 2025? It’s Going to be a Big Fight.  The EPA and the
Department of Transportation dropped the other shoe Friday,
announcing a framework for long-range, much tougher fuel
economy/greenhouse gas 2017-2025 standards for cars and trucks
that build on the 35.5 mpg for 2016 announced just last May. It
proposed a range of reductions, from an annual three percent cut
in greenhouse gases (translating to 47 mpg by 2025 for the auto
fleet) to a six percent cut (62 mpg by then). Auto dealers called
the new proposals a rush to judgment prodded by over-ambitious
California regulators, but a coalition of environmental groups is
already campaigning hard for a holy grail 60-mpg standard. 
Posted. 
http://www.bnet.com/blog/electric-cars/60-mpg-by-2025-it-8217s-going-to-be-a-big-fight/2414


Humans Emitted a Record Breaking 30.6 Gigatonnes of Carbon in
2010. According to unpublished estimates from the International
Energy Agency (IEA), we humans emitted a historically high level
of carbon last year, pushing our output to 30.6 gigatonnes (up
1.6 gigatonnes from 2009). This estimate debunks the rumors
flying around that the global recession would aide in the mission
to reduce carbon emissions, and has scientists saying that we’ve
now only a miniscule chance of turning global climate change
around. Posted. 
http://inhabitat.com/humans-emitted-a-record-breaking-30-6-gigatonnes-of-carbon-in-2010/

Tracking Economy, CO2 Emissions Hit New High.  The International
Energy Agency has reported that global emissions of carbon
dioxide from energy use, tracking the recovering world economy,
hit a new high of 30.6 billion metric tons of the gas last year.
(Emissions from deforestation and activities like cement
manufacturing are not included.) That’s 5 percent above the
previous peak, measured in 2008.  The agency added that 80
percent of the growth in emissions projected through 2020 is
already essentially guaranteed, coming from power plants that
have already been built or are being constructed now. Most of the
new construction and emissions are in developing countries. 
Posted. 
http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/05/30/tracking-economy-co2-emissions-hit-new-high/


IEA estimates energy-related CO2 emissions in 2010 highest in
history; 80% of projected 2020 emissions from the power sector
are already locked in.  Energy-related carbon-dioxide (CO2)
emissions in 2010 were the highest in history, according to the
latest estimates by the International Energy Agency (IEA). After
a dip in 2009 caused by the global financial crisis, emissions
are estimated to have climbed to a record 30.6 Gigatonnes (Gt), a
5% jump from the previous record year in 2008, when levels
reached 29.3 Gt.  In terms of fuels, 44% of the estimated CO2
emissions in 2010 came from coal, 36% from oil, and 20% from
natural gas.  Posted. 
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2011/05/iea-20110530.html 

Record carbon emissions show world has not been listening to a
thing we’ve said.  Despite a global recession, high oil prices, a
growing awareness of the seriousness of carbon emissions, those
reusable grocery bags you bought, and constant scolding from
Grist et al., the world managed to put out a record amount of
greenhouse gases last year.  The International Energy Agency
estimates that burning fossil fuels added 30 billion metric tons
of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere in 2010.  Posted. 
http://www.grist.org/list/2011-05-31-record-carbon-emissions-show-world-has-not-been-listening-to-a-t


43 “Green” Companies Called Out for Anti-Environmental Stance. A
GreenBiz article asks, “Can a company take on sustainability
initiatives — and promote their green credentials — while also
lobbying behind the scenes to halt, slow or weaken environmental
legislation?” That question is one that the 43 major companies on
the board of the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) need
to answer. NAM, the largest manufacturing association in the
U.S., launched on March 28 what it calls a “multi-state,
multi-million dollar initiative” to stop the EPA from regulating
greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Posted. 
http://www.triplepundit.com/2011/05/company-promote-green-creds-lobby-against-environmental-legislation/#

Buildings that make more energy than they use gain steam.  If
every building made more energy than it uses, would all the
world's power plants pack up and go home? Maybe education would
be fully funded and the military would be forced to have a bake
sale!  But really: There is a building in Bellenberg, Germany
that produces more energy than it consumes, mostly by being super
energy efficient in the first place. Posted. 
http://www.grist.org/list/2011-05-31-buildings-that-make-more-energy-than-they-use-gain-steam


Germany Ups the E-Car Targets. Match Obama and Up 4 million.
President Obama reiterated his goal of making the United States
the first country to put 1 million electric vehicles on the road
by 2015 in his second State of the Union address. To achieve that
he is supporting advanced technology vehicle manufacturing and
adoption in the U.S. through new consumer rebates, investments in
R&D, and encouragement to communities that invest in advanced
technology vehicle infrastructure. Posted. 
http://www.celsias.com/article/germany-ups-e-car-targets-match-obama-and-4-millio/