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California Air Resources Board News Clips for June 10, 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

Health study targets major Calif. rail yard.  Southern California
air quality regulators announced a major study Thursday focusing
on the San Bernardino rail yard, a national trade gateway that
has been found to pose the greatest health risk of any rail yard
in the state.  The two-year Loma Linda University study on the
Burlington Northern Santa Fe rail yard will cost an estimated
$846,000, to be funded by the South Coast Air Quality Management
District.  The study will include reporting on environmental
health risks, and surveys of respiratory diseases and health
issues among children and adults.  Posted. 
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9NOK7A80.htm

Study: Trucks, cars valley's big polluters. Cars and commercial
traffic barreling down Interstate 10 likely spew about two-thirds
of the greenhouse gases generated in the Coachella Valley,
undermining efforts by local residents and industries to roll
back carbon emissions. The findings are in the Coachella Valley
Association of Governments' long-delayed regional greenhouse gas
inventory, which is to be released today. Posted. 
http://www.mydesert.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2011106090310

CLIMATE CHANGE

Climate talks make little headway, as poor countries accuse rich
of ducking emissions pledges.  AMSTERDAM -- Developing countries
said Friday that rich nations are refusing to negotiate an
extension of their commitments to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions, charging that they sought to "maintain their
privileges and levels of consumption" at the expense of the poor.
 Two-week climate negotiations among 183 nations in Bonn,
Germany, which reached their halfway point Friday, were stalled
for three days this week in a fight over the agenda. Structured
in four bodies, formal talks only began in two of them on
Thursday as countries haggled over what should be discussed. 
Posted.  
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/climate-talks-make-little-headway-as-poor-countries-accuse-rich-of-ducking-emissions-pledges/2011/06/10/AG1HVgOH_story.html
http://www.fresnobee.com/2011/06/09/2421588/expiry-of-emissions-pact-in-2012.html#storylink=misearch

http://www.contracostatimes.com/ci_18246517 

Fight over RGGI appears headed for a stalemate in N.H.  New
Hampshire's governor vowed yesterday to veto a bill that would
remove the state from the nation's only operating cap-and-trade
system for greenhouse gases.  In an unexpected move this week,
the state Senate approved an amendment to a larger bill that
would pull New Hampshire out of the Regional Greenhouse Gas
Initiative, or RGGI, which caps the carbon dioxide emissions of
utilities in 10 Northeastern states. The state House moved
earlier in June to pass a parallel amendment, which was attached
to a bill affecting state shorelands.  Posted.  BY SUBSCRIPTION
ONLY.  http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2011/06/10/10/

Analysts see expanding market for carbon footprint-measuring
software.  NEW YORK -- The market for carbon emissions management
software and related consulting services will expand eightfold
over the next five years, according to a new analysis by a
clean-tech market research firm.  From an estimated $705 million
globally in 2010, the industry will grow in value to $5.7 billion
by 2017, says market intelligence firm Pike Research.  Despite
the slow pace of international climate change negotiations, Pike
analysts believe that corporations will show strong demand for
software applications that let them manage their systemwide
greenhouse gas emissions in the coming years, creating an
enormous market opportunity for information technology (IT) firms
and carbon management consultancies.  Posted.  BY SUBSCRIPTION
ONLY.  http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2011/06/10/9/ 

DIESEL EMISSIONS

Unplugged Supertankers and the Diesel Death Zone at LA’s Port. 
ENVIRONMENT - Residents of the South Coast Air Quality Basin are
caught in a Catch 22 with regard to the new Plains All American
supertanker berth: No air quality agency regulates the plugging
into shore-side power by the supertankers that will soon dock in
Los Angeles; not the South Coast Quality Management District
(AQMD) nor the California Air Quality Board (CARB).  Despite
neighborhood protests, the Port of Los Angeles has agreed to
allow dirty docking of more than three-a-week of these
supertankers for the next 15 years, and 40 annually forever
after. As a result, these massive ships will run their auxiliary
engines night and day while at dock instead of plugging in and
using electric power (also called alternative marine power--AMP).
For the first 10 years of operations, fully 85% of all tanker
calls (up to 170 a year) will not plug in.  Posted. 
http://www.citywatchla.com/lead-stories/1774-unplugged-supertankers-and-the-diesel-death-zone-at-las-port


FUELS

Coburn amendment targeting subsidies draws wrath of ethanol
groups.  The rhetorical pitch of ethanol subsidy debates rose
today as Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) filed an amendment that would
end industry tax breaks by month's end, spurring cries by
industry groups that the move would put Americans under the
thumbs of hostile governments abroad.  "Sen. Coburn clearly
doesn't see the danger of letting Iran, Venezuela and Libya
control our economy, but there are other senators who do," said
Tom Buis, CEO of ethanol group Growth Energy, in a statement
describing domestic ethanol as "the only viable alternative we
have to foreign oil."  Posted.  BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY. 
http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/2011/06/10/5/ 

VEHICLES

Are EVs greener than ICEs? Ricardo’s report says “Yes”.  The
report “Preparing for a Life Cycle CO2 Measure”, presented at the
LowCVP Annual Conference on 9 June 2011, was prepared by Ricardo
in collaboration with the partnership’s expert membership which
includes major manufacturers and oil companies. Ricardo results
show hybrids and EVs will have lower life cycle CO2 emissions,
but emissions embedded in the production will be more
significant.  Posted. 
http://www.cars21.com/content/articles/60120110610.php 

GREEN ENERGY

Merkel Must Change Wind Energy Aid Law, German Opposition Says. 
June 9 (Bloomberg) -- Germany's opposition Social Democrats and
Green Party called for Chancellor Angela Merkel's government to
make changes to planned renewable energy subsidies to promote
onshore wind and repowering projects.  Onshore turbine operators
will see aid slide by an additional 1.5 percent in 2012, the
Environment Ministry said in a draft law published June 6 on its
website. The bonus for repowering, replacing turbines with new
models with higher generation capacity, will be limited to units
that started by 2001 and pose a problem to the network, it said. 
Posted. 
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2011/06/09/bloomberg1376-LMIPPH07SXKX01-21O4OE3R9URSGORJIRRV729SO8.DTL


Google looks to make renewable energy more cost-effective than
fossil fuels.  Internet giant Google is looking for ways to make
clean, renewable energy cheaper than fossil fuels, the company's
CEO announced earlier this week.  Larry Page, the founder and CEO
of Google, said the company is recruiting five new employees to
its Renewable Energy Engineering department in Google's
California headquarters, employees who will seek to capitalize on
Google's investments in clean energy companies. Page made the
announcement at the company's annual shareholder meeting. 
Posted.  BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY. 
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2011/06/10/14/ 

OPINION

EPA unveils new mileage stickers as drivers ask why fuel economy
'may vary'.  Michael Nier of Boca Raton, Fla., is one of many
Florida drivers questioning how the federal government arrives at
the Environmental Protection Agency fuel mileage numbers. "I've
asked many people in the car industry," Nier says, "and not one
of them knows the answer."  When a gallon of regular gasoline was
$2 a gallon, the question was merely interesting. As gas
approaches $4 a gallon, the question is downright compelling. At
lower prices, fuel mileage may be an incidental consideration
when we buy a car or a truck, but at near-record prices, gas
mileage may be the driving factor in a purchase decision. 
Posted. 
http://www.modbee.com/2011/06/10/1726427/epa-unveils-new-mileage-stickers.html


BLOGS

Americans Still Split on Global Warming, Poll Shows.  Judging
from an annual survey by researchers at Yale and George Mason
universities, the American public is roughly as fractured in its
attitudes toward climate change today as it was last year. In the
first of four reports based on the poll, the researchers estimate
that 64 percent of American adults now believe that the planet is
warming, up slightly from 61 percent last year. Posted. 
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/06/09/americans-still-split-on-global-warming-poll-shows/?scp=9&sq=climate%20change&st=cse

How will UK achieve 50% Carbon Cut by 2027- By getting Someone
Else to Make our Stuff. Not for the first time, the Prime
Minister was happily promoting the irreconcilable. “By stepping
up, showing leadership and competing with the world,” he
announced last week, “the UK can prove that there need not be a
tension between green and growth.” It could have been worse.
After the Treasury and the business department tried to scupper
the UK’s long-term carbon targets, David Cameron stepped in to
rescue them. Posted. 
http://www.celsias.com/article/uk-carbon-cuts/

Tri Delta Transit Fined $17,000 for Polluting Buses.  Tri Delta
Transit has been fined $17,000 by the state's Air Resources Board
for failing to meet state air quality standards for its vehicles.
The agency, which is also known as the Eastern Contra Costa
Transit Authority, provides local bus service in Bay Point,
Pittsburgh, Antioch, Oakley and Discovery Bay.  Diesel exhaust
includes a number of harmful gases, as well as 40 other known
cancer-causing compounds, according to the state's air board. "In
1998, California identified diesel particulate matter as a toxic
air contaminant based on its potential to cause cancer, premature
death and other health problems," said the statement announcing
the fine against Tri Delta Transit among others.  Posted. 
http://www.baycitizen.org/blogs/quality-of-life/tri-delta-transit-fined-17000-polluting/


Are green buildings bad for your health?  Brace yourselves! The
greens are sneaking dangerous materials into your home and office
with the help of the EPA's energy retrofits program!  Or at least
that's what Fox News is reporting.  The reality is a bit
different. In a study commissioned by the EPA, the Institutes of
Medicine analyzed the effects climate change may have on people
inside, where they spend most of their time.  Climate change —
which Fox News has vociferously and systematically doubted — will
cause more people to use air conditioning, which can generate
indoor air pollution.  Posted. 
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/green/detail?entry_id=90691 

Why you’ll soon have solar panels, in 3 easy graphs.  By the time
new coal-fired power plants come on-line in the U.S., solar will
already be cheaper.  If you want to understand what kind of
revolution this will bring about in power production, check out
this analysis from Jonathan Koomey of Stanford University: Here's
an interesting thing for people to contemplate: As solar reaches
grid parity based on retail prices we'll start to see big changes
in what is now called the peak demand period in most regions
(summer afternoons, when air conditioners run full blast). The
system is now set up to meet that peak demand with lots of
inefficient gas combustion turbines that we can either retire or
repurpose once [solar photovoltaic] comes in full force.  Posted.
 http://www.grist.org/list/2011-06-10-why-youll-soon-have-solar-panels-in-3-easy-graphs