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California Air Resources Board News Clips for June 29, 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

Calif. Town Battles Overpowering Odors. Odors are part of life in
Mecca, a small farming community in the Southern California
desert 140 miles east of Los Angeles. It's surrounded by miles of
pesticide- and fertilizer-laden agricultural fields, and it's on
the shores of the notoriously smelly Salton Sea, a large lake
that has no outlet and is fed by agricultural runoff water.
What's occurred in Mecca since December is something different.
Posted.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/environment/2011-06-28-mecca-overpowering-odors_n.htm#

Residents Rally Against Cupertino Cement Company.  About 60
people from No Toxic Air marched to the gates of Lehigh Southwest
Cement Co. in Cupertino on June 18.  They gathered to protest the
company's refusal to allow access to a public road behind the
quarry.  No Toxic Air is a Silicon Valley-based nonprofit group
formed earlier this year. It aims to bring attention to Bay Area
health and environmental concerns.    Posted. 
http://www.insidebayarea.com/ci_18375021
http://www.contracostatimes.com/ci_18375021

TEMECULA: Next Liberty Quarry Meeting Is July 18. The next
Riverside County Planning Commission meeting to review the
proposed Liberty Quarry project is set for 9 a.m. July 18 in
Temecula. The meeting, like the three before it, will take place
in Rancho Community Church, 30300 Rancho Community Way. It will
feature a detailed rebuttal by quarry developer Granite
Construction to opponents' criticisms of a 6,800-page
environmental study of the project. Posted. 
http://www.pe.com/localnews/stories/PE_News_Local_D_squarry29.3982f7c.html

SAN MARCOS: Council Approves New Transit District. The San Marcos
City Council approved a new community facilities district Tuesday
to finance a city-wide shuttle service intended to reduce
congestion and air pollution. The council voted 3-1 in favor of
the district, with Councilman Hal Martin objecting that the
proposal did not receive adequate public input. Councilwoman
Rebecca Jones was not at the meeting. Posted. 
http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/san-marcos/article_f1886659-ff45-51a6-9000-43a584a23cfc.html

CLIMATE CHANGE

UN Panel To Release Report In November On Link Between Climate
Change And Extreme Events.  United Nations — The chairman of a
top U.N. climate panel says it will release a new report in
November examining the link between climate change and extreme
events like floods and drought that are taking place around the
world.  Rajendar Pachauri, chairman of the U.N. Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change, told reporters Tuesday that the panel
has already reported that extreme events are increasing.  Posted.
 http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/un-panel-to-release-report-in-november-on-link-between-climate-change-and-extreme-events/2011/06/28/AGA1jwpH_story.html
http://www.modbee.com/2011/06/28/1753237/un-climate-panel-to-examine-extreme.html

Global Warming Continues As Greenhouse Gas Grows. WASHINGTON (AP)
— The world's climate is not only continuing to warm, it is also
adding heat-trapping greenhouse gases even faster than in the
past, researchers said Tuesday. Indeed, the global temperature
has been warmer than the 20th century average every month for
more than 25 years, they said at a teleconference. "The
indicators show unequivocally that the world continues to warm,"
Thomas R. Karl, director of the National Climatic Data Center,
said in releasing the annual State of the Climate report for
2010. Posted.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/06/28/ap/politics/main20075270.shtml

Temps And Emissions On The Rise, Scientists Say, As Glaciers
Fall. The Earth's temperature last year roughly matched the
warmest readings on record, and its impacts cascaded around the
world to affect glaciers, polar ice sheets, vegetation and more,
according to a major report released yesterday by the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. NOAA's State of the
Climate report, a technical document of 272 pages with 368
authors, announced that the planet's average surface temperature
peaked at over 58 degrees Fahrenheit last year. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2011/06/29/2

FUELS

Senate Trio Works On Ethanol Subsidy Overhaul. Washington
(Reuters) - Three senators are working on a legislative framework
to replace the $6 billion a year ethanol tax credit with far less
costly incentives such as helping retailers pay for so-called
blender pumps. The package could terminate the excise tax credit
as early as July 1, an industry insider said on Tuesday. He said
the challenge for biofuels is how to expand sales and a key way
is to introduce pumps that would allow drivers to choose blends
from 10 to 85 percent ethanol. Posted.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/29/us-energy-usa-ethanol-idUSTRE75R7GE20110629?feedType=RSS

EPA Approves E15 Fuel Label Despite Engine Risk. The government
has settled on a label for gas stations selling a blend of
gasoline and ethanol called E15, which contains more ethanol --
grain alcohol -- than the E10 blend that's replaced pure gasoline
at most stations. The Environmental Protection Agency previously
approved E15 -- 85% gasoline and 15% ethanol -- for use in
vehicles back to 2001 models. The approved label is part of the
EPA's final rule spelling out about how E15 can be sold and what
standards it must meet. Posted.
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/driveon/post/2011/06/e15-e10-ethanol-alcohol-pollution-engine-damage-labels-gas-station-pump-epa/1

EPA Finalizes 15% Ethanol Content Label; Critics Vow Challenges.
U.S. EPA today issued a final rule on how gasoline stations must
label fuel with up to 15 percent ethanol content (E15), marking a
step toward legal sale of the fuel and drawing criticism from
several groups that said the labels will not do enough to prevent
consumers from misusing it.  Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2011/06/28/28greenwire-epa-finalizes-15-ethanol-content-label-critics-91669.html?amp=&pagewanted=print

VEHICLES

California Electric Car Rebate Program Runs Dry. A California
program that gives hybrid and pure-electric car buyers a rebate
between $1,500 and $5,000 has run out of funding for the
remainder of the state’s fiscal year ending June 30. The state of
California allocated $7 million last year for rebates to
qualified electric car buyers. The popularity of the
federally-mandated Cash for Clunkers program sent car buyers out
in droves. Spurred on by high gas prices, early adopters were
eager to go out and buy electric and hybrid-electric cars.
Posted.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/28/idUS357955685220110628

Toyota Recalls 82,200 Hybrids In U.S. Toyota Motor Corp. said
today it will recall 45,500 Highlander Hybrid and 36,700 Lexus RX
400h SUVs in the U.S. because some transistors were inadequately
soldered. The automaker will fix the problem in 85,000 units of
the two models in the U.S., Canada, Puerto Rico and Guam, said
Shiori Hashimoto, a Toyota spokeswoman. Toyota will also recall
11,164 units of the two models in Japan and 15,000 in Europe, she
said. Posted. 
http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110629/RETAIL05/110629857/1147
http://www.nctimes.com/business/article_ac30acf5-9970-5917-8a0d-4f953f80d052.html

GREEN ENERGY

Google Says Delaying Clean Energy Will Cost The U.S. Trillions. 
Google, a leader of innovation in the digital economy, says that
without a private and public focus on innovation in renewables,
storage, and electric vehicles, the cost of delaying the clean
energy economy could be in the trillions of dollars to the U.S.
economy.  Google released an analysis of the economic impact of
clean energy innovation today, modeling a variety of long-term
scenarios and their influence on GDP growth, energy costs, and
greenhouse gases. Posted. 
http://www.grist.org/cleantech/2011-06-28-google-sasy-delaying-clean-energy-cost-us-trillions

Obama Administration Pushes Clean Energy Exports. Obama
administration officials urged Congress yesterday to protect
programs that boost U.S. exports, including those of clean energy
technology. An interagency report pointed out some $400 million
in assistance meant to help federal agencies increase U.S.
commerce abroad. That's essential to President Obama's goal of
doubling exports by 2015, the Trade Promotion Coordinating
Committee said. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2011/06/29/5

IPCC Backs Off Clean Energy Predictions. United Nations -- Has
the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change become a
cheerleader for alternative energy? Many believed so after the
IPCC issued a release in early May that declared renewable energy
sources could provide nearly 80 percent of the world's power by
2050, if only governments would let it. A number of news
organizations put that claim in their headlines as they alerted
readers to the pending publication of the scientific body's
"Special Report on Renewable Energy Sources and Climate Change
Mitigation." Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2011/06/29/4

Venture Capitalists Are Going "Light Green" Venture firms are
starting to back green companies again, only this time they're
more "light green." The interest in supporting capital-intensive
industries, such as solar and ethanol, took a dive during the
financial crisis, and investors are still hesitant to get behind
new high-cost industries. Instead, there is a shift toward
lower-capital companies such as Opower, which creates energy
management software, or Amprius, which is making parts for
lithium-ion batteries. Posted.
http://eenews.net/climatewire/2011/06/29/8/

More People Turning To Wind Energy At Home. A growing number of
people are tapping into clean energy and investing in small-scale
wind turbines to generate electricity for residential use. The
number of small turbines sold reached nearly 10,000 units in
2009, up from 2,100 units in 2001, and they are expected to
become even more popular with the advancement of technology. But
public acceptance and zoning regulations remain barriers to
widespread use. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2011/06/29/10

Groups Appeal EPA Exemption For Calif. Power Plant. Environmental
groups are appealing U.S. EPA's exemption of a proposed gas-fired
power plant in California's San Joaquin Valley from new air
pollution rules. The 600-megawatt Avenal Power Center, which
would be built just north of the towns of Avenal and Kettleman
City, should be subject to standards for sulfur dioxide, nitrogen
oxides and carbon dioxide that have gone into effect since
developers requested permits in 2008, attorneys argued in an
appeal filed yesterday with EPA's Environmental Appeals Board in
Washington, D.C. Posted.
http://eenews.net/eenewspm/print/2011/06/28/6

MISCELLANEOUS

Assembly Approves Hagman's Bill To Add Small Biz Representation
To Air Resources Board. A bill by Assemblyman Curt Hagman,
R-Chino Hills, that would reserve one of 11 seats on the Air
Resources Board for small business owners passed out of the
Assembly floor by a unanimous vote today. The Air Resources Board
currently has 11 members, appointed by the Governor and approved
by the State Senate. Some of the eleven seats are reserved for
members with certain qualifications, such as an authority on air
pollution, a trained chemist, and an automotive engineer. Posted.
http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/news/ci_18369322

Tennessee's Green Economy Small, But Ready To Grow. A pair of
recent studies on environmentally friendly jobs in Tennessee
shows the state's green economy is small, but poised for rapid
expansion. A Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce survey
of more than 6,000 businesses found more than 43,000 green jobs
statewide last year. That accounts for roughly 1.5 percent of the
total public and private employment of 2.7 million people in
Tennessee. Posted. 
http://www.vcstar.com/news/2011/jun/28/tennessees-green-economy-small-but-ready-to-grow/

BLOGS

Group Sues to End N.Y.’s Role in Regional Cap-and-Trade. Members
of Americans for Prosperity, a group founded and largely financed
by oil industry interests, filed a lawsuit this week seeking to
end New York State’s participation in the 10-state Regional
Greenhouse Gas Initiative. The suit, filed on Monday in state
Supreme Court in Albany against Gov. Andrew Cuomo and two state
agencies, asserts that the multistate cap-and-trade system
imposes costs on electric utilities that are then passed on to
ratepayers in what amounts to an illegal tax. Posted. 
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/06/29/group-sues-to-end-n-y-s-role-in-regional-cap-and-trade/?scp=4&sq=green%20energy&st=cse

Charging Stations On Display And The True Price Of Recharging The
Leaf.  Nissan has started a survey on his official Leaf Twitter
account, asking for Leaf drivers to share how much per month they
actually spend on electricity for recharging their car. The Leaf
driving twitterers say that if charging with daytime current,
they pay around ¥2 (~ €0.02) per km, while they pay less than
half of that - ¥0.8 (~€0.007) per km to be exact - when charging
with night time current.  Posted. 
http://www.cars21.com/content/articles/61220110629.php