What's New List Serve Post Display

California Air Resources Board News Clips for July 7, 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 Clamps Down On Pollution Spoiling Air Downwind.  The EPA is
clamping down on pollution from power plants in 27 states that
contributes to unhealthy air downwind.  EPA Administrator Lisa
Jackson announced the final rule Thursday. The regulation will
clean up smog, soot and acid rain in downwind states - where they
add to locally produced pollution, making it impossible for those
states to meet air quality standards.  Posted. 
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_EPA_DOWNWIND_POLLUTION?SITE=ORAST&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

AP Newsbreak Story:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/federal-government/epa-rule-requires-power-plants-in-28-states-to-reduce-pollution-spoiling-air-downwind/2011/07/07/gIQA7WE61H_story.html

EPA To Impose New Power Plant Rules.  The Environmental
Protection Agency will finalize rules Thursday that will compel
28 states and the District to curb air pollution that travels
across states, according to sources briefed on the matter, the
first in a series of federal restrictions aimed at improving the
air Americans breathe.  Posted. 
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/epa-to-impose-new-power-plant-rules/2011/07/07/gIQACem11H_story.html
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-dumps-suit-20110707,0,7682583.story?track=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+latimes%2Fnews%2Flocal+%28L.A.+Times+-+California+|+Local+News%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

EPA Will Approve, Not Reject, Area Pollution Plan. A Southern
California plan to cut air pollution by particles smaller than
the width of a human hair will be approved by the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, not rejected, as the agency
threatened last year. The EPA says that deficiencies in the
state's plan to reduce fine particles to 1997 levels by 2015 have
been corrected. Posted.
http://www.ocregister.com/common/printer/view.php?db=ocregister&id=307284

New Danger Found In Asbestos Town.  For a decade, the people of
Libby have longed for the day when they will be rid of the
asbestos that turned their town into the deadliest Superfund site
in America.  Now they are being forced to live through the agony
all over again, thanks to two giant piles of bark and wood chips
on the edge of town.  Posted. 
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_ASBESTOS_TOWN?SITE=CACRU&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

AP Newsbreak Story: 
http://www.insidebayarea.com/ci_18429120
http://www.contracostatimes.com/ci_18429120

CLIMATE CHANGE

NH Gov. Lynch Vetoes Plan To Opt Out Of Greenhouse Initiative.
Littleton, New Hampshire (Reuters) - New Hampshire Governor John
Lynch on Wednesday vetoed a bill that would have ended the
state's participation in a regional greenhouse gas reduction
program, citing concerns about environmental and economic
competitiveness. Posted.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/06/us-greenhouse-new-hampshire-idUSTRE76567020110706

Warmer Temperatures May Threaten California Vineyards, Study
Says. Scientists project that in the next 30 years, Napa and
Santa Barbara counties will be 2 degrees warmer and have more
very hot days. That could affect the varietals chosen and methods
used at vineyards. In the next 30 years, high-value vineyards in
California could shrink by 50% because of global warming,
according to a Stanford University study released last week.
Posted.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-adv-california-vineyards-20110706,0,7994468,print.story

Cap-And-Trade System Set To Go. Expected to be passed into law
after hearings. Quebec will be a pioneer in North America, along
with British Columbia and California, when the province brings in
its own cap-and trade system to limit greenhouse gas emissions
next year, Quebec Environment Minister Pierre Arcand announced
Wednesday. "The cap-and-trade system is recognized as one of the
most effective and least expensive ways of reducing greenhouse
gas emissions," Arcand said at a news conference in Montreal.
Posted.
http://www.montrealgazette.com/technology/trade+system/5062204/story.html

Australia Halves Carbon Tax List To 500 Companies. Prime Minister
Julia Gillard has announced that Australia's proposed carbon tax
would apply to half as many carbon gas polluters as promised.
Gillard told Parliament on Thursday that 500 companies that are
among Australia's worst carbon polluters would pay the tax
starting July next year.
http://www.vcstar.com/news/2011/jul/06/australia-halves-carbon-tax-list-to-500/
Prime Minister Julia Gillard has announced that Australia's
proposed carbon tax would apply to half as many carbon gas
polluters as promised.
http://www.vcstar.com/news/2011/jul/06/australia-halves-carbon-tax-list-to-500/

DIESEL EMISSIONS

Last Chance For California Trailer Plan Extension.
Tractor-trailer fleets using 53-ft. or longer trailers in
California have just a few more weeks to take advantage of a
phase-in period before they must comply with another state
environmental law that will require adding fairings, skirts and
low-roll-resistant tires to all trailers traveling in the state.
Posted.
http://www.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?expire=&title=Last+chance+for+California+trailer+plan+extension&urlID=456164047&action=cpt&partnerID=97626&fb=Y&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffleetowner.com%2Fgreen%2Farchive%2Flast-chance-trailer-plan-extension-0707%2F

FUELS

U.S. Backs Project to Produce Fuel From Corn Waste.  Washington —
The Energy Department plans to provide a $105 million loan
guarantee for the expansion of an ethanol factory in Emmetsburg,
Iowa, that intends to make motor fuel from corncobs, leaves and
husks.  Experts say that the new factory, being built by POET, a
major producer of ethanol derived from corn kernels, could be the
first commercial-scale plant to make ethanol from a nonfood, or
cellulosic, plant source.  Posted. 
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/07/business/energy-environment/us-backs-plant-to-make-fuel-from-corn-waste.html?_r=1&scp=6&sq=fuels&st=cse

GREEN ENERGY

UN Reports Surging Investments In Renewable Energy. Global
investments in renewable energy jumped 32 percent to $211 billion
last year, boosted by wind farm development in China and rooftop
solar panels in Europe, U.N. officials said Thursday. A report by
the U.N. Environment Program shows that solar, wind, biomass and
other forms of green energy are gaining momentum, despite the
lack of progress in international climate talks aimed at slowing
emissions of heat-trapping gases from fossil fuels. Posted. 
http://www.modbee.com/2011/07/07/1765088/un-reports-surging-investments.html

Calif. Utilities Start Moving Toward Feed-In. The biggest
city-run utility in the country will start buying power from
people who install solar panels. Los Angeles Department of Water
and Power (LADWP) yesterday said it plans to launch a feed-in
tariff, or FIT, a market mechanism that usually pays a premium
price for green energy. LADWP is the second utility in the state
to begin a FIT, following a California law requiring all
utilities to start such a program. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/print/2011/07/07/4

MISCELLANEOUS

Refinery Official Admits To Violation. A top official at a Lake
Charles refinery where investigators found malfunctioning
equipment that was supposed to monitor a potentially deadly
pollutant has pleaded guilty to violating the federal Clean Air
Act. Posted. 
http://www.vcstar.com/news/2011/jul/06/refinery-official-admits-to-violation/

OPINIONS

MILLOY: Last Chance For GOP To Stop EPA Train Wreck. First,
Republicans must absorb to their core the notion that it is no
longer 1970. In 2011 America, the air, water and the rest of the
environment are clean and safe - largely thanks to our wealth,
not the roguish EPA. Posted.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/jul/5/last-chance-for-gop-to-stop-epa-train-wreck/?page=2

Climate Change And Disaster In Montana. The flooding of the
Yellowstone River and the oil spill in the riverbed are
connected, and the burning of fossil fuels is the key. "We're a
disaster area," Alexis Bonogofsky told me, "and it's going to
take a long time to get over it." Posted.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-klein-climate-oil-spill-20110707,0,7782586,print.story

Auto Industry Must Meet Tougher Fuel Standards. Two years ago,
automakers reluctantly agreed to tougher mileage standards as
part of the federal government's rescue of General Motors and
Chrysler. But with the industry no longer in need of a financial
hand, it's slipped back into its foot-dragging habits. Automakers
previously had agreed to increase fuel economy for domestic cars
and light trucks to 35.5 miles per gallon by 2016. Posted. 
http://www.modbee.com/2011/07/07/1765006/auto-industry-must-meet-tougher.html

OUR VIEW: Arvin's Air About To Get Better -- For Wrong Reason.
Lewis Carroll might have had something to say about the
likelihood that Arvin's dreadful air quality will soon be getting
significantly better. "... If it were so, it would be; but as it
isn't, it ain't," Tweedledee declares in "Through the Looking
Glass." The worst air in America is expected to improve suddenly
and dramatically not because there's less pollution in the
…Posted.
http://www.bakersfield.com/opinion/our_view/x481155516/Arvins-air-about-to-get-better-for-wrong-reason

BLOGS

Senators Push Deal To End Ethanol Subsidies This Month.  A
bipartisan trio of senators announced Thursday that they have
reached an agreement on a way to end ethanol subsidies
immediately.  Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Amy Klobuchar
(D-Minn.) and John Thune (R-S.D.) told Senate leaders that their
proposal would repeal the 45-cent ethanol blender credit at the
end of July, saving $2 billion through the end of the year.  It
would also end a tariff of 54 cents a gallon on foreign ethanol
this month..  Posted. 
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/2chambers/post/senators-push-deal-to-end-ethanol-subsidies-this-month/2011/07/07/gIQAd5i61H_blog.html

EPA Will Approve, Not Reject, Area Pollution Plan.  A Southern
California plan to cut air pollution by particles smaller than
the width of a human hair will be approved by the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, not rejected, as the agency
threatened last year.  The EPA says that deficiencies in the
state’s plan to reduce fine particles to 1997 levels by 2015 have
been corrected.  Posted. 
http://sciencedude.ocregister.com/2011/07/06/epa-will-approve-not-reject-area-pollution-plan/131475/

Electric Car Production Plans Below Sales Targets.  If electric
cars are to meet ambitious sales targets then there at least
needs to be enough of them produced by major car manufacturers –
however, a new analysis suggests they are falling well short of
their goals.  According to the newly updated Electric Vehicle
Roadmap report from the International Energy Agency,
announcements from major manufacturers in terms of production
plans for electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles are well
short of the sales targets set by countries.  Posted. 
http://www.thegreencarwebsite.co.uk/blog/index.php/2011/07/07/electric-car-production-plans-below-sales-targets/

European Union Says CO2 Emissions Fell 3.7% In 2010. The fuel
efficiency of vehicles sold in Europe in 2010 improved slightly
versus those sold in 2009, according to provisional European
Union data. The EU says that last year's numbers show that CO2
emissions from passenger vehicles fell by 3.7 percent, moving the
average emissions down to 140 grams per kilometer. Posted. 
http://green.autoblog.com/