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California Air Resources Board News Clips for August 8, 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

Opponents, Supporters Sound Off On Rules' Effects On Jobs. With
the U.S. economy again on shaky ground, both proponents and
opponents of U.S. EPA's new and proposed air quality rules rushed
last week to link their own point of view with job creation and
their opponents' with economic costs. Opponents of stringent new
standards for greenhouse gases, hazardous air toxics, and
emissions linked to smog and soot …Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/print/2011/08/08/5 BY PAID
SUBSCRIPTION  ONLY

CLIMATE CHANGE

Supercomputers May Help Predict Climate Changes Locally. Even a
century ago, scientists working out equations on paper understood
that gases in the atmosphere absorbed and emitted energy, keeping
Earth from being a ball of ice. Today they use supercomputers to
make increasingly refined predictions about how the Earth's
climate will change. Posted. 
http://www.modbee.com/2011/08/07/1806227/supercomputers-may-help-predict.html

Emirates Says EU Emissions Rules Could Cost It $1B.  Emirates
airline says planned European Union emissions requirements could
cost the carrier - the Mideast's biggest - as much as $1 billion
over a decade. Andrew Parker, a senior vice president for the
Dubai-based airline, said Monday the EU's plan would have a
"significant financial impact." Posted. 
http://www.modbee.com/2011/08/08/1807418/emirates-says-eu-emissions-rules.html

Tougher Air Rules Possible For Valley. Despite some of the
cleanest air on record last year, more stringent regulations may
be on the way that will cut down on more pollution in the Central
Valley. Last year's summer and winter seasons were the cleanest
on record, according to a presentation by John Cadrett, a
compliance manager for the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution
Control District. Posted. 
http://www.modbee.com/2011/08/05/1805126/tougher-air-rules-possible-for.html

Forecasters Change 30-Year Statistics; Weather Service's 10-Year
Update Shows Slight Alterations For Redding Area. Normal
nighttime temperatures in Redding are warmer than before, while
afternoons in Red Bluff are a bit cooler. Both cities are wetter,
recently released 30-year climate norms show. It's difficult to
produce arguments for or against global warming from the new
norms, which are based on 1981-2010 temperature and precipitation
data, a National Weather Service forecaster said. Posted.
http://www.redding.com/news/2011/aug/06/forecasters-change-30-year-statistics/?print=1

Offsets Could Make Up 85% Of Calif.'S Cap And Trade. When can 8
percent also mean 85 percent? Only in the convoluted world of
climate law. Both numbers attempt to sum up the impact of
offsets, a controversial part of California's pending
cap-and-trade program. Picking which one best applies is more
than a debate over digits. Starting in 2013, California's
landmark law will impose cap and trade, a system requiring
businesses to account for greenhouse gas pollution. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/print/2011/08/08/1 BY PAID
SUBSCRIPTION ONLY

State Explores Distribution Of Billions In Carbon Auction
Proceeds. California regulators are beginning the process of
figuring out how to distribute potentially billions of dollars in
revenue from their pending cap-and-trade program for greenhouse
gas emissions. The California Public Utilities Commission said
proposals are due by Oct. 5 regarding how utilities should spend
the money -- on the order of $50 billion through 2020, according
to state projections of the value of allowances under the
market-based system. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2011/08/08/3 BY PAID
SUBSCRIPTION ONLY

FUELS

Battle Over Coal For China Highlights Global Economic Change.
When a Seattle-based shipping company announced plans last year
for a deepwater cargo port that it promised would create hundreds
of jobs, it looked like good news… what cargo the company had in
mind: coal, and potentially 48 million tons of it a year. That
coal would end up in China, where it would fuel the blistering
growth of America's biggest competitor. Posted. 
http://www.fresnobee.com/2011/08/07/2491349/battle-over-coal-for-china-highlights.html#storylink=misearch

No Surprises Expected In Trucks Announcement Tomorrow. President
Obama tomorrow is set to announce the first-ever fuel efficiency
standards for heavy-duty trucks and vans, and environmental and
industry sources say they don't expect any surprises. The new
standards, which would apply to model years 2014 through 2018,
are the first for a group of vehicles including tractor-trailers,
city buses, delivery vehicles, garbage trucks and large haulers
weighing more than 8,500 pounds. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/print/2011/08/08/14 BY PAID
SUBSCRIPTON ONLY

VEHICLES

O’Malley To Attend Launch Of Maryland’s First Solar Tracking
Electric Vehicle Charger. Gov. Martin O’Malley is scheduled to
attend the launch of Maryland’s first solar tracking electric
vehicle charger. The governor will be taking part in the event in
Bethesda on Monday. Last week, O’Malley named members of a group
that will plan the integration of electric vehicles into
Maryland. The Electrical Vehicle Infrastructure Council includes
representatives of automobile manufacturers and dealers,
electrical vehicle charging manufacturers, utilities and
electrical workers. Posted. 
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/omalley-to-attend-launch-of-marylands-first-solar-tracking-electric-vehicle-charger/2011/08/08/gIQA7mjo1I_story.html

GREEN ENERGY

Wind Power Gains as Gear Improves. The electric wind turbines
built 30 years ago, after the 1970s oil-price shocks increased
interest in the industry, often experienced serious problems.
Some came apart in bad storms, some did not work well, even in
good weather, and still others found insects piling up on the
blades, slowing power production. Bird deaths at some early wind
farms were alarmingly high. Posted. 
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/08/business/energy-environment/wind-power-gains-as-gear-improves.html?scp=3&sq=green%20energy&st=cse

Southeast A Holdout In Mandating Renewable Energy. Atlanta (AP)
-- States across the country are gradually forcing or cajoling
their electric companies into buying renewable energy, but the
trend has fallen flat in the Southeast. The map is striking. Of
the 11 states that haven't set even voluntary targets on how much
alternative energy utilities must buy, eight of them are Southern
states — Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana,
Mississippi, South Carolina and Tennessee. Posted.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2011/08/06/national/a075228D69.DTL&type=printable

On The Money: Reading Up On Green Investing. The green revolution
has fueled a strong interest in potential investment
opportunities, particularly in the renewable energy sector. If
you'd like to get up to speed about green investing, a number of
books offer a range of insights about green investment. Here are
a few titles. Posted. 
http://www.modbee.com/2011/08/08/1807294/on-the-money-reading-up-on-green.html

Green Jobs Gaining Traction In California, But More Jobs Needed
In All Sectors. More than 500,000 people are employed in "green
jobs" in California and that number is expected to ramp up in the
coming years, according to a report released last week. The
Environment California Research & Policy Center report, "Building
a Clean Energy Workforce: Preparing Californians for New
Opportunities in the State's Green Economy," additionally
documents nearly 300 green job training programs at more than 130
institutions throughout the state. Posted.
http://www.whittierdailynews.com/news/ci_18630103

More Apartments, Businesses May Have To Recycle. San Diego
estimates that about 3,000 now-exempt groups would have to start
programs. Sacramento — Many Californians tend to associate car
exhaust and factory emissions with greenhouse gasses blamed for
climate change brought on by global warming. But how about paper,
cardboard, old lumber and plastic? What role do those waste
products play by being thrown away instead of being recycled?
Posted.
http://m.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/aug/04/recycling-mandate-to-expand-for-apartments/

Concentrated Solar Power Plants Are All Wet. Concentrating solar
has promised big additions to renewable energy production with
the additional benefit of energy storage -- saving sun power for
nighttime -- but there's a catch. Most of the new power plants
are big water users despite being planned for desert locations.
With solar photovoltaic (PV) prices dropping so rapidly, does
concentrating solar still make sense? Posted. 
http://www.grist.org/solar-power/2011-08-04-when-picking-solar-power-options-its-the-water-stupid

MISCELLANEOUS

Summit To Discuss Recycling Rules. Stockton - The public is
invited to a summit about California's upcoming mandatory
commercial recycling regulations and how those rules might be
used to create jobs. The event takes place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Tuesday at the University Plaza Waterfront Hotel, 110 W. Fremont
St. It's hosted by the Recycling Build Infrastructure Now
Coalition and the Greater Stockton Chamber of Commerce. The
summit is held as the California Air Resources Board considers
new regulations that would require businesses to recycle. Posted.
http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110807/A_NEWS/110809904/-1/A_NEWS05

OPINIONS

Obama's Biggest Challenge: Jobs. With the U.S. recovery slowed to
a crawl and Europe mired in a new debt crisis, a rebound is far
from certain. The central question facing Barack Obama's 2012
reelection campaign is this: Can the president persuade voters to
let him keep his job when so many of them have lost theirs? Last
week, after another run of bad economic news, the president and
his staff tried their best to sound upbeat. Posted.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-mcmanus-column-obama-unemployme20110807,0,4651718,print.column

New Climate Research Shifts To Local Impacts. Calverton, Md. –
Even a century ago, scientists working out equations on paper
understood that gases in the atmosphere absorbed and emitted
energy, keeping Earth from being a ball of ice. Today scientists
use supercomputers to make increasingly refined predictions about
how the Earth's climate will change. The new efforts take the
question from global to local scale. Nations, states and
communities have lots of climate-related questions: Posted.
http://www.sacbee.com/2011/08/07/3821301/climate.html

Another View: Hetch Hetchy Efficiently Sends Drinking Water To
2.5 Million. Re "Imagine a Yosemite with Hetch Hetchy open to all
again" (Editorial notebook, Aug. 1): Any discussion about the
Hetch Hetchy Regional Water System must begin with a simple fact
– this is an important regional system that provides drinking
water to more than 2.5 million residents and businesses in San
Francisco, San Mateo, northern Santa Clara and southern Alameda
counties. This same system also efficiently uses gravity to
transport water, and creates 1.6 billion kilowatt-hours of clean,
greenhouse gas-free hydroelectric power. Posted.
http://www.sacbee.com/2011/08/07/3820191/hetch-hetchy-efficiently-sends.html

Population And Climate Change: World's Biggest Problems. We live
in an information-drenched environment, one in which sports and
favorite programs are just a click away. And the ease with which
we can do this allows us to focus on mostly comforting subjects
that divert our attention from increasingly real, long-term
problems. Posted.
http://www.modbee.com/2011/08/06/1805699/population-and-climate-change.html

GOP vs. Mother Nature. House Republicans, especially those of the
"tea party" ilk, think they know the cause of our country's
economic woes: environmental regulations. As a result, they
loaded up the appropriations bill that funds the Interior
Department and the Environmental Protection Agency with dozens of
riders that would encourage deadly pollution of the air and
water, set back efforts to reduce greenhouse gases and allow
uranium mining near the Grand Canyon, among other things. Posted.

http://www.modbee.com/2011/08/08/1807282/gop-vs-mother-nature.html

Population And Climate Change: Bend Baby Curve Like Beckhams. On
most days, people around the world admire the footprints of David
Beckham. The supertalented British soccer star's maneuvers around
and over flummoxed defenders populate many a YouTube video. But
for several years, Beckham and his family have been the targets
of what the British charmingly call "campaigners" on global
warming. Posted. 
http://www.modbee.com/2011/08/06/1805828/population-and-climate-change.html

Temecula: Mixed Reviews Of Quarry Planner. Granite Construction,
which wants to build Liberty Quarry near Temecula, prides itself
on character; something it says drives everything it does. Its
quarry plan, however, faces strong opposition as it slugs through
daylong public hearings attended by thousands. Project foes, who
say the quarry would ruin the environment, point to Granite's
history of fines and citations as proof the company can't be
trusted to safely run the operation. Posted.
http://www.pe.com/localnews/stories/PE_News_Local_D_granite07.3d3d0c3.html

California Led The Way. When President Barack Obama announced an
agreement to double fuel-economy requirements, standing with him
were industry executives and environmental, public health and
labor leaders - all of whom, remarkably, had signed off on the
deal. Posted.
http://www.sbsun.com/ci_18635779?IADID=Search-www.sbsun.com-www.sbsun.com

BLOGS

Research Desk: Would Lowering GDP Cut Emissions? All other things
being equal, how much would world GDP have to contract for
greenhouse gas emissions to fall within a safe threshold?
Obviously this is ridiculously far from the optimal solution to
climate change, and any quantitative answer would be highly
uncertain. Posted. 
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/post/research-desk-would-lowering-gdp-cut-emissions/2011/08/05/gIQAq2WQ2I_blog.html

Who Doesn't Want To Clean Up Trucks In Oakland? This afternoon
Alameda County Supervisors Nate Miley and Scott Haggerty are
hosting a hearing to “give local Port truckers an opportunity to
share their concerns about the Drayage Truck Rule.”  Why is
Alameda County revisiting these important public health
protections for Oakland residents living along the busy 880
freight corridor?  Posted.
http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/dbailey/who_doesnt_want_to_clean_up_tr.html

How Can You Tell The Difference Between A Climate Denier & An
Environmentalist? 'Pico of the Caribbean' sez: "go read about me
mate, or I'll unbuckle your swash." Image credit: Russ George.
Short answer: there is little difference between the thought
patterns of deniers & environmentalists. Most of us don't have
the time or expertise to maintain a current, in-depth
understanding of science and public policy issues. Instead, a
values test is imposed as novel or contradictory information is
encountered. Posted.
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2011/08/how-can-you-tell-difference-between-denier-an-environmentalist.php

New Piston Ring Coating From Federal-Mogul Reduces Ring Friction
By Up To 20%; Improved Fuel Economy And Reduced CO2 Emissions.
Federal-Mogul Corporation has developed a new piston ring coating
that delivers a direct improvement in fuel economy and CO2
emissions by reducing ring friction by up to 20% as compared to
nitride or other commonly used coatings. CarboGlide is
Federal-Mogul’s third and most advanced generation of its DLC
(diamond-like carbon) coated ring technology. Posted. 
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2011/08/carboglide-20110808.html

Southern California Edison's Roadmap Charts A Course To The Smart
Grid. If you're going to drive from your home to somewhere you've
never been before, it pays to have a map. And, if you're going to
turn a region from a place where electric vehicles are a niche
market and electrical power comes from a few large plants into
one where EVs are the rule and power is far more dispersed, it
also pays to have a document that lays out the course. In other
words, a map. Posted.
http://green.autoblog.com/2011/08/08/southern-california-edison-roadmap-smart-grid/

General Motors Invests $7.5 Million In Solar Energy Firm
Sunlogics. General Motors has invested $7.5 million and taken an
undisclosed stake in Sunlogics, a global solar energy systems
provider. This significant lump of cash will help Sunlogics
establish facilities in Michigan and Canada. Additionally, GM
Ventures says it signed commercial agreements with Sunlogics for
the installation of solar-powered charging stations at select
Chevrolet dealerships and other GM-owned sites, as well as a
power purchase deal that calls for the installation of solar
arrays at some of the automaker's facilities. Posted.
http://green.autoblog.com/2011/08/07/general-motors-invests-7-5-million-in-solar-energy-firm-sunlogi/

Obama To Announce Fuel Efficiency Standards For Heavy-Duty
Vehicles On Tuesday. As you may remember, the Obama
Administration called for the first-ever fuel efficiency
standards for heavy-duty vehicles back in early 2010. By October
of 2010, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had
whipped together proposed fuel efficiency and greenhouse gas
emissions guidelines for on-road 3/4-ton and 1-ton trucks, vans,
buses, semis and so on with a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR)
of 8,500 pounds or more. Posted.
http://green.autoblog.com/2011/08/07/obama-to-announce-fuel-efficiency-standards-for-heavy-duty-vehic/

BMW Launches Program To Transform Landfill Gases Into Hydrogen
Fuel. BMW’s Spartansburg, South Carolina plant is launching a
program to convert methane gas into hydrogen. If successful, the
manufacturing facility will be able to power its fleet of
production vehicles with hydrogen fuel-cells. A longer battery
life, continuous power, and a quick recharge are just some of the
benefits of hydrogen fuel cell technology. Posted.
http://inhabitat.com/bmw-transforms-landfill-gases-into-hydrogen/