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California Air Resources Board News Clips for October 4, 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 chief wanted stricter smog standard before White House
intervened in face of GOP criticism. Washington - The head of the
Environmental Protection Agency had wanted to set a stricter
limit on the main ingredient in smog to better protect children
from lung damage before the White House killed the effort.
Documents released Monday by the EPA show that administrator Lisa
Jackson proposed lowering the ground-level ozone allowed in the
air from 75 parts per billion to 70. Posted.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/epa-chief-wanted-stricter-smog-standard-before-white-house-intervened-in-face-of-gop-criticism/2011/10/03/gIQAug2fIL_story.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/03/lisa-jacksons-epa-chief_n_993173.html
http://www.insidebayarea.com/ci_19031008

EU Favors Continuation of Kyoto Protocol. New Delhi – Lending
support to demands from developing countries for an extension of
the Kyoto Protocol, the European Union Tuesday said it favored
the continuation of the global pact that is aimed at reducing
greenhouse gas emissions. "The Kyoto Protocol should be extended
for some time, but I can't say what that sometime would be," E.U.
Environment Commissioner Janez Potocnik told a news conference.
He didn't give any reason for the E.U.'s proposal for continuing
with the pact. Posted.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204612504576610601860779060.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
BY SUBSCRIPTION

Companies Get New Tools for Calculating Emissions. The creators
of influential measures of greenhouse gas emissions plan to
announce two new tools for corporations on Tuesday. One is a way
to calculate the amount of climate-warming gases released through
a company’s supply chain, as well as in the use and disposal of
its products. A standardized way of calculating such emissions
had eluded energy experts and statisticians for several years.
Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/04/business/corporations-getting-new-tools-for-calculating-emissions.html?pagewanted=print

Justices request U.S. opinion in California clean-air case. The
Supreme Court asks the Obama administration for a brief in the
coastal dispute, which involves fuel requirements for ships.
Justices also turn down over 1,800 appeals. The Supreme Court
asked the Obama administration to weigh in on a clean-air dispute
along California's coast and take a stand on whether the state
can force oceangoing vessels to switch to more costly low-sulfur
fuel when they come within 24 miles of shore. Posted.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/washingtondc/la-na-court-petitions-20111004,0,1486700.story?track=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+latimes%2Fnews%2Fnationworld%2Fwashingtondc+%28Los+Angeles+Times+-+Washington+DC%29

Ameren cites EPA rules in closure of 2 Ill. Plants. Ameren Corp.
plans to close two power plants in Illinois by the end of the
year, and the utility blames the cost of complying with new
pollution rules issued by the Environmental Protection Agency.
The St. Louis-based utility will shut down plants in Meredosia
and Hutsonville. Ninety jobs will be eliminated, though Ameren
says it is trying to reassign 22 management and 68 union workers
at other locations. Posted.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2011/10/04/financial/f072633D76.DTL&type=printable
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/industries/ameren-cites-new-epa-anti-pollution-rules-in-decision-to-close-2-power-plants-in-illinois/2011/10/04/gIQAtj9sKL_story.html
http://www.fresnobee.com/2011/10/04/2563703/ameren-cites-epa-rules-in-closure.html#storylink=misearch
http://www.modbee.com/2011/10/04/1889089/ameren-cites-epa-rules-in-closure.html
http://www.vcstar.com/news/2011/oct/04/ameren-cites-epa-rules-in-closure-of-2-02/
http://www.insidebayarea.com/ci_19036987
http://www.contracostatimes.com/ci_19036987?nclick_check=1

Environmental groups, state regulators win major smog case over
home developers. In an environmental case that is expected to
have implications across the Bay Area and California, the U.S.
Supreme Court on Monday refused to take up a lawsuit from the
National Association of Home Builders that challenged whether air
pollution officials in California can charge developers fees to
offset the smog that is caused from new subdivisions and other
housing developments. Posted.
http://www.mercurynews.com/science/ci_19032470?source=rss
http://www.insidebayarea.com/ci_19032470

Valley Air District says it wins development-related emissions
legal case. The Valley Air District said it prevailed in a legal
challenge by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) to
a landmark regulation addressing development-related emissions.
Rule 9150, Indirect Source Review, was first upheld by the
federal District Court in 2007. The ruling was appealed, and the
9th Circuit Court of Appeals again upheld the rule last year. In
June of this year, NAHB filed a petition asking the U.S. Supreme
Court to review the appellate court decision. Posted.
http://www.mercedsunstar.com/2011/10/04/2068449/valley-air-district-says-it-wins.html#ixzz1Zph9N87C
http://www.fresnobee.com/2011/10/03/2563361/builders-lose-valley-smog-fee.html
http://www.thereporter.com/wirenews/ci_19035964
http://www.timesheraldonline.com/ci_19035957

Mobile lab helps measure air pollutants in Bay Area. Oakland,
Calif. -- A new device is giving Bay Area scientists never before
seen detail about the quality of the air we breathe. A first-hand
look recently gave KTVU insight on several hot spots for high
pollutant exposure. The first location the device was tested was
the Caldecott Tunnel. At KTVU’s request, a crew from Los Gatos
Research tested the air both outside and inside the tunnel. Their
mobile lab with sophisticated, instant laser detectors revealed a
new truth about Bay Area pollution including lung irritating
nitrogen dioxide or NO2. Posted.
http://www.ktvu.com/news/29380230/detail.html

CLIMATE CHANGE

China to Meet Carbon Intensity Goals as Total Emissions Rise,
Report Says. China is meeting a pledge to lower its
greenhouse-gas emissions relative to its economic growth even as
total pollution rises faster than forecast, according to a report
from climate researchers. The world’s largest greenhouse-gas
emitter is reducing the the amount of carbon dioxide generated
per unit of economic growth, according to a report today from
Utrecht, Netherlands- based Ecofys, a renewable energy
consultant. Posted.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-10-04/china-to-meet-carbon-intensity-goals-as-total-emissions-rise-report-says.html

Group Urges Research Into Aggressive Efforts to Fight Climate
Change. With political action on curbing greenhouse gases
stalled, a bipartisan panel of scientists, former government
officials and national security experts is recommending that the
government begin researching a radical fix: directly manipulating
the Earth’s climate to lower the temperature. Members said they
hoped that such extreme engineering techniques, which include
scattering particles in the air to mimic the cooling effect of
volcanoes or stationing orbiting mirrors in space to reflect
sunlight, would never be needed. Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/04/science/earth/04climate.html

DIESEL EMISSIONS

EPA approves plan to reduce microscopic pollution. The U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency is approving California's air
quality plans for reducing microscopic pollution caused by diesel
trucks, ship traffic and other sources in Central and Southern
California. Southern California and the San Joaquin Valley suffer
from some of the worst pollution in the nation. The plans,
approved Monday, are required to reduce pollution to a certain
level by 2015. Posted.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2011/10/03/state/n170711D49.DTL#ixzz1Zpi3bTRD
http://www.modbee.com/2011/10/03/1888410/epa-approves-plan-to-reduce-microscopic.html
http://www.vcstar.com/news/2011/oct/03/epa-approves-plan-to-reduce-microscopic
http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_19032673?nclick_check=1
http://www.insidebayarea.com/ci_19032673
http://www.contracostatimes.com/ci_19032673

Supreme Court Asks U.S. for Views on California Shipping
Pollution Rules.  The U.S. Supreme Court yesterday asked the
solicitor general to weigh in on the validity of California
regulations mandating use of cleaner marine fuels on vessels
operating within 24 miles of the state’s coastline.  The court,
on the first day of its new term, issued a brief order inviting
the federal government to express its views on whether the court
should grant certiorari in Pacific Merchant Shipping Association
v. Goldstene, 10-1555. Posted. 
http://www.metnews.com/articles/2011/ship100411.htm

VEHICLES

Governor signs bill to bolster "buy America" rules for new buses
and train cars.
California public transit agencies soon can adopt stronger "buy
America" rules for the content of new bus and rail cars, under a
bill signed Monday by Gov. Jerry Brown. Assembly Bill 1097
permits public transit systems to set their own requirements for
the minimum percent of American-made content and components in
federally funded buses and rail cars. Without the state law, the
federal minimum of 60 percent applies to public transit purchases
of buses and rail cars, legislative staffers say. Posted.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/news/ci_19033346?source=rss

Can electric car racing turn geeky into gold? London -- The
future of the motorcar is electric because it has to be, and it
is the job of auto racing to come up with fully functional
zero-emission race cars and make green not just very fast but
very cool, too, according to Paul Drayson, a leading exponent of
low-carbon life lived at speed. Drayson, a multimillionaire
businessman and former U.K. defense minister, is one of those at
the forefront of electric race car enthusiasts. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2011/10/04/1 BY PAID
SUBSCRIPTION ONLY

GREEN ENERGY

Solar-Panel Firms' Outlook Dims. Solar-panel company stocks have
plunged to multiyear lows as slowing demand and a glut of panels
from Asia have squeezed margins, creating a cloud that could hang
over the industry for some time. Shares of U.S. solar-panel giant
First Solar Inc. have been trading at four-year lows, while
shares of Chinese rival Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd. have
reached all-time lows since the company went public in 2005.
Posted.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204612504576610941400628636.html
BY SUBSCRIPTION

At Solar Decathlon Finale, Chu Defends DOE Solar Program, Hails
American Ingenuity. Energy Secretary Steven Chu used his address
at the closing ceremony of this year's Solar Decathlon to shoot
back at critics who have used the failure of the Solyndra Inc.
solar energy company to question his agency's renewable energy
investments. "Just as there is a fierce competition happening
here, there is also a fierce competition happening around the
world," Chu said Saturday. Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2011/10/03/03greenwire-at-solar-decathlon-finale-chu-defends-doe-sola-54319.html

Chevron uses solar heat to help extract crude oil. Chevron Corp.
has begun extracting crude oil from a Southern California field
using steam produced by a 29-megawatt solar-thermal power plant
built by BrightSource Energy Inc. The Oakland Company’s system
uses mirrors to focus sunlight on a boiler at Chevron's enhanced
oil recovery project in Coalinga (Fresno County), the solar
company said. Solar-thermal technology companies such as
BrightSource are targeting industrial users in the oil-recovery
and food-processing industries as customers as well as for power
generation. Posted.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/10/03/BUTH1LCV08.DTL#ixzz1ZpqVD8Mp

Report says green jobs program far short of goals.  A $500
million Labor Department program designed to train workers for
green jobs has come up far short of its goals, with only 10
percent of participants finding work so far, the agency's
assistant inspector general has found.  The report said the low
rate makes it unlikely the program will meet the goal of placing
nearly 80,000 workers in careers in energy efficiency or
renewable energy by 2013.  Posted.  BY SUBSCRIPTION. 
http://www.modbee.com/2011/10/03/1888080/report-says-green-jobs-program.html
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_19031033

MISCELLANEOUS

McEwen: Look out, air board: Kevin Hall's back. Despite their
high profiles, the governing board of the San Joaquin Valley Air
Pollution Control District operates in near anonymity when making
crucial decisions about how to clean our dirty air. This is about
to change in a big way. Activist Kevin Hall is back in the
air-pollution fight full time after spending several years as a
political organizer for Service International Employee Union's
United Health Care Workers-West and ran his own political
consulting company in Fresno. Posted.
http://www.fresnobee.com/2011/10/03/2563334/look-out-air-board-kevin-halls.html#ixzz1ZpdC6KWY

'Eco Freak McMansion' makes up for size with sustainability. 
Bill Newman's kayak buddies love to tease him about his new house
in Brooklyn Center, Minn. It's too big for just one person, they
say. It's a McMansion. And it's way too nice for him.  Newman
just laughs. He erased his guilt about the home's size (more than
3,000 square feet spread over three levels) by packing it with
sustainable features, including solar panels … Posted. 
http://www.fresnobee.com/2011/10/04/2563588/eco-freak-mcmansion-makes-up-for.html#storylink=misearch

OPINIONS

OUR VIEW: SCOTUS denial has positive impact for all. The San
Joaquin Valley gets its air pollution from a variety of sources.
Industry, truck traffic, natural geography -- those sources and
more contribute to our world-class blanket of smog and ozone.
Some pollution-worsening factors are easier to mitigate and
modify than others, but where improvement is reasonably possible,
we ought to be taking positive action. One way cities and
counties can make meaningful improvements is by encouraging
homebuilders to grow communities in ways that minimize sprawl,
reduce car trips and keep pace with the infrastructure demands
that new development creates. Posted.
http://www.bakersfield.com/opinion/x2000242132/SCOTUS-denial-has-positive-impact-for-all

Who's Bankrolling the Climate-Change Deniers? Not too long ago,
belief in climate science wasn't a political issue. Honestly! As
recently as the 2008 U.S. presidential election, both the
Democratic and Republican candidates professed belief in the
threat of global warming, and each advanced policies designed to
curb U.S. carbon emissions. Senator John McCain had even
co-sponsored one of the first congressional bills to create a
carbon cap-and-trade system. Posted.
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2096055,00.html#ixzz1ZpjcNExh

BLOGS

Chopping Down Trees to Save Forests.  Jim Pitts stood on a Forest
Service road near the Arizona town of Nutrioso and surveyed the
damage in the valley below. It was July, and only a few weeks
earlier the Wallow Fire, the largest in recorded history in
Arizona, had swept through this section of steep slopes and
tightly packed trees.  “This is pretty devastating, both from the
forest standpoint and the human aspect,” said Mr. Pitts, a Forest
Service silviculturist. “It’s going to take a long time to get
this forest back to the way it was. It won’t happen in my
lifetime when it’s got to start over.”  Posted. 
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/04/chopping-down-trees-to-save-forests/

What, exactly, are ‘green jobs’?  One way to think of the term
“green jobs” is as a mundane political framing device.
Politicians, after all, always say their favored policies will
“create jobs,” even though, in the long run, the unemployment
rate is determined by the Federal Reserve. And, as Matt Yglesias
has noted, “green jobs” typically gets used as shorthand for
policies that will shift the U.S economy toward cleaner sources
of energy and less pollution.   Posted. 
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/post/what-exactly-are-green-jobs/2011/10/04/gIQA4J34KL_blog.html

The record-breaking Arctic ozone “hole” and global warming. For
years, polls have shown that many Americans have conflated two
distinct atmospheric calamities – the destruction of the planet’s
stratospheric ozone layer, and global warming. A 2010 poll by
Yale University found that 21 percent of respondents believe the
greenhouse effect refers to the ozone layer, rather than to gases
in the atmosphere that trap heat, such as carbon dioxide. Posted.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/post/the-rare-record-breaking-arctic-ozone-hole-and-global-warming/2011/10/04/gIQAfmWwKL_blog.html

Supreme Court rejects builders' challenge to pollution rule. The
U.S. Supreme Court today refused to review a case in which
builders in the San Joaquin Valley sought to overthrow
restrictions on air pollution associated with sprawl. The
National Assn. of Home Builders had sought to overturn a rule
that requires developers to mitigate additional air pollution
associated with large developments -- such as increased
automobile traffic with longer commuting distances. Posted.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/greenspace/2011/10/supreme-court-homebuilders-san-joaquin.html

NASA issues award in green aviation competition. NASA has seen
the future of aviation and awarded it $1.35 million. On Monday,
the space agency issued the award to team Pipistrel-USA.com of
State College, Pa., as part of the Comparative Aircraft Flight
Efficiency, or CAFE, Green Flight Challenge. The competition,
sponsored by Google, was created to inspire the development of
more fuel-efficient aircraft and spark the start of a new
electric airplane industry, NASA said. Posted.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2011/10/nasa-green-flight-google.html

Clean-Tech’s Unlikely Champion. Is the Pentagon setting the pace
for renewable energy? Thirty years ago, the idea of a
military-alternative energy partnership might have raised some
eyebrows, particularly among solar entrepreneurs here in Northern
California. But in the wake of Solyndra’s crash and burn, the
Pentagon has become one of clean-tech’s strongest remaining
allies in Washington. Posted.
http://blogs.kqed.org/climatewatch/2011/10/03/clean-techs-unlikely-champion/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+kqed%2FClimateWatchBlog+%28KQED%27s+Climate+Watch+Blog%29

White House threatens to veto bills to delay EPA air pollution
regulations. The White House is threatening to veto two House
bills that would delay key Environmental Protection Agency
air-pollution regulations. “These bills would prevent the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from moving ahead with
long-overdue requirements to reduce air pollution from industrial
boilers, solid waste incinerators, and cement plants,” the White
House said in a formal “statement of administration policy.”
Posted.
http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/677-e2-wire/185209-white-house-threatens-to-veto-bills-to-delay-epa-air-rules

SDG&E asks for higher rates on customers who go solar. 
Homeowners with solar power may have to dig a little deeper to
pay off their green investment if regulators approve San Diego
Gas & Electric Co.'s request to change the way electricity is
billed.  Under its proposal, SDG&E would unbundle the charges for
electricity and for transporting electricity.  The change would
have little effect on bills for traditional electricity
customers, but customers with solar, …Posted. 
http://www.nctimes.com/blogsnew/business/energy/article_49671e51-02b5-58a4-9384-10752bb50fa1.html