What's New List Serve Post Display

California Air Resources Board Newsclips for December 16, 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

Delhi's air as dirty as ever despite some reforms.  A decade ago,
plans for a metro and clean-fuel buses were hailed as New Delhi's
answer to pollution. But air in the Indian capital is as dirty as
ever—partly because breakneck development has brought
skyrocketing use of cars.  Citywide pollution sensors routinely
register levels of small airborne particles at two or sometimes
three times its own sanctioned level for residential areas,
putting New Delhi up with Beijing, Cairo and Mexico City at the
top of indexes listing the world's most-polluted capitals. 
Posted. 
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_INDIA_BROWN_AIR?SITE=MAFAL&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

AP Newsbreak:
http://india.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/16/delhis-air-as-dirty-as-ever-despite-some-reforms/?scp=6&sq=fuels&st=cse
http://www.fresnobee.com/2011/12/16/2651314/delhis-air-as-dirty-as-ever-despite.html#storylink=misearch
http://www.contracostatimes.com/ci_19561078?IADID=Search-www.contracostatimes.com-www.contracostatimes.com
http://www.insidebayarea.com/ci_19561078?IADID=Search-www.insidebayarea.com-www.insidebayarea.com
http://www.vcstar.com/news/2011/dec/16/delhis-air-as-dirty-as-ever-despite-some-reforms/#ixzz1giq7n700
http://www.modbee.com/2011/12/16/1989650/delhis-air-as-dirty-as-ever-despite.html

Death-by-Air in Beijing Shows China’s Heart Risk From Worsening
Pollution. As smog grounded hundreds of flights from Beijing last
week, emergency doctors at Peking University People’s Hospital
faced a rush of patients. Lungs weren’t the problem, says Ding
Rongjing, the hospital’s deputy head of cardiology. Five people
were admitted for heart attacks from Dec. 4 to 6, compared with
one or two a week typically. One 60-year-old male patient died.
The illnesses are an unwanted consequence of the economic growth
that helped spur a 32 percent jump in China’s car sales last
year. Posted.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-12-15/death-by-air-in-beijing-shows-china-s-heart-risk-from-worsening-pollution.html

Cement plant near Mojave to pay EPA fine. The CalPortland
facility will pay a $1.4 million fine and $1.3 million on
equipment needed to reduce emissions of pollutants. The penalties
were part of a settlement of an EPA and Department of Justice
probe. A CalPortland cement plant near the high desert community
of Mojave has agreed to pay a fine of $1.4 million and spend $1.3
million on equipment needed to reduce emissions of pollutants
that cause asthma and generate smog, the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency announced Thursday. Posted.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-cement-fine-20111216,0,335637.story
http://www.vcstar.com/news/2011/dec/15/cement-producer-pays-142-million-in-fines/#ixzz1giqdjDjK

U.S. to impose sharp limits on mercury emissions. Washington --
The Environmental Protection Agency is expected Friday to approve
a tough new rule to limit emissions of mercury, arsenic and other
toxins from the country's power plants, according to people with
knowledge of the new standard. Though mercury is a known
neurotoxin profoundly harmful to children and pregnant women, the
air-toxins rule has been more than 20 years in the making,
repeatedly stymied because of objections from coal-burning
utilities about the cost of installing pollution-control
equipment. Posted.
http://www.sacbee.com/2011/12/15/4126242/us-to-impose-sharp-limits-on-mercury.html

Kettleman City residents protest to air board. A dozen Kettleman
City residents protested at the Valley air board meeting
Thursday, saying officials didn't give the town a real chance to
talk about a permit renewal for the largest toxic-waste landfill
west of the Mississippi. The farmworker town of 1,500 has been
battling for years against the nearby Waste Management landfill,
which residents suspect is connected to birth defects, illnesses
and deaths in their community. Posted.
http://www.fresnobee.com/2011/12/15/2651222/kettleman-residents-protest-to.html

Air pollution control projects get funding. A dozen projects
aimed at finding high tech ways to reduce air pollution will
share in $2,947,694 from the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution
Control District. The Valley Air District’s Governing Board also
authorized an additional $3 million for an additional round of
funding to bring more technology-advancement entrepreneurs in the
Valley. The projects range from an all-electric agricultural
sprayer to a natural gas conversion kit for locomotive engines,
an emission-reducing raisin tray burning system to a cleaner
composting system. Posted.
http://www.centralvalleybusinesstimes.com/stories/001/?ID=20001

Valley Air District grants $3M to 11 projects to improve air
quality. The Valley Air District’s Governing Board granted
$2,947,694 to 11 projects targeted at reducing the Valley’s air
quality emissions through new technology. The board also
authorized an additional $3 million for an additional round of
funding to bring more technology-advancement entrepreneurs in the
Valley. The latest competitive request for proposals to the
Technology Advancement Program resulted in submissions ranging
from an all-electric agricultural sprayer to a natural gas
conversion kit for locomotive engines, an emission-reducing
raisin tray burning system to a cleaner composting system.
Posted.
http://www.mercedsunstar.com/2011/12/15/2158422/valley-air-district-grants-3m.html

Where There's Smoke, There's Sickness: Wood Smoke now a major
Northwest air polluter. The warning label on the wrapping of
neatly split firewood is one we're more accustomed to seeing on
cigarettes or heavy-duty chemicals: "known... to cause cancer,
birth defects or reproductive harm." But in fact, heart attacks,
strokes, high blood pressure, asthma attacks and premature death
– in addition to cancer – all are linked to wood smoke pollution.
It's a finding that poses a vexing dilemma for poor and rural
communities around the Northwest where wood is a cheap or even
free source of heat. Posted.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=143842355

Finally: New air toxics rules for power plants.  Cross-posted
from the World Resources Institute. The post was written by
Nicholas Bianco, senior associate for WRI's climate and energy
program.  As the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
prepares to release new mercury and air toxics standards, some
people may be wondering about the history and timeline for these
standards. One senator recently claimed that EPA is "charging
ahead" with them.  Posted. 
http://www.grist.org/clean-air/2011-12-15-finally-new-air-toxics-rules-for-power-plants

CLIMATE CHANGE

Gov. vows to prepare Calif. for climate change.  The United
Nations' top climate official joined California Gov. Jerry Brown
on Thursday to call for renewed efforts in the state to more
quickly adapt to the risks that extreme weather and a rising sea
pose to agriculture and the coastline.  Rajendra Pachauri,
chairman of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change, joined Brown, scientists, former Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger and billionaire Sir Richard Branson at a
conference at the California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate
Park.  Posted. 
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jJnqbOh1OjxgzD-zThlWL7UCQOSg?docId=d0f54bdcb59c4da5ad8ea8c1cf172831

AP Newsbreak:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/environment/calif-governor-joined-by-international-climate-change-officials-for-global-warming-conference/2011/12/15/gIQArhANwO_story.html

Jery Brown, Arnold Schwarzenegger urge green energy policies. San
Francisco – Gov. Jerry Brown railed Thursday against politicians
who doubt climate change, calling them "political lemmings" and
the chief obstacle in the fight against global warming. "The main
thing we have to deal with in climate change is the skepticism,
the denial and the cult-like behavior of the political lemmings
that would take us over the cliff," the Democratic governor said
at a high-profile conference on climate change at the California
Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. Posted.
http://www.sacbee.com/2011/12/16/4126458/jery-brown-arnold-schwarzenegger.html

Quebec to start cap-trade climate plan with California. Montreal
— With global climate-change talks in limbo, Quebec is the first
province to push ahead with its own cap-and-trade program. The
province says it's emulating California as it becomes the first
Canadian province to start enforcing cap-and-trade regulations
for carbon emissions. Starting on Jan. 1, there will be a
one-year transition period to help large emitters adjust to the
new system, which will officially kick in at the start of 2013.
Posted.
http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/Politics/20111215/quebec-starts-cap-and-trade-with-california-111215/

Quebec cap-and-trade follows Kyoto reversal. With announcement,
Arcand slams Tories' 'regrettable' move. Environment Minister
Pierre Arcand announced the official adoption of Quebec's
cap-and-trade system to fight climate change Thursday - three
days after what Arcand called the federal government's "utterly
regrettable" announcement that Canada will withdraw from the
Kyoto Protocol. Posted.
http://www.montrealgazette.com/technology/Quebec+trade+follows+Kyoto+reversal/5869801/story.html

Carbon trading coming to Quebec. Montreal — Quebec's most
energy-intensive companies will soon be forced to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions through a cap-and-trade system.
Environment Minister Pierre Arcand announced that 75 companies
which annually produce more than 25,000 tonnes of greenhouse
gases will have the new regime imposed on them as of Jan. 1,
2013. "We just want to reduce greenhouse gases in the most
flexible and efficient way," said Arcand. Posted.
http://montreal.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20111215/mtl_greenhouse_111215/20111215/?hub=MontrealHome

Calif budget to include CO2 auction revenue-Point Carbon.
California Governor Jerry Brown said on Thursday his 2012-2013
state budget will assume $300 million to $600 million in revenue
from the sale of CO2 permits. Speaking on the sidelines of a
conference in San Francisco on the risks of climate change, Brown
told Point Carbon that the state spending plan he will unveil
next month will for the first time include the new revenue stream
for California's cash-strapped government. Posted.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/calif-budget-to-include-co2-auction-revenue-point-carbon

Climate Change May Modify Half Earth's Plants. Pasadena - By
2100, global climate change will modify plant communities
covering almost half of Earth's land surface. "For more than 25
years, scientists have warned of the dangers of human-induced
climate change," said Jon Bergengren, a scientist who led the
study while a postdoctoral scholar at the California Institute of
Technology in the U.S.
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/12/16-6

CARB OKs modified Cleaire DPF three months after fire.  A major
fire displaced hundreds of people south central Washington in
September, eventually prompting the California Air Resources
Board to prohibit the sale of LongMile and Allmetal diesel
particulate filters.  The DPFs manufactured by Cleaire have been
modified and are now back on the market.  In an executive order
posted last week, CARB said the agency had verified design
modifications to the Cleaire’s company’s LongMile DPF system and
has lifted the suspension on sales of LongMile filters for
on-road truck use.  Posted. 
http://www.landlinemag.com/todays_news/Daily/2011/Dec11/121211/121511-06.shtml


CARB OKs Rypos TRU DPF.  The California Air Resources Board (ARB)
has verified the Rypos DPF/ULETRU CARB Level 3+ Diesel
Particulate Filter (DPF) for use on Carrier and ThermoKing
transportation refrigeration units (TRU) using 2003 and newer
model year engines. TRUs are refrigeration systems powered by
diesel internal combustion engines designed to control the
environment of temperature-sensitive products that are
transported in trucks, trailers, shipping containers,
andrailcars.  Posted. 
http://www.dieselprogress.com/emissionstechnologyforum/index_news_detail.asp?pick=461&fm=N

FUELS

California clean fuel standard needs flexibility. When the
California Air Resources Board considers regulatory amendments to
the state's new Low Carbon Fuel Standard today, it must take into
account new information that paints a very troubling picture of
this complex climate-change policy. A new analysis commissioned
by the Western States Petroleum Association indicates the rosy
projections upon which the standard was built are neither
realistic nor accurate. Posted.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/12/16/EDB21MCMUD.DTL

Support for locally produced biofuels crucial. In Northern
California, local, sustainably sourced food has progressed from
the purview of a few entrepreneurial chefs to the dinner table.
In a state where innovation is a way of life, it's easy to
imagine locally sourced products expanding to another basic
necessity: our fuel supply. The technology to substitute
sustainable biofuels for petroleum is already being developed and
commercialized by California companies like Amyris, Solazyme, and
Fulcrum Bioenergy. But new industries require long-term support
to develop technology and build low-cost production capacity.
Posted.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/12/16/EDB21MCNHM.DTL

California corrects Canadian lobbying. The battle over how to
classify oil extracted from tar sands and oil shale under the
EU's fuel quality directive has taken an interesting turn, with
California's Air Resources Board writing to the EU climate
commissioner telling her not to believe some of the lobbying
undertaken by Canada and the oil industry. With member states
having to decide whether to support the Commission's proposal to
set higher emissions values for oil extracted from tar sands and
oil shale …Posted.
http://www.transportenvironment.org/News/2011/12/California-corrects-Canadian-lobbying/

VEHICLES

DuPont, Honeywell Said to Face EU Car-Refrigerant Probe.  DuPont
Co., the largest U.S. chemicals company by market value, and
Honeywell International Inc. face a European Union antitrust
probe over a refrigerant for car air-conditioning systems,
according to four people familiar with the plan. The European
Commission will soon open a formal investigation to examine
whether DuPont and Honeywell may have concealed their ownership
of patents for the refrigerant before the car industry agreed to
use the technology as a standard, said the people who couldn’t be
identified because the issue isn’t yet public. Posted.
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-12-16/dupont-honeywell-said-to-face-eu-car-refrigerant-probe.html

U.S. stands by California bullet train project despite critics.
'We are not going to flinch' on support, an official says at a
House committee meeting. The opposition alleges political
corruption in the granting of federal funds for the Central
Valley segment. The Obama administration vowed Thursday at a
House committee meeting in Washington that it would not back down
from its support of California's bullet train project despite
attacks from critics who alleged it is tainted by political
corruption. 
"We are not going to flinch on that support," said Joseph Szabo,
chief of the Federal Railroad Administration. Posted.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-bullet-hearing-20111216,0,2765172.story

Energy Roadmap 2050 fails to determine 2030 milestones.  Electric
vehicles will play an important role in the decarbonisation of
road transport in the EU, says the Energy Roadmap 2050 presented
by the European Commission on 15 December 2011. However, it fails
to set any concrete recommendations, policy actions or
intermediate targets.  The Energy Roadmap 2050 identifies several
decarbonisation scenarios to achieve the long-term objective of
80-95% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2050…Posted. 
http://www.cars21.com/content/articles/71820111216.php

GREEN ENERGY

Schwarzenegger: Debate over bankrupt solar maker Solyndra loan
‘narrow minded’ San Francisco — In a rare public appearance since
leaving office, former Republican California Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger called the debate over bankrupt solar panel maker
Solyndra narrow-minded in a world moving ever-faster toward
renewable energy. Schwarzenegger said Thursday he took time out
from a movie shoot to address Gov. Jerry Brown’s climate
conference at the California Academy of Sciences. Posted.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/environment/schwarzenegger-debate-over-bankrupt-solar-maker-solyndra-loan-narrow-minded/2011/12/15/gIQAJlGrwO_story.html
http://www.modbee.com/2011/12/15/1989099/schwarzenegger-solyndra-debate.html

MISCELLANEOUS

The Race to Greener Bottles Could Be Long. Over their decades of
competition, the battle between Coca-Cola and PepsiCo has taken
on many colors — brown (cola), orange (juice), blue (sport
drinks) and clear (water). Now, they are fighting over green: The
beverage rivals are racing to become the first to produce a
plastic soda bottle made entirely from plants. But despite
dueling announcements claiming technological breakthroughs,
consumers should not expect to see many all-plant bottles on
store shelves any time soon. Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/16/business/energy-environment/coca-cola-and-pepsico-race-for-greener-bottles.html

OPINIONS

A Call for Climate Solutions. To the Editor: In his Dec. 4
column, “The Decadent Left,” Ross Douthat paints the Keystone XL
pipeline protests as furthering the agendas of narrow interests.
In fact, they are the opposite. They are about protecting
resources Americans hold in common and value deeply: our air,
water and climate. Climate change is not an elite concern; it is
a force upending American lives with crippling drought, increased
urban air pollution and devastating floods. Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/16/opinion/a-call-for-climate-solutions.html?_r=1&ref=opinion

State’s clean fuel leadership helps national security. My family
has a long history of service to this country. My father served
in the Army nearly 20 years, many of which were spent in hostile
areas including Iraq during the first Gulf War. Following in my
father’s footsteps and in his honor, I too chose to enlist. For
more than eight years, I served in the United States Navy. As an
aviation logistics specialist, I deployed multiple times,
providing combat support for the U.S. and NATO forces on land and
sea in the Mediterranean and Middle East. Posted.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/dec/16/states-clean-fuel-leadership-helps-national/

Charles Feder and Hank Ryan: Carbon fuel rule helps jump-start
oil alternatives. For small businesses navigating difficult
economic times, keeping costs manageable is key. But that's hard
to do when your company's expenses are bound to a volatile
commodity whose price you can't control. That's why gas prices
matter so much to small business owners. And that's why so many
of us are cheering on the California Air Resource Board's efforts
to update our state's groundbreaking Low Carbon Fuel Standard.
Posted. http://www.presstelegram.com/opinions/ci_19557027

Why Small Delays in Dealing With Climate Change Can be Very
Cheap. Ezra Klein tells us why small delays in climate change can
be very expensive. His point and it’s not an obviously bad one,
is that the longer we delay dealing with emissions then the more
quickly we will have to deal with them when we do. And dealing
with reducing emissions quickly is likely to be more expensive
than dealing with them slowly. Well, yes, that’s one side of it,
that’s true. Posted.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2011/12/16/why-small-delays-in-dealing-with-climate-change-can-be-very-cheap/

Durban: An Important Step Forward in Combating Global Climate
Change. The 17th Conference of the Parties of the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change concluded in the early
morning hours of Sunday December 11, after more than two weeks of
intense negotiations in Durban, South Africa. I've returned to
Washington and I can report that we made some very significant
progress. Though I'm steeped in the climate negotiations, I know
how hard it can be to make sense of the various accords and
agreements and how they can help us meet the climate challenge.
Posted.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/todd-d-stern/durban-climate-talks_b_1153721.html?ref=green

America Must Not Back Down on Sustainable Energy. If you read
just the headlines these days, you might think renewable energy
in America is going the way of Solyndra. Don't take our word for
it: a recent headline from Fox News declared "ENTIRE Solar
Industry on Brink of Collapse." We cannot allow long-time
opponents of renewable energy to focus the discussion only on
Solyndra (whose higher priced panels could not compete as solar
costs came down) when we should be thinking about competing with
China to win the next energy revolution. Posted.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rep-bernie-sanders/america-must-not-back-dow_b_1153827.html
 
BLOGS

Jerry Brown criticizes 'political lemmings' of climate change.
San Francisco - Gov. Jerry Brown railed this morning against
politicians who doubt climate change, calling "political
lemmings" the chief obstacle in combating global warming."The
main thing we have to deal with in climate change is the
skepticism, the denial and the cult-like behavior of the
political lemmings that would take us over the cliff," Brown said
at a high-profile conference on climate change at the California
Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. Posted.
http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2011/12/jerry-brown-criticizes-political-lemmings-of-climate-change-california-san-francisco.html#MTRecentEntries

Arnold Schwarzenegger 'proud' of Jerry Brown on environment. San
Francisco -- Hours after Gov. Jerry Brown issued a spirited
attack on politicians who doubt the significance of climate
change, Brown's predecessor -- former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
-- praised Brown but urged a spirit of inclusiveness. "To me, it
made no difference if a Democrat had a great idea or a Republican
had a great idea, or if someone from the outside had a great
idea,…Posted.
http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2011/12/arnold-schwarzenegger-proud-of-jerry-brown-on-environment.html#MTRecentEntries

AM Alert: Jerry Brown talks solar power in San Diego. Fresh off
his conference in San Francisco on climate change, Gov. Jerry
Brown heads to Southern California to talk clean power and jobs.
Brown, who referred to global warming naysayers Thursday as
"political lemmings," will have a few words to say this morning
at the dedication of a new solar manufacturing plant in San
Diego. Posted.
http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2011/12/am-alert-jerry-brown-talks-solar-power-in-san-diego-california.html

Online shopping: Better for the environment? With just nine days
to go before Christmas, we've all got our lists. We've been
checking them twice. And now comes the naughty or nice part, at
least environmentally: Deciding whether to buy that Nerf gun in
person or online. More shoppers are doing the latter. About 4.2%
of purchases are now done with a computer or hand-held device,
compared with 3.3% in 2008, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Posted.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/home_blog/2011/12/online-shopping-vs-traditional-shopping.html

BioBoost project targets conversion of biomass into intermediate
energy carriers for subsequent conversion into fuels, chemicals,
power and heat.  Six research institutions and seven industrial
partners from Europe will participate in the new BioBoost
project, aimed at converting residual biomass into energy
carriers for the production of high-quality and engine-compatible
fuels and chemicals as well as for the generation of electricity
and heat. The project, coordinated by Karlsruhe Institute of
Technology (KIT), will start in early 2012.  Posted. 
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2011/12/bioboost-20111216.html

GM’s eAssist seeks to provide a cost-effective solution for
improving fuel efficiency and driving dynamics.  General Motors
is exploring the use of its light electrification system eAssist
as a cost-effective means to improve both vehicle efficiency as
well as driving dynamics. Initially introduced in the Buick line,
eAssist has now made the jump to the Chevrolet line with its
application in the new Malibu Eco (earlier post)—which will be
the only version of the new Malibu initially available.  Posted. 
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2011/12/eassist-20111215.html