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newsclips -- Newsclips for February 24, 2012
Posted: 24 Feb 2012 13:07:02
ARB News Clips for February 24, 2012 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 Fairbanks Borough Assembly sets emission standards. FAIRBANKS, Alaska—The North Star Fairbanks Borough Assembly has passed an ordinance setting emission standards for wood and other fuel burners. Under the ordinance, the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner ( http://bit.ly/xXhawn) reports that the fuel-burning devices are limited to 30 percent opacity. The ordinance goes into effect Oct. 29. The move by the borough followed nearly two hours of heated public testimony Thursday night. The new standard is part of a wider range of efforts by the borough to tackle the problem of air pollution, which exceeds federal standards. Posted. http://www.dailynews.com/ci_20036817?IADID=Search-www.dailynews.com-www.dailynews.com http://www.insidebayarea.com/ci_20035875?IADID=Search-www.insidebayarea.com-www.insidebayarea.com http://www.contracostatimes.com/ci_20036817?IADID=Search-www.contracostatimes.com-www.contracostatimes.com CLIMATE CHANGE Actress Lucy Lawless and Greenpeace activists climb oil-drilling ship in New Zealand protest. Television actress Lucy Lawless climbed aboard an oil-drilling ship Friday in New Zealand, joining six Greenpeace activists to try to stop the vessel from setting off for the Arctic. Speaking from atop a 174-foot (53-meter) drilling tower aboard the Noble Discoverer in Port Taranaki, Lawless told The Associated Press on Friday that wind gusts were making it difficult to stay put but that she and the other protesters planned to stay there for “as long as we possibly can.” She said she had a “little bit” of food and some provisions with her. Posted. http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/actress-lucy-lawless-and-greenpeace-activists-climb-oil-drilling-ship-in-new-zealand-protest/2012/02/23/gIQALAeRWR_story.html DIESEL EMISSIONS Event highlights clean diesel technology. A day-long exhibition and press event featuring the most modern clean diesel trucks and tractors and highlighting the major advances in clean diesel technology over the past decade will be held Feb. 28. The exhibit will be held outside the CAL-EPA building in downtown Sacramento and sponsored by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) and diesel industry officials. Posted. http://fleetowner.com/trucking_news/event-hilights-clean-diesel-0224/ FUELS E.U. Stalemate on 'Dirty' Label for Fuel From Tar Sands. Years of lobbying over European Union rules that would label fuel from tar sands as more polluting than fuels from other sources reached a stalemate Thursday when a committee of technical experts failed to agree on the draft. The European Commission, the Union’s executive branch, and many environmentalists say the “dirty” label is necessary to help fuel buyers choose the least carbon-intensive energy forms and help to curb global warming. Posted. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/24/business/global/eu-stalemate-on-dirty-label-for-fuel-from-tar-sands.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=fuels&st=cse Alpha Natural Resources posts $733M loss. Alpha Natural Resources posted a fourth-quarter loss Friday after booking $745 million in charges due to weak demand for coal and also new environmental regulations. Losses amounted to $733 million, or $3.34 per share, for the final three months of 2011, compared with a profit of $10.8 million, or 9 cents per share, in the same part of 2010. Revenue more than doubled to $2.07 billion. AP NEWSBREAK: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2012/02/24/financial/f050633S54.DTL#ixzz1nJonvNdW http://www.dailynews.com/ci_20035875?IADID=Search-www.dailynews.com-www.dailynews.com http://www.insidebayarea.com/ci_20035875?IADID=Search-www.insidebayarea.com-www.insidebayarea.com http://www.contracostatimes.com/ci_20035875?IADID=Search-www.contracostatimes.com-www.contracostatimes.com http://www.fresnobee.com/2012/02/24/2734525/alpha-natural-resources-posts.html#storylink=misearch http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/industries/alpha-natural-resources-reports-733-million-loss-due-to-goodwill-impairment-charge/2012/02/24/gIQAByqgXR_story.html http://www.modbee.com/2012/02/24/2083717/alpha-natural-resources-posts.html Gas prices could cause election-year headache for Obama. President Obama said Thursday that there are no “quick fixes” for rising gasoline prices that are threatening the economic recovery and providing fodder for attacks from his political rivals.Gas prices have risen 29 cents per gallon since December, with regular-grade gas now averaging $3.64 a gallon in the Washington region at a time of year when consumers usually enjoy a respite from price hikes. Posted. http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/gas-prices-could-cause-election-year-headache-for-obama/2012/02/24/gIQAgvw4XR_story.html Bigger corn crop may help food and fuel prices. The U.S. corn crop may rise as farmers plant the most acres since World War II, easing pressure on higher food and fuel prices, the government said. Soybean planting may be little changed while wheat expands. Farmers will sow corn on 94 million acres, up 2.3 percent from last year and the most since 1944, Joe Glauber, the chief economist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, said Thursday at a conference in Arlington, Va. The forecast was less than the 94.329 million expected by analysts in a Bloomberg News survey, and unchanged from an estimate in the USDA's 10-year baseline report, released Feb. 13. Posted. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/02/23/BUV31NBHA3.DTL#ixzz1nJqjThd4 Small businesses find ways to cope with gas prices. As any driver knows, rising gas prices can put a dent in a household budget. For small business owners, it can hurt - or even wipe out - profits. The recent rise in the price of gas is pressuring business owners to find ways to protect their earnings. Some of their strategies are simple, such as using GPS devices to track fuel usage. Others are drastic - like moving manufacturing operations to the U.S. from Asia. Posted. http://www.modbee.com/2012/02/23/2082971/small-businesses-find-ways-to.html SUBSCRIPTION ONLY GREEN ENERGY Register for solar power meeting. Coachella Valley property owners can learn about the potential benefits of solar power at a meeting hosted by the city of Palm Desert and Southern California Edison from 2 to 4 p.m. Monday. Pre-registration is required for the free solar connection event in the Council Chamber at Palm Desert City Hall, 73-510 Fred Waring Drive. SCE and licensed solar contractors will provide information, answer questions and make appointments to evaluate homes for solar energy systems. Posted. http://www.mydesert.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2012202240338 O’Malley vouches for wind energy bill. Gov. Martin O'Malley testified Thursday on his offshore wind energy bill, telling a House committee the proposal would create jobs and lower reliance on fossil fuels while causing only a modest increase in energy prices. Mr. O'Malley, a Democrat, is taking a second crack at establishing framework for the technology after supporting a failed version of the legislation in the 2011 General Assembly session. The bill would allow wind energy firms to set up turbines off the Eastern Shore and sell renewable-energy credits to in-state energy companies. Posted. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/feb/23/omalley-vouches-for-wind-energy-bill/ VEHICLES Ford Boosts China Capacity. Ford Motor Co. on Friday opened its fourth passenger-vehicle assembly plant in China, as it bets that aggressive expansion and new-model introductions will help it overcome strong competition in a moderating vehicle market. The new $490 million factory in the southwestern city of Chongqing will initially produce the latest Focus compact model. Able to churn out up to 150,000 a year, it will take the annual capacity of Ford's Chinese passenger-vehicle joint venture, Changan Ford Mazda Automobile, to 600,000 vehicles, and Ford's global capacity in "C-segment" vehicles—the class to which the Focus belongs—to two million. Posted. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203960804577242740048559280.html?KEYWORDS=vehicles BASF Targets Next-Generation Car Batteries. Chemicals giant BASF on Friday underscored its plans for developing next-generation batteries for cars and trucks, after making three acquisitions in the technology this year alone with a total value of more than $100 million. The German company, which released 2011 earnings on Friday, has long been keen to reduce its dependence on cyclical businesses like plastics and chemicals, and has recently set it sights on developing batteries that can be used for electro-mobility for cars and trucks. Posted. http://blogs.wsj.com/source/2012/02/24/basf-targets-next-generation-car-batteries/?KEYWORDS=vehicles OPINION Editorial: Rogue tactics undermine the climate crusade. As big industries ramp up their campaign to discredit the science of global climate change, researchers who've helped document the threats posed by rising greenhouse gases have paid a steep price. Some have had their emails stolen. Others have come under attack from industry-funded groups. Still others have been summoned to appear before hostile congressional committees. Posted. http://www.sacbee.com/2012/02/23/4284240/rogue-tactics-undermine-the-climate.html 'Stupid' and Oil Prices. 'The American people aren't stupid," thundered President Obama yesterday in Miami, ridiculing Republicans who are blaming him for rising gasoline prices. Let's hope he's right, because not even Forrest Gump could believe the logic of what Mr. Obama is trying to sell. To wit, that a) gasoline prices are beyond his control, but b) to the extent oil and gas production is rising in America, his energy policies deserve all the credit, and c) higher prices are one more reason to raise taxes on oil and gas drillers while handing even more subsidies to his friends in green energy. Where to begin? Posted. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203918304577241623995642182.html?KEYWORDS=green+energy What to do about $4 gas. Angelenos don't get many opportunities to grouse about the weather, so in this town our preferred topic of complainversation is gasoline prices. Lately, we've had a wealth of material. Prices at the pump have been rising for the last five weeks, hitting an average in California of $4.035 for a gallon of regular on Monday, a 5.2% jump over the previous week. This is more than just an inconvenience: If the spike continues, it could derail the nation's economic recovery. Posted. http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/opinionla/la-ed-gasoline-20120223,0,211624.story The Methanol Alternative to Gasoline. PRESIDENT Obama recently called the United States the “Saudi Arabia of natural gas” and asserted that it was time for our oil-dominated transportation fuel market to open the door to natural gas. He’s right. It would be cheaper for consumers and reduce the strategic importance of oil. But first we need cars that can run on methanol, a high-octane fuel made from converted natural gas. We’re producing more natural gas these days than we can use, thanks to new techniques to extract gas from shale. A recent report from the M.I.T. Energy Initiative, “The Future of Natural Gas,” called methanol “the liquid fuel that is most efficiently and inexpensively produced from natural gas.” China has already taken notice. Posted. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/24/opinion/methanol-as-an-alternative-to-gasoline.html?scp=1&sq=fuels&st=cse Beschloss: Energy plan called a total catastrophe. Celebrated, globally published and world-renowned energy expert Michael J. Economides accused the Obama administration of igniting a worldwide energy development civil war that, he believes, the U.S. leadership is destined to lose in confrontation with China. Speaking to a record-sized crowd of the Houston-based Pipe-Valve-Fitting Roundtable, which meets quarter-annually, the much-published exponent of the global energy crisis based his contention on the “misguided” U.S. Energy Department's direction. Posted. http://www.mydesert.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2012202230347 Infrastructure crisis looming. Maybe it was a sign, though when it comes to the infrastructure crisis confronting Southern California, it's not as if we need any more proof…The surge in high-efficiency and alternative-fuel cars is draining the trust fund used to finance transportation projects through the federal highway gas tax, and by fiscal year 2014, the Congressional Budget Office projects, the fund will be empty. Among the alternatives being discussed are fees based on miles driven, an increase in toll roads and public-private partnerships. Posted. http://www.sbsun.com/ci_20028575?IADID=Search-www.sbsun.com-www.sbsun.com http://www.dailybulletin.com/ci_20028575?IADID=Search-www.dailybulletin.com-www.dailybulletin.com Gas prices may fuel changes. The following editorial appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer on Wednesday, Feb. 22: Motorists stung by rising gas prices may be on their own in the short term, but it's vital that they learn how to cope - for the sake of their household budgets as well as the nation's fragile economic recovery. The early arrival of springtime price increases at the gas pump is being fueled by factors beyond the control of most consumers. Posted. http://www.fresnobee.com/2012/02/24/2734527/gas-prices-may-fuel-changes.html#storylink=misearch http://www.modbee.com/2012/02/24/2083723/gas-prices-may-fuel-changes.html EDITORIAL: Global warming’s desperate caper. For believers in a science that supposedly is “settled,” global-warming advocates are awfully concerned about the need to silence dissent. Last week, the ethics chairman for the American Geophysical Union resigned in disgrace over his role in a black-bag job meant to intimidate the Heartland Institute, one of the most effective voices questioning the anti-carbon-dioxide orthodoxy. Posted. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/feb/23/global-warmings-desperate-caper/ Plant's conversion makes sense for valley. Wind and solar have been the driving forces behind Kern's green energy industry, but lesser-known projects are also contributing. A good example is the Mt. Poso Cogeneration plant, which for 20 years produced power for the grid and steam for nearby oil fields by burning coal and, at times, waste tires. Thanks to a recent conversion project, the plant now runs solely on biomass -- mainly wood waste from local agriculture and municipal programs. Posted. http://www.bakersfieldcalifornian.com/opinion/our-view/x1801991602/Plants-conversion-makes-sense-for-valley BLOGS Will Expensive Gas Push Drivers Out of Big Trucks? Spikes in fuel prices often drive consumers to trade in their gas-guzzling vehicles for more fuel-efficient models, but analysts say the changes in their buying habits generally last a few months at most. After that people tend to return to their old ways, especially if gas prices fall significantly after a surge. But what happens during periods of sustained high fuel prices — like right now? Posted. http://blogs.wsj.com/drivers-seat/2012/02/23/will-expensive-gas-push-drivers-out-of-big-trucks/?KEYWORDS=vehicles Behind the Controversy, an Effort to Rewrite Curriculum on Climate Change. Focus on the contents of the internal documents leaked last week from the Heartland Institute, a Chicago-based nonprofit known for attacking climate science, has been largely lost in the wake of the revelation of the leaker’s identity: Peter Gleick, a scientist. But beyond the controversy and the confession is the fact that Heartland does not deny what the two authentic documents obtained by Dr. Gleick reveal: that the institute is working to influence climate education in the schools. Posted. http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/23/behind-the-controversy-an-effort-to-rewrite-curriculum-on-climate-change/?scp=4&sq=air%20pollution&st=cse Dryden Becomes New York’s Test Town on Fracking. The town of Dryden in upstate New York doesn’t have foundries or auto manufacturing plants. Its residents say they cherish their trees, meadows and farms and local officials said they wanted to preserve what one called “our country way of life” when they passed zoning laws to keep heavy industry away. So it was not surprising when the town board last year passed a ban on hydrofracking. Posted. http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/23/dryden-becomes-new-yorks-test-town-on-fracking/ Proof that Disclosing Carbon Emissions Increases Stock Prices. A new study by the University of California provides evidence that companies that publicly announce information about their carbon emissions will see a significant and almost immediate increase in share price. The study, conducted by Paul Griffin of UC Davis and Yuan Sun of UC Berkeley, involved an analysis of ten years of news releases from Corporate Social Responsibility Newswire, which regularly publishes press releases disclosing companies’ greenhouse gas emissions. Posted. http://www.triplepundit.com/2012/02/proof-disclosing-carbon-emissions-increases-stock-prices/ GM starts deliveries of 2012 HOV-lane-eligible Chevy Volts in California. An update at least a year-and-a-half in the making, General Motors has just started delivering 2012 Chevrolet Volt extended-range plug-in models that are eligible for California customers to drive alone in that state's high-occupancy-vehicle (HOV) lanes, as the automaker looks to spur sales from the most populous U.S. state. In addition to HOV-lane access thanks to enhAT-PZEV designation, 2012 Chevrolet Volt buyers can be eligible for a $1,500 California rebate in addition to the $7,500 federal tax credit. About 140 California Chevrolet dealers will be carrying the vehicle by the end of the month. Posted. http://green.autoblog.com/2012/02/24/gm-starts-deliveries-of-2012-hov-lane-eligible-chevy-volts-in-ca/ Tesla bricked battery story may have a short circuit. Yesterday's outrageous attack on electric vehicles didn't come from the GOP (for a change), but from a seemingly disinterested blogger, one Michael Degusta. His charges against Tesla include suggesting that its cars will have "eventual, inevitable, catastrophic battery failure," lambasting the company for poor warranty service, accusing Tesla of tracking its owners without consent, and intimating that the company is not only failing to provide owners with proper notice of this phenomenon but also covering up the whole sordid affair. Serious stuff, this post of his that's rippled through the automotive web with the force of a 185-kW electric motor. Posted. http://green.autoblog.com/2012/02/23/tesla-bricked-battery-story-may-have-a-short-circuit/