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newsclips -- ARB Newsclips for March 6, 2012.
Posted: 06 Mar 2012 12:31:58
ARB Newsclips for March 6, 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 CARB fines bus, truck companies nearly $227,000 in air quality violations. Sacramento, Calif. — The California Air Resources Board announced today that during the fourth quarter of 2011 it settled 33 cases of air quality violations by trucks and buses, mostly for failure to properly conduct and pass self-inspections aimed at measuring vehicle smoke emissions to ensure state requirements are met. Posted. http://www.thetrucker.com/News/Stories/2012/3/6/CARBfinesbustruckcompaniesnearly227000inairqualityviolations.aspx Emissions from Asia put US cities over the ozone limit. Satellite data could warn of incoming air pollution. As plumes of pollution rise over the booming industrial towns of Asia, satellite data could help to alert people in other regions to the approach of drifting smog. A team of researchers from the United States has conducted the first high-resolution analysis of ozone — the main constituent of smog — travelling from Asia to the western United States. Posted. http://www.nature.com/news/emissions-from-asia-put-us-cities-over-the-ozone-limit-1.10161 FUELS Cracks emerge in GOP over hydraulic fracturing. When it comes to the controversial gas drilling technique known as hydraulic fracturing, the Republican Party itself appears fractured — especially in the critical swing state of Ohio. Super Tuesday voters are choosing among a field of GOP contenders who all support less regulation of the drilling technique. Yet some Republicans in Ohio are calling for greater oversight and new taxes on companies using it to harvest natural gas. Posted. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2012/03/05/national/a233651S17.DTL&type=printable Gasoline Versus Diesel Oil for Organic Aerosols.The exhaust fumes from gasoline vehicles contribute more to the production of a specific type of air pollution-secondary organic aerosols (SOA)-than those from diesel vehicles, according to a new study by scientists from the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES). Secondary organic aerosols, tiny "tar balls" resulting from combustion products of internal combustion engines that can encapsulate gaseous pollutants, have been identified as a danger to health. Posted. http://www.enn.com/pollution/article/44082/print LCFS in Limbo. California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard has been brought to a halt, at least temporarily. How will it affect ethanol producers? The battle over the legality of California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard has been ongoing for more than two years and it probably won’t be fully resolved any time soon. In late December, however, a California district judge handed down the first ruling in the case, delivering a preliminary victory to the plaintiffs…Posted. http://www.ethanolproducer.com/articles/8618/lcfs-in-limbo VEHICLES Chrysler to sell natural gas-powered truck. Chrysler aims to be the first U.S. automaker to produce a factory-built pickup truck that is powered mainly by natural gas. The privately held company said Tuesday that its new Ram 2500 Heavy Duty CNG truck will be sold to commercial customers that operate truck fleets. The company expects to deliver the first trucks in July. The truck will have natural gas tanks and an 8-gallon fuel tank for gasoline. Chrysler said a small amount of gasoline is needed to start the truck, but after ignition it runs entirely on natural gas. If the natural gas tanks run out, the engine can switch to gasoline. Posted. http://www.nctimes.com/business/chrysler-to-sell-natural-gas-powered-truck/article_1b981cdd-f3b7-5f24-a724-11cf5c3930df.html http://www.modbee.com/2012/03/06/2099928/chrysler-to-sell-natural-gas-powered.html http://www.platts.com/RSSFeedDetailedNews/RSSFeed/NaturalGas/6019931 GREEN ENERGY Concerns over cost of energy efficiency. Energy efficiency is becoming the "way of the future" to reduce business operating expenses, cut fuel import bills and boost jobs and household incomes. While the state and local governments are encouraging households and businesses to adopt this goal, real estate agents want to make sure energy efficiency mandates are not adopted at the expense of home buyers. In a continuing effort to reduce consumer costs associated with purchasing a home, the California Association of Realtors announced in February that it is sponsoring Assembly Bill 1711…Posted. http://www.mercurynews.com/saratoga/ci_20108693/concerns-over-cost-energy-efficiency http://www.insidebayarea.com/ci_20108693/concerns-over-cost-energy-efficiency?IADID=Search-www.insidebayarea.com-www.insidebayarea.com http://www.contracostatimes.com/ci_20108693/concerns-over-cost-energy-efficiency?IADID=Search-www.contracostatimes.com-www.contracostatimes.com MISCELLANEOUS At HLS, head of California air pollution regulatory board discusses states' climate change action (video). On climate issues, look to states. Creative solutions to global warming are rising from below. The head of California’s air pollution regulatory board said Monday (Feb. 27) that with climate change action stalled in Washington, D.C., the states are taking the lead in creating ways to reduce carbon emissions. Mary Nichols, chair of the California Air Resources Board, discussed that state’s air pollution regulations, which include a cap-and-trade policy adopted in 2006…Posted. http://www.law.harvard.edu/news/2012/03/05_future-of-energy-talk-mary-nichols.html OPINIONS REGION: Daunting air cleanup may change residents' lifestyles. Look for a lot more electric cars and hybrid gas-electric vehicles to fill Southern California freeways, and for limits on how and where developers build homes. And don't count on that unpopular wintertime fireplace-burning restriction to go away anytime soon. The chief executive for Southern California's air pollution agency said Monday that it will take those measures, and more, to deliver clean air to the nation's most polluted region…Posted. http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/swcounty/region-daunting-air-cleanup-may-change-residents-lifestyles/article_d3d995fb-c603-554c-99a1-7e18b6ace3e5.html Editorial: Carbon-cutback debate heating up. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is attempting to reshape America's economy by mandating the energy industry reduce its carbon emissions. Despite Congress' refusing to go along, the agency is getting plenty of help from many statehouses. The EPA contends that rising greenhouse gas emissions threaten to dangerously increase global temperatures, which the Obama administration says justifies Draconian controls to drive coal-fired energy plants out of business, and greatly reduce operation of other fossil-fuel electricity generators. Posted. http://www.ocregister.com/opinion/epa-343221-states-mandates.html Frozen out. Canada's government should free its scientists to speak to the press, as its US counterpart has. Media interactions with government scientists have undergone a reversal across North America during the past six years. In the United States, President Barack Obama's administration has directed federal science agencies to develop integrity policies with clear guidelines for scientists who are approached by journalists. Posted. http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v483/n7387/full/483006a.html Five Reasons Gas Price Rise. As I write this, regular gasoline is at 2008 levels, more than $4 a gallon, in California, Hawaii and Alaska, and pretty darn close to that ($3.94) at stations down the street from where I live in Connecticut. Gas prices have risen 29 cents a gallon since December. Pain at the pumps is very real, but can we attribute it to President Obama’s “radical environmentalism,” to use Rick Santorum’s catchy phrase? Nah. As the Washington Post put it, “Readers should immediately discount anything politicians say about gas prices.” Posted. http://www.forbes.com/sites/eco-nomics/2012/03/05/five-reasons-gas-prices-rise/ Time to Let the Sun Shine on Air Board’s Shady Accounting Practices. There’s an old saying in politics: “Sunshine is the best disinfectant.” Unfortunately, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) has been operating under cover of dense fog for several years now when it comes to accounting for millions of dollars in “administrative fees” it spent on managing AB 32, the state’s global warming law. To date, the Legislature has appropriated nearly $100 million to CARB for this purpose, “borrowed” from unrelated special funds (the Recycled Beverage Container Fund and the Motor Vehicle Fund). Posted. http://www.foxandhoundsdaily.com/2012/03/time-to-let-the-sun-shine-on-air-boards-shady-accounting-practices/ BLOGS Volkswagen Cross Coupe TDI Concept: VW Previews a Diesel-Hybrid Crossover. Geneva — An updated Tiguan crossover is coming from Volkswagen in 2014, and although the final details of the production model are not available, the company continues to tease auto show audiences with conceptual hints like the Cross Coupe. The four-door concept, previewed on Monday night before the first of two days of news conferences here, was said to be propelled by a plug-in hybrid diesel-electric powertrain capable of achieving average fuel economy of 1.8 liters per 100 kilometers…Posted. http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/06/volkswagen-cross-coupe-tdi-concept-vw-previews-a-diesel-hybrid-crossover/?src=twrhp Global Warming Can't Be Addressed Without Addressing Carbon Dioxide. Soot from diesel exhausts and the burning of wood, agricultural waste and dung for heating and cooking causes an estimated two million premature deaths a year, particularly in the poorest countries. Scientists say that concerted action on these substances can reduce global temperatures by 0.5 degrees Celsius by 2050 and prevent millions of cases of lung and heart disease by 2030. Posted. http://www.celsias.com/article/poor-nations-duped-global-warming-and-air-pollutio/ Deutsche Bank: Big Energy Efficiency Push Could Save Americans $1 Trillion, Cut CO2 10%, Create 3 Million Jobs. Scaling up energy efficiency retrofits around the U.S. could save an estimated $1 trillion over the next 10 years while creating 3.3 million job years for a wide range of skilled workers, according to study released this week from Deutsche Bank and the Rockefeller Foundation. The study, “United States Building Energy Efficiency Retrofits,” calculates the massive economic impact a $279 billion investment in energy efficiency would have. Posted. http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/03/04/436737/deutsche-bank-big-energy-efficiency-push-could-save-americans-1-trillion-cut-co2-10-create-3-million-jobs/?mobile=nc