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newsclips -- ARB Newsclips for August 10, 2012.
Posted: 10 Aug 2012 14:37:48
ARB Newsclips for August 10, 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 Spare the Air and power alert on Friday. High temperatures predicted for the rest of the week prompted another Spare the Air alert for the Bay Area on Friday, as well as the summer's first Flex Alert, which asks Californians to conserve electricity. The Flex Alert, in effect through Sunday, asks residents to avoid using major electronic appliances and air conditioners from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. to avoid overwhelming the state's power grid. Last summer saw just two Flex alerts, said Stephanie McCorkle, a spokeswoman for California's Independent System Operator, which oversees the distribution of electricity. Posted. http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Spare-the-Air-and-power-alert-on-Friday-3776697.php#ixzz23ATJpaU8 RICHMOND REFINERY FIRE Richmond: Air quality officials say pollution detected from refinery fire. Richmond -- Air quality regulators say they were wrong about pollution caused by the Chevron refinery fire in Richmond. The Bay Area Air Quality Management District originally said that air samples taken during Monday's fire showed that toxic air contaminants were below levels considered safe by federal health officials. On Thursday the district said its "initial statement was incorrect." In one of eight samples taken throughout Richmond, levels of the toxic compound acrolein were above the federal standard. Posted. http://www.mercurynews.com/nws/ci_21282612 http://www.contracostatimes.com/news/ci_21282612/richmond-air-quality-officials-say-pollution-detected-from http://www.nctimes.com/news/state-and-regional/regulators-detect-pollution-from-ca-refinery-fire/article_cc190e77-5383-513f-a594-43549b97195d.html http://www.vcstar.com/news/2012/aug/09/regulators-detect-pollution-from-ca-refinery/ http://www.modbee.com/2012/08/09/2322804/regulators-detect-pollution-from.html#storylink=misearch http://www.dailynews.com/ci_21278493/regulators-detect-pollution-from-ca-refinery-fire?IADID=Search-www.dailynews.com-www.dailynews.com http://www.insidebayarea.com/news/ci_21282612/richmond-air-quality-officials-say-pollution-detected-from?IADID=Search-www.insidebayarea.com-www.insidebayarea.com http://www.contracostatimes.com/news/ci_21282612/richmond-air-quality-officials-say-pollution-detected-from?IADID=Search-www.contracostatimes.com-www.contracostatimes.com http://www.fresnobee.com/2012/08/09/2945944/regulators-detect-pollution-from.html#storylink=misearch Chevron response to fire threat probed. Investigators looking into the fire at the Chevron oil refinery in Richmond suspect that heat insulation around a leaking pipe contributed to the disaster by masking the extent of the danger until it was too late, The Chronicle has learned. By underestimating the size of the leak, initially believed to be about 20 drips per minute, officials kept operating the refinery's large crude unit, where crude oil is separated under heat reaching 1,100 degrees. Posted. http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Chevron-response-to-fire-threat-probed-3777488.php CLIMATE CHANGE Tracy in race to be the "coolest" California city. TRACY -- The city of Tracy is reducing its carbon footprint one step at a time, and its efforts have put it in the running to be one of the "coolest" cities in the state. The city has been selected as one of the top four in California in the "CoolCalifornia Challenge," a months-long program that tests Californians to see if they can reduce things like gas emissions, water usage and energy. The city that reduces its footprint the most at the end of a given month is awarded $10,000 to go toward an environmental project. Posted. http://www.contracostatimes.com/environment/ci_21276444/tracy-race-be-coolest-california-city Did Climate Change Spur Plants to Migrate Uphill? In a section of Southern California’s Santa Rosa Mountains, plants appear to have been migrating uphill in recent decades, but the reason is controversial. An early study attributed this shift to changes in local climate, possibly due to urbanization or natural cycles, but akin to changes expected as a result of human-caused global warming. But another research team set out to refute that, saying this claim overlooked a crucial dynamic in this area: fires. Posted. http://www.livescience.com/22239-plant-shift-climate-debate.html Climate change is clouding Lake Tahoe’s future say researchers. Natural forces and human actions have impacted the legendary clarity of Lake Tahoe as well as its physics, chemistry and biology since 1968, according to a report Thursday from the University of California, Davis, which has been monitoring of Lake Tahoe. While the clarity of Lake Tahoe's famed blue waters has long been the most visible and widely used indication of the lake's health, a range of environmental and water quality factors is at play, the latest report says. Posted. http://www.centralvalleybusinesstimes.com/stories/001/?ID=21655 Will Climate Change Wipe Out Surfing? There is already evidence that storms driven by climate change are causing bigger swells—which makes surfers happy. What makes surfers worry is sea level rise. Jacob Hechter is gingerly traversing the rocks on his way out to Rincon, in Santa Barbara. Known as the Queen of the Coast, Rincon is a 300-yard cobblestone point that lies at a right angle to the rest of the Southern California coast, catching swells and sending surfers barreling down its sweeping curve. As he navigates the rocks, Hechter, a cartographer, muses aloud about what climate change …Posted. http://www.psmag.com/environment/will-climate-change-wipe-out-surfing-44209/ DIESEL EMISSIONS Truckers charged up. Tom Howard gestured toward his big rig. "Step inside my office," he said. With pleasure. It was 75 degrees in the cab, unlike the broiling asphalt parking lot at the Flying J truck stop. And Howard's "office" muffled the noise of an endless parade of trucks outside. This is the comfort and peace that a long-distance trucker needs to get a good night's sleep. And on Thursday, it got a lot easier to rest while complying with no-idling laws. Posted. http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120810/A_NEWS/208100331&cid=sitesearch Battling Air Pollution. (VIDEO) Word tonight of a new campaign to clean up the valley's dirty air. The Air Resources Board is working with the Highway Patrol, inspecting big rigs traveling through Fresno on Highway 99. It's called the "Gear up for clean trucks" campaign. The inspections also help keep truck drivers safer, because officers check the fuel and brake lines on all the big rigs inspected. Posted. http://www.cbs47.tv/news/local/story/Battling-Air-Pollution/WGURU4wag0WwGx8idIJCPg.cspx Incoming Big Rigs Undergo Emissions Tests. Local air quality control went under the hood today, making sure big rigs are not contaminating Valley resources. The Air Resources Board ordered a mandatory inspection, of all trucks coming into Fresno on the 99 Freeway, to determine whether their engines were up-to-code on exhaust emissions. Chief Tony Brasil said, "What we're trying to do, is increase awareness, by making sure that the rules are being met, so that truck owners take the actions needed, to reduce emissions from their existing engines." Posted. http://www.kmjnow.com/pages/landing_localnews_2011?Incoming-Big-Rigs-Undergo-Emissions-Test=1&blockID=625729&feedID=806 New Detroit DT12 transmission contributes to enhanced fuel efficiency and performance for heavy-duty trucks. Detroit Diesel Corporation, a Daimler company, is showcasing its DT12 automated manual transmission for heavy duty trucks. Part of the Detroit complete powertrain offering, the DT12 combines the operational ease of an automatic with the efficiency of a manual transmission, resulting in enhanced fuel economy, vehicle performance and safety. Posted. http://www.greencarcongress.com/2012/08/dt12-20120810.html FUELS Maersk's new fleet raises fuel efficiency. A.P. Maersk-Møller A/S's planned fleet of the world's largest container vessels will be as groundbreaking for their shape as their size. The 20 ships will be the first cargo-box carriers with rounded hulls rather than streamlined V-shaped ones, according to Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., which is developing the 18,000-container vessels. The change reflects a shift by operators away from designing ships to go as fast as possible to instead emphasizing fuel economy. "These vessels will be the Prius of the seas," said Lee Jae Won, an analyst at Tongyang Securities Inc. in Seoul. "They're fuel efficient and environmentally friendly." Posted. http://www.sfgate.com/business/article/Maersk-s-new-fleet-raises-fuel-efficiency-3777268.php Gas prices rise; officials wait to enter refinery. A fire at one of the nation's largest oil refineries helped push West Coast gas prices close to $4 a gallon Thursday, as the same federal team that investigated the Gulf Coast spill waited to inspect the unit that was knocked out by the blaze. The U.S. Chemical Safety Board team was standing by with state and company inspectors to do structural and environmental tests to see if it was safe to enter the unit and determine when production might resume after the Monday night blaze. In all, five separate investigations will be done. Posted. http://www.760kfmb.com/story/19233292/fire-is-latest-pollution-problem-at-chevron-plant ETHANOL: USDA predicts smallest corn crop in 6 years. In a report closely watched by the livestock and ethanol industries, the Agriculture Department today sharply reduced its projections of this year's corn crop in response to the drought conditions in the Midwest. Average corn yields per acre are expected to be 123.4 bushels, down 22.6 bushels from the forecast last month and the lowest average yield since 1995. USDA also reduced its forecast for total corn production for the 2012-2013 growing year by 2 billion bushels. The crop is expected to be only 10.8 billion bushels -- the lowest figure since 2006. Posted. http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/print/2012/08/10/2 BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY VEHICLES Frito-Lay to add 45 electric delivery trucks to California fleet. Frito-Lay plans to put 45 more electric delivery trucks on California roads in the coming months, bringing its fleet of such vehicles in the state to 105 by the end of the year. The trucks are made by Smith Electric Vehicles, a private manufacturer in Kansas City, Mo., that names its truck models after famous inventors and scientists. Its biggest truck is the Newton while the smaller vehicle is called the Edison. The chip company uses the Newton, which employs Lithium-ion battery cell technology and is designed for urban settings with heavy “stop-and-go” driving. Posted. http://www.latimes.com/business/money/la-fi-mo-frito-electric-trucks-20120809,0,2867620.story http://www.contracostatimes.com/california/ci_21277439/gov-brown-lauds-frito-lays-all-electric-trucks Newark-based Envia, backed by GM, may have electric car breakthrough. Detroit -- A small battery company backed by General Motors is working on breakthrough technology that could power an electric car 100 or even 200 miles on a single charge in the next two-to-four years, GM's CEO said Thursday. Speaking at an employee meeting, CEO Dan Akerson said the company, Newark, Calif.-based Envia Systems, has made a huge breakthrough in the amount of energy a lithium-ion battery can hold. Posted. http://www.mercurynews.com/cars/ci_21277154/gm-may-have-electric-car-breakthrough Study: Cleaner cars helping to reduce LA pollution. Los Angeles -- The Los Angeles area still has some of the nation's dirtiest air, but a study released Thursday concluded cars are belching far fewer pollution-causing fumes. The level of dozens of volatile organic compounds in the Los Angeles basin fell about 98 percent in the past 50 years, according to a study funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. "The reason is simple: Cars are getting cleaner," said a statement from study co-author Carsten Warneke of the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Posted. http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Study-Cleaner-cars-helping-to-reduce-LA-pollution-3776162.php#ixzz23AHNEe4D http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_21278840/study-cleaner-cars-helping-reduce-l-pollution?source=rss http://www.contracostatimes.com/environment/ci_21275011/study-cleaner-cars-helping-reduce-la-pollution http://www.greenfieldreporter.com/view/story/cc389064e7d140f78e2ca9b36821391b/CA--LA-Smog-Study ExxonMobil, climate change deniers and global warming--follow the money. There is a strong, vocal group of climate change deniers out there. Even while much of the reputable research supports climate change, there are always those out there who can refute its existence. To truly climate change deniers, follow the money. Rex Tillerson, CEO of ExxonMobil has long been a denier of global warming. While he recently has admitted climate change’s existence, he still doubts the data. Posted. http://www.examiner.com/article/exxonmobil-climate-change-deniers-and-global-warming-follow-the-money GREEN ENERGY NASA's 'green' planetary test lander crashes. Earlier this week NASA safely landed a robotic rover on Mars about 150 million miles away. But on Thursday here on Earth, a test model planetary lander crashed and burned at Kennedy Space Center in Florida just seconds after liftoff. The spider-like spacecraft called Morpheus was on a test flight at Cape Canaveral when it tilted, crashed to the ground and erupted in flames. It got only a few feet up in the air, NASA said. NASA spokeswoman Lisa Malone said it appears that the methane-and-liquid oxygen powered lander is a total loss. Posted. http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_SCI_NASA_LANDER_CRASH?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2012-08-10-08-14-19 OTHER RELATED STORIES http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/NASA-s-green-planetary-test-lander-crashes-3775997.php http://www.contracostatimes.com/environment/ci_21274067/nasa-test-planetary-lander-burns-and-crashes New high-efficiency gas power plant in Lodi ready for final testing. California's largest single consumer of electricity plans to eliminate 80 percent of its greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. A new, highly efficient power plant outside Lodi will help make that possible. The state Department of Water Resources uses an average of 2,000 megawatts of power each day to pump water up and down the state. About half of DWR's power comes from its own hydroelectric plants, but the rest is purchased from others and includes electricity produced from burning coal, considered a major culprit in global warming. Posted. http://www.sacbee.com/2012/08/10/4712399/hed-here.html#storylink=cpy Milpitas is new home to what's being billed as world's largest recycling plant. Milpitas -- With conveyor belts whirring and new equipment gleaming, a Phoenix-based recycling and trash-hauling company on Thursday opened what it is billing as the largest recycling plant in the world in the heart of Silicon Valley. Republic Services, for years known as BFI, christened the $55 million facility on Dixon Landing Road in Milpitas, adjacent to the Newby Island Landfill, which it also operates. The 80,000-square-foot recycling plant can process up to 420,000 tons of waste a year…Posted. http://www.mercurynews.com/science/ci_21275853/facility-billed-worlds-largest-recycling-plant-opens-milpitas MISCELLANEOUS Wind advocate joins Sierra Club Foundation board. The Sierra Club Foundation announced today that offshore wind advocate Shirley Weese Young will join its board of directors. Young, a Chicago-based graphic designer, leads the Illinois Sierra Club chapter's efforts to implement offshore wind energy in Chicago and is active in the Illinois Wind Council. "As the Sierra Club Foundation continues to fund projects that focus on ending our dependence on coal and oil, we must also promote the right set of clean energy solutions to replace them," Sierra Club Foundation Executive Director Peter Martin said in a statement. Posted. http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/print/2012/08/10/7 BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY Heat wave prompts call for power conservation. California's electricity grid manager urged residents statewide to conserve power today as an extended heat wave is predicted to tax the system. The California Independent System Operator declared a "flex alert" that will last through Sunday. It asked people to reduce electricity usage from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. local time. Today is expected to see the highest energy consumption of the three-day alert period, the ISO said. It forecasted that Californians will use a total 46,800 megawatts of electricity. Posted. http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/print/2012/08/10/22 BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY OPINIONS Eugene Robinson: Global warming is the new normal. Excuse me, folks, but the weather is trying to tell us something. Listen carefully, and you can almost hear a parched, raspy voice whispering, "What part of 'hottest month ever' do you people not understand?" According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, July was indeed the hottest month in the contiguous United States since record-keeping began more than a century ago. That distinction was previously held by July 1936, which came at the height of the Dust Bowl calamity that devastated the American heartland. Posted. http://www.sacbee.com/2012/08/10/4712014/global-warming-is-the-new-normal.html You thought Monday's Chevron fire was bad, look back to the '90s. In fact, Monday's blaze is the first refinery accident to receive the county's most severe designation -- Level 3 -- since a similar fire struck the same facility in 1999. From 1992 to 1999, Contra Costa's heavy-industry facilities endured 11 Level 3 incidents, killing six workers, injuring almost 50 others and sending more than 23,000 residents to hospitals for treatment. Industry experts and elected officials say the industrial safety ordinance appears to have played a major role in making accidents such as Monday's much more rare. Posted. http://www.contracostatimes.com/news/ci_21277882/you-thought-mondays-chevron-fire-was-bad-look http://www.insidebayarea.com/news/ci_21277882/you-thought-mondays-chevron-fire-was-bad-look Editorial: Is California getting too much CARB? Powerful pollution bureaucracy needs auditing, but Legislature’s ruling Democrats refuse. Democratic government is accountable government. Voters can make informed choices only if they know what's going on with their tax dollars. Californians recently have been learning about $54 million that was unspent by the Department of Parks and Recreation, and about $37 billion in "special funds" throughout state government that is spent without oversight. But perhaps the biggest state bureaucracy that goes unaccountable is the California Air Resources Board, headed by Chairwoman Mary Nichols. Posted. http://www.ocregister.com/opinion/carb-368050-government-audit.html Editorial: Every month, it seems, sets new weather records. Residents of the United States have just lived — or, more accurately, sweltered — though the hottest month in the nation's history. The average July temperature in the contiguous 48 states was 77.6 degrees Fahrenheit, 3.3 degrees above the 20th century average for the month, according to records that go back to 1895. The previous record was 77.4 in 1936, the depths of the Dust Bowl. That 0.2 degree may seem small to the layperson, but climate scientist Jake Crouch of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration called it "a pretty significant increase over the last record.” Posted. http://www.vcstar.com/news/2012/aug/09/editorial-every-month-it-seems-sets-new-weather/ Auto testing won’t cut smog. I’m writing in response to the “Pollution Solution” article. Really, emission testing to clear the air in Cache Valley! Let’s look at some of the facts. Can I assume our air will be as clean as the air in Salt Lake Valley, which has already been doing emission testing? In an article dated July 22, County Executive Lynn Lemon stated that the council would direct the board “to adopt and promulgate (to put a law into effect by formal public announcement) rules and regulations” ensuring compliance with the EPA and state requirements related to emissions. Posted. http://news.hjnews.com/opinion/letters_to_editor/article_7df042c2-e230-11e1-a21b-0019bb2963f4.html Public is tuning back in to the debate on climate change. Richard Muller, a self-proclaimed “skeptic” on climate change, is having a well-publicized road-to-Damascus moment. Muller, a physicist at the University of California at Berkeley, has declared his conversion to the long-accepted view of most climate scientists that global warming is real and human activity is “almost entirely the cause.” His conclusion: “You should not be a skeptic, at least not any longer.” Posted. http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorialopinion/article/1239178--public-is-tuning-back-in-to-the-debate-on-climate-change Ethanol: How government is making your food more expensive. Middle America is in the middle of a drought, meaning that corn production will fall to a 17-year low, according to an Agriculture Department report. But a drought for some is a boom for others, as farmers who do harvest corn this year will enjoy record high prices. Projections show that corn prices may skyrocket to about $8 a bushel and corn futures have already risen to $8.29 a bushel. For farmers and ranchers, low yields and higher prices are part of the risk involved in their livelihood, but thanks to government ethanol standards they have another big corn consumer causing higher prices. Posted. http://washingtonexaminer.com/epa-ethanol-mandate-screwing-up-food-prices/article/2504561#.UCVG9tVp33U Cap and Trade: California's Best Secret: A new statewide poll in California has mixed results for those of us dedicated to fighting climate change. While the good news is actually great news, the bad news is a call to action. Let me start on the upbeat side, which recognizes the magnitude of the issue. The Public Policy Institute of California's 12th annual poll on "Californians and the Environment" found that a strong majority of Californians, 78 percent, thinks that the world's temperature has probably increased over the last 100 years, versus 17 percent who said it probably hasn't. Posted. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kate-gordon/cap-and-trade-californias_b_1757328.html BLOGS In Richmond, concern about air pollution goes beyond Chevron fire. Pollution and the environment have always been big issues for Californians. A statewide survey conducted by the Public Policy Institute of California last month showed that approximately half the state’s residents see air pollution as a serious threat to their health. Among African Americans and Latinos, concern is even greater. The majority of those polled in these groups believe that people in lower-income areas are disproportionately affected by air pollution. Posted. http://blog.sfgate.com/kalw/2012/08/09/in-richmond-concern-about-air-pollution-goes-beyond-chevron-fire/ California Heats Up and That Means Health Risks. The rest of the nation has sweltered this summer, but California has escaped extreme heat — until now. The National Weather Service may not have high-end graphics, but its map tells the story. The San Joaquin Valley, starting south of Modesto, is colored a brownish-red and that means excessive heat warning. Temperatures are expected to exceed 100 degrees every day until Tuesday. The bright pink areas indicate a heat “watch” (click here if you don’t know the difference). This kind of heat is not just a weather story, it’s a significant health and environment story too. Posted. http://blogs.kqed.org/stateofhealth/2012/08/09/california-heats-up-and-that-means-health-risks/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=california-heats-up-and-that-means-health-risks Long Lease Announced for Major Port Tenant. Dole Fresh Fruit Company, one of the Port of San Diego’s largest tenants and the country’s largest banana importer and second-largest pineapple importer, is set to sign a 24.5 year lease to keep operations in San Diego. Dole controls nearly 22 acres at the Port’s Tenth Avenue Marine Terminal, where 95,000 containers of fruit are unloaded from ships annually. As part of the agreement, the Port will spend up to $7 million in shore power equipment to service Dole vessels, as required by California Air Resources Board regulations. Posted. http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/news-ticker/2012/aug/09/long-lease-announced-for-major-port-tenant/ NFL at Rose Bowl would increase traffic, noise: environmental report. Pasadena would see a significant and unavoidable increase in noise, traffic and air pollution if an NFL team were to play at the Rose Bowl for up to five years, but the severest results would be temporary and manageable, according to a report released by the city of Pasadena Thursday. The environmental report is part of a process to prepare for the possibility of hosting an NFL team for up to five years while a permanent stadium is built elsewhere in the region. Posted. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/08/nfl-at-rose-bowl-pasadena-environmental-report.html