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newsclips -- ARB Newsclips for October 10, 2012
Posted: 10 Oct 2012 13:55:36
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 Inglewood Oil Field fracking study finds no harm from the method. A long-awaited study released Wednesday says the controversial oil extraction method known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, would not harm the environment if used at the Inglewood Oil Field in the Baldwin Hills area. The yearlong study included several issues raised by residents living around the field, such as the potential risks for groundwater contamination, air pollution and increased seismic activity. Posted. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-fracking-baldwin-hills-20121010,0,5707434.story Pesticides blamed by report for illnesses. Pesticides pervade the environment, from the air we breathe to the food we eat, and they are making children sicker than they were a generation ago, a new report warns. More than 1 billion pounds of pesticides used annually nationwide have contributed to an array of health problems in youth, including autism, cancer, birth defects, early puberty, obesity, diabetes and asthma, the Pesticide Action Network North America, an environmental group in Oakland, said in a report released Tuesday. Posted. http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/Pesticides-blamed-by-report-for-illnesses-3933168.php Jakarta's Air-Quality Conundrum JAKARTA—As Indonesia posts near-record rates of economic growth, its mega-city capital faces an unsavory side effect: worsening air quality.Long among the most-polluted cities in the world, Jakarta had in recent years shown some signs of improvement, as periods of weaker economic growth and new environmental policies led to a slowdown in some activities that create the worst pollutants. Posted. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444897304578046713405298742.html BY SUBCRIPTION ONLY Worth noting in business: Small Business University set, more. Featuring discussions on a wide variety of issues of interest to small business owners, the free event is being presented by the Business & Entrepreneurship Center of Ken Community College District, UC Merced Regional SBDC Network and the Central Valley Business Incubator. Posted. http://www.bakersfieldcalifornian.com/business/x1250041907/Worth-noting-in-business-Small-Business-University-set-more BY SUCSCRIPTION ONLY Port Commission president meets with residents GULFPORT, Miss. — GULFPORT, Miss. (AP) - Port Commission President Lenny Sawyer says the Port of Gulfport is studying its options regarding elevation issues. The Sun Herald reports (http://bit.ly/Tvx8ya ) that Sawyer told a group of local residents that the port will announce Nov. 15 what direction the port expansion will take. He says Gov. Phil Bryant, a critic of the elevation project, has been invited to the meeting. Posted. http://www.vcstar.com/news/2012/oct/10/port-commission-president-meets-with-residents/ China vows to improve "lagging" urban transport system The move aims to relieve worsening traffic congestion and air pollution in cities, the State Council, or China's cabinet, said at the meeting chaired by Premier Wen Jiabao, according to a statement published on the government's website. China has announced a number of new infrastructure spending plans to help shore up a slowing economy, but has provided little detail on how they will be funded. Posted. http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/10/china-economy-transport-idUSL3E8LA3EP20121010 CALIFORNIA GAS PRICES No easy answer to fixing California's record gas prices. As Californians fume over the latest record-setting spike in gas prices, there's a big question at the pumps: Is there any way out? Not really, say industry officials, environmentalists and state regulators. Skyrocketing gas prices over the past week have been blamed on two key issues: outages at California refineries and the fact that the state requires a unique type of clean-burning summer gasoline that can't be easily replaced or imported from other places during shortages. Posted. http://www.mercurynews.com/science/ci_21735517/no-easy-answer-fixing-californias-record-gas-prices http://www.dailynews.com/ci_21738115/southern-california-gas-prices-should-get-lower?IADID=Search-www.dailynews.com-www.dailynews.com Related stories: http://www.insidebayarea.com/bay-area-news/ci_21739677/wednesday-gas-prices-at-bay-area-pumps-remain?IADID=Search-www.insidebayarea.com-www.insidebayarea.com http://www.contracostatimes.com/bay-area-news/ci_21739677/wednesday-gas-prices-at-bay-area-pumps-remain?IADID=Search-www.contracostatimes.com-www.contracostatimes.com Gasoline price in California sets record; pace of rise is slowing. For the fourth day in the row, California broke the state's record on gasoline prices, according to the AAA Fuel Gauge Report. The only good news, analysts said, was that the rise continued to lose momentum Tuesday. According to the AAA, the average price of a gallon of regular gasoline in California reached $4.671. That was an increase of just 0.3 cent overnight. Posted. http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-gas-prices-20121010,0,2130342.story http://www.latimes.com/business/money/la-fi-mo-gas-spike-over-20121010,0,5133677.story http://www.dailynews.com/ci_21739169/calif-gas-prices-finally-begin-fall?IADID=Search-www.dailynews.com-www.dailynews.com&IADID=Search-www.dailynews.com-www.dailynews.com http://www.insidebayarea.com/ci_21739169/calif-gas-prices-finally-begin-fall?IADID=Search-www.insidebayarea.com-www.insidebayarea.com http://www.contracostatimes.com/ci_21739169/calif-gas-prices-finally-begin-fall?IADID=Search-www.contracostatimes.com-www.contracostatimes.com http://www.pe.com/local-news/transportation-headlines/20121009-gas-prices-costs-plateau-but-that-brings-little-relief.ece CLIMATE CHANGE Exit Sign Warehouse Announces Town Hall Series On How To Prepare Your LED Exit Signs For Inclement Weather. Experts in the lighting want consumers to know that not all Exit signs are equal. If signs are exposed to rain, snow or sleet, even the best made standard Exit signs can experience electrical failures, which puts the public at risk for injury, and business owners at risk for costly lawsuits or government fines. According to the US governments Office of Compliance, “The answer may seem obvious, but people often do not appreciate the importance of exit signs. Posted. http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/Exit-Sign-Warehouse-Announces-Town-Hall-Series-On-3935113.php Common ground: State rep candidates in broad agreement on enviro issues. All four candidates in Westport's two state representative races this year touted their commitment to environmental protection and sustainable economic development during a forum Tuesday night at the Earthplace natural history center. Posted. http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/Common-ground-State-rep-candidates-in-broad-3934692.php LG Electronics and DoSomething.org Recognize Youth for Energy-Saving Efforts on ENERGY STAR® Day 2012. LG Electronics USA and DoSomething.org today announced the 25 youth winners of the "2012 Team ENERGY STAR Challenge." The organizations are using EPA's first ENERGY STAR Day, Oct. 10 (celebrating ENERGY STAR's 20th anniversary), to recognize the efforts of today's youth in saving energy and protecting the climate. Posted. http://www.sacbee.com/2012/10/10/4898196/lg-electronics-and-dosomethingorg.html#storylink=misearch ISOS To Raise The Bar For Non-Financial Disclosure, As Carbon Disclosure Project Silver Consultancy Partner. ISOS Group, LLC is pleased to announce its recent status as a Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) Silver Consultancy Partner in the U.S. As the world's largest voluntary greenhouse gas emissions reporting organization, CDP works on behalf of 655 institutional investors representing US78 trillion in assets to assess risk across a broad spectrum of sustainability considerations, including climate change risk in their investment portfolios. Posted. http://www.sacbee.com/2012/10/10/4898132/isos-to-raise-the-bar-for-non.html#storylink=misearch Oceans' rising acidity a threat to shellfish and humans. Peering into the microscope, Alan Barton thought the baby oysters looked normal, except for one thing: They were dead. Slide after slide, the results were the same. The entire batch of 100 million larvae at the Whiskey Creek Shellfish Hatchery had perished. It took several years for the Oregon oyster breeder and a team of scientists to find the culprit: a radical change in ocean acidity. Posted. http://www.sacbee.com/2012/10/10/4898054/oceans-rising-acidity-a-threat.html# Political storms threaten Europe's offshore wind goals BRUSSELS/LONDON, Oct 10 (Reuters) - Political wavering in Britain, the world's biggest offshore wind market, is casting doubt on European ambitions to build a fleet of gigantic turbines out at sea, desperately needed to meet legally binding climate change targets. The increasing scale of offshore wind means it is the one green energy source able to make up for the phase-out of nuclear generation - especially in the EU's largest economy Germany - and for the closure of ageing and polluting coal plants in other countries such as Britain and France. Posted. http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/10/eu-power-offshore-idUSL6E8L8M1R20121010 Most Americans link weather to global warming: survey Conducted by Yale and George Mason universities, the survey found 74 percent of Americans believe that global warming is affecting weather, up 5 percentage points since March 2012, the last time the two organizations asked these questions. Seventy-three percent of Americans said global warming made the record-high temperatures of summer 2012 worse, and 61 percent said weather in the United States has been worsening over the past several years, an increase of 9 percentage points since March. Posted. http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/10/us-weather-usa-idUSBRE89910Q20121010 FUELS Record Heating Bills Seen in U.S. as Colder Winter Forecast. U.S. households that use heating oil will face record prices this winter as weather forecasters predict colder temperatures in the Northeast that will drive up demand, according to a government report. The Energy Information Administration, which tracks and analyzes energy data, projects households will spend 19 percent more on average for heating oil and 15 percent more for natural gas from Oct. 1 to March 31, the period covered in its short- term energy and winter fuels outlook released today. Posted. http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/Record-Heating-Bills-Seen-in-U-S-as-Colder-3935781.php http://www.dailynews.com/ci_21739635/heating-costs-rise-this-winter-cold-returns?IADID=Search-www.dailynews.com-www.dailynews.com http://www.insidebayarea.com/ci_21739635/heating-costs-rise-this-winter-cold-returns?IADID=Search-www.insidebayarea.com-www.insidebayarea.com http://www.contracostatimes.com/ci_21739635/heating-costs-rise-this-winter-cold-returns?IADID=Search-www.contracostatimes.com-www.contracostatimes.com http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/at-a-glance-which-types-of-fuels-are-used-for-heating-by-us-households/2012/10/10/5c2b55ca-12f8-11e2-9a39-1f5a7f6fe945_story.html http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_WINTER_HEATING_COSTS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/10/us-eia-outlook-winter-usa-idUSBRE8990XM20121010 Oil prices rise on encouraging economic data. The price of oil rose slightly Wednesday on another encouraging sign for the U.S. economy. The government reported wholesalers' sales were up for the first time in four months. Benchmark crude gained 42 cents to $92.81 per barrel at midday in New York. The price of oil rose more than 3 percent Tuesday on concerns about supplies from the Middle East and the North Sea. Posted. http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/Oil-prices-rise-on-encouraging-economic-data-3934159.php U.S. regulators struggle to police shale energy boom: report egal limitations and a lack of key data have hampered the Environmental Protection Agency's oversight of shale production, said the report from the Government Accountability Office, Congress' non-partisan investigative arm. "Officials at EPA reported that conducting inspection and enforcement activities for oil and gas development from unconventional reservoirs is challenging due to limited information, as well as the dispersed nature of the industry and the rapid pace of development," the report said. Posted. http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/10/us-usa-shale-regulation-idUSBRE8981CU20121010 VEHICLES C-Max Hybrid: A Ford challenges Prius. Ford's newest gasoline-electric vehicle, the C-Max Hybrid, is so roomy, stylish and smart, it's likely to attract buyers before they see the noteworthy 47 miles-per-gallon fuel rating on the window sticker. Posted. http://www.sacbee.com/2012/10/10/4899065/c-max-hybrid-a-ford-challenges.html# http://www.modbee.com/2012/10/10/2408411/c-max-hybrid-a-ford-challenges.html# BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY More details on work supporting NEC prototype 4.5V Li-ion battery; modified LiNiMnO cathode and fluorinated electrolyte. NEC Corporation has developed a prototype next-generation manganese lithium-ion battery featuring cathodes that support higher voltage operations (4.5V rather than 3.8V) and an electrolyte solution that improves the stability of the higher voltage operations. (Earlier post.) The new cathode and electrolyte solution improve battery energy density by approximately 30%. Posted. http://www.greencarcongress.com/2012/10/nec-20121010.html Carmakers join forces to kick start Nordic fuel cell vehicles market. Carmakers Honda, Toyota, Nissan and Hyundai are joining forces to introduce fuel cell vehicles to the market in Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Iceland. The memorandum of agreement signed by the carmakers and Nordic associations promises to support the introduction of fuel cell vehicles and a hydrogen refuelling infrastructure between 2014 and 2017. Posted. http://cars21.com/news/view/4976 New Chinese White Paper explores new business model for EVs - Part I. On 25 September 2012, the Development Research Center Enterprise Institute of China’s State Council released a policy White Paper that analyses the possible business model for electric vehicles in China with a view help materialise the country’s ambitious EV development goal. Posted. http://cars21.com/news/view/4975 GREEN ENERGY German renewable surcharge to rise by 47 percent: source The 47 percent increase reflects the fact that renewable sources are providing increasing amounts of electricity, which is bought from producers at guaranteed prices above market rates. Coming a year ahead of a federal election in which Chancellor Angela Merkel will seek a third term, the sharp rise in the surcharge is politically charged. The so-called 'Umlage' -- charges levied on German consumers to support renewable power -- will rise to 5.3 euro cents per kilowatt hour (kWh) in 2013 from 3.6 cents in 2012, the source said. Posted. http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/10/us-germany-energy-renewables-idUSBRE8990PC20121010 Hundreds attend contentious forum on San Onofre's future. The troubles at the San Onofre nuclear power plant brought out hundreds of people Tuesday night for a forum held by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Plant workers and anti-nuclear activists formed warring cheering sections in a ballroom at the St. Regis Monarch Beach hotel in Dana Point as a panel of regulators, ratepayer advocates and residents of nearby communities fielded questions and debated the merits of restarting one of the plant's reactors. Posted. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-1010-san-onofre-20121010,0,1308276.story?track=rss http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/sdcounty/san-onofre-environmentalists-demand-stronger-review-of-nuke-plant/article_7ef506bf-c5d1-515f-a29f-14674ebeb253.html Agriculture Chairwoman Sen. Stabenow, State and Local Officials Help NOVI Energy Celebrate Startup of Fremont Community Digester. "Fremont Community Digester is a great example of how innovative Michigan businesses and West Michigan agriculture are partnering to develop new clean energy, which will create new jobs and reduce our dependence on foreign oil," said U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow, Chairwoman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, to a group of Fremont community supporters and government officials as they celebrated the startup of the $22 million Fremont Community Digester (FCD) plant, which produces electric power by processing organic wastes. Posted. http://www.sacbee.com/2012/10/10/4898878/agriculture-chairwoman-sen-stabenow.html#storylink=misearch DEP Approves First Natural Gas-Fired Power Plant in Pennsylvania. The Department of Environmental Protection today issued an air quality plan approval to Moxie Liberty LLC of Vienna, Va., for construction of the first power plant in Pennsylvania to run on natural gas, including gas from the Marcellus Shale. The plant, which will generate up to 936 megawatts of electricity, will be built in Asylum Township, Bradford County, and create 500 construction jobs at its peak. Posted. http://www.sacbee.com/2012/10/10/4898873/dep-approves-first-natural-gas.html#storylink=misearch Frost & Sullivan: Energy Storage is the Answer to Looming Power Shortages. The significant shortfall in electricity supply within the next three years highlighted by Ofgem in its latest report presents a strong case for energy storage technologies as they can de-couple production and consumption of electricity by creating a buffer. Electrical power generation in the UK has been facing many challenges in the last decade. Posted. http://www.sacbee.com/2012/10/10/4897624/frost-sullivan-energy-storage.html#storylink=misearch KYOCERA Supplies Solar Power Generating Systems to Medical Facilities in Tajikistan. Kyocera Corporation along with Marubeni Corporation and Marubeni Protechs Corporation announced that the companies have supplied a total of 160kW of solar power generating systems to the Diakov Hospital and Research Institution of Obstetrics Gynecology and Perinatology in Dushanbe, the capital city of the Republic of Tajikistan. Posted. http://www.sacbee.com/2012/10/10/4898395/kyocera-supplies-solar-power-generating.html#storylink=misearch Wärtsilä-led Consortium Wins Major Contract to Build World's Largest Tri-Fuel Power Plant in Jordan. A consortium headed by Wärtsilä has been awarded a turnkey contract to build a 573 MW tri-fuel power plant in Jordan. When completed, it will be the world's largest tri-fuel power plant capable of utilizing natural gas, heavy fuel oil and light fuel oil as its main fuels. Posted. http://www.sacbee.com/2012/10/10/4898183/wartsila-led-consortium-wins-major.html#storylink=misearch#storylink=cpy ReneSola to Launch Optimized Virtus II (R) Plus 250 Solar Module to the Australian Market at All Energy Australia 2012. As Chinese manufacturer ReneSola looks to upgrade and optimize its product line, the Company will launch its optimized Virtus II ® module, Virtus II ® Plus 250, at All Energy Australia 2012, which will be held at the Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre, October 10 – 11, 2012. Following the successful launch of quasi-mono product Virtus I in the first half of 2012, ReneSola has grown its presence in a number of key PV markets around the world. Posted. http://www.sacbee.com/2012/10/10/4898097/renesola-to-launch-optimized-virtus.html#storylink=misearch http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/10/australia-solar-idUSL3E8L994R20121010 Midtown Developer Accuses Con Ed of Overcharging It is not easy being green and trying to keep the electric company from raising your rates. The owner of the Bank of America Tower in Midtown Manhattan is learning that lesson. For the second time in less than a year, it has accused Consolidated Edison of trying to overcharge for the sophisticated power plant in the building, which it has heralded as the most environmentally advanced skyscraper in the country. Posted. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/10/nyregion/con-ed-is-accused-of-overcharging-in-midtown-skyscraper.html MISCELLANEOUS Pacifica Environmental Family candidates' forum focuses on environmental issues. In a well attended forum designed to air candidates' views about environmentally sensitive issues that affect Pacifica, City Council candidates showed they stood united about key issues. They all support a ban on fireworks on the beach. They would all ban the use of plastic bags in Pacifica. They all support maintaining Sharp Park Golf Course as a golf course, but by adding an ongoing habitat management plan. Posted. http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_21735295/pacifica-environmental-family-candidates-forum-focuses-environmental-issues OPINION Insurer: Hey, these climate-related disasters are getting expensive. There is no industry less enthusiastic about climate change than the insurance industry. After all, if something bad happens to a house or a business or a person, it's the one that has to pay out -- and its entire business model is predicated on minimizing how often it has to pay out. More and more floods and fires and derechos and who-knows-what means more and more checks flowing out of corporate headquarters. Not a pleasant prospect. Posted. http://grist.org/news/insurer-hey-these-climate-related-disasters-are-getting-expensive/ Fracking oversight: With regulators hobbled, good samaritans step in. Friends (allies? sweethearts? paramours? hot erotic lovers?) of the fossil fuel industry have done a hell of a good job shutting down official government observation of what it is they're up to. Not as good as the industry would like, mind you, but a very, very good job in the eyes of those skeptical that their stewardship of the Earth is sincere. Posted. http://grist.org/news/fracking-oversight-with-regulators-hobbled-good-samaritans-step-in/ EDITORIAL: Who to thank for pump prices? As gas prices spiked to record highs Monday in California, with the state average hitting $4.67 for a gallon of regular, here are a few people motorists can thank (besides the bad luck of a couple of refinery outages). Posted. http://www.nctimes.com/news/opinion/editorial/editorial-who-to-thank-for-pump-prices/article_ed9ca07b-2b4c-57da-ba7c-a4013d3b0c24.html BLOGS United States: AB 32 And GHG Market And Auction Basics. On August 30, 2012, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) and about 150 market participants held a test auction for the purchase and sale of California carbon allowances (CCAs). The California state legislature passed Assembly Bill 32 (AB 32) in September 2006 requiring the state to reduce greenhouse gases emissions to 1990 levels by 2020, a 17 percent reduction. California's auction is part of a cap and trade program designed by CARB. Posted. http://www.power-eng.com/news/2012/10/09/united-states-ab-32-and-ghg-market-and-auction-basics.html A Coffee Seller Seeks to Cut Hunger Among Coffee Growers There’s perhaps no habit that more firmly illustrates the global nature of the modern human enterprise than drinking coffee. For centuries, trade in beans came with scant concern at the consumer end for the conditions on the plantations or small farms where coffee is harvested. That’s changing, of course, with growing, and sometimes controversial, efforts to certify good labor or environmental standards in coffee regions. Posted. http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/09/a-coffee-seller-seeks-to-cut-hunger-among-coffee-growers/?ref=earth Is Online Communication an Asset or Liability in Sustaining the Human Journey I’m overdue to post this video of a lecture I delivered while teaching a weeklong course on climate and communication at the Bren School of Environmental Science and Management at the University of California, Santa Barbara. It’s one variant on my stump speech on the power of the emerging “Knowosphere” — the fast-expanding menu of ways to share and shape ideas — to smooth the human journey. Posted. http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/10/is-online-communication-an-asset-or-liability-in-sustaining-the-human-journey/?ref=earth Those Snowy Slopes, Sprayed With Wastewater As I wrote in The Times recently, a ski resort in northern Arizona will become the first in the world to make artificial snow totally out of sewage effluent this winter. Last February, a federal appeals court ruled in favor of the resort, Arizona Snowbowl, ending a 10-year legal battle waged by environmental and Native American groups that warned that the wastewater snow would damage wildlife, human health and a mountain considered sacred by 13 Indian tribes. Posted. http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/10/do-not-publish-on-the-slopes-gliding-on-wastewater/?ref=earth On Our Radar: Visualizing Your City’s Emissions Relying on public data mining, traffic simulations and building-by-building energy consumption, researchers develop software capable of estimating greenhouse gas emissions across entire urban landscapes. [Phys.org] An ethics watchdog group files a complaint with the Federal Election Commission over an Ohio coal company’s alleged requirement that employees donate to Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign. [Mother Jones]. Posted. http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/10/on-our-radar-visualizing-your-citys-emissions/?ref=earth U.S. Car Makers Benefit from Fuel-Efficient Fleet A move toward more fuel-efficient vehicles has helped American car manufacturers navigate the latest surge in fuel prices with relative strength. Researchers at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, in a new report, consider three recent periods of surging gasoline prices occurring in the summer of 2008, the spring of 2011, and from February until April of this year. Posted. http://blogs.wsj.com/drivers-seat/2012/10/10/u-s-car-makers-benefit-from-fuel-efficient-fleet/?KEYWORDS=vehicles