What's New List Serve Post Display

ARB Newsclips for October 12, 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.

CLIMATE CHANGE

James Hansen, Climate Change Scientist, Suggests Price On Carbon.
Prominent climate scientist James Hansen has been warning that
humans have brought the planet to a tipping point, after which
changes, such as melting ice, can pick up momentum with
potentially devastating effects. At a discussion today (Oct. 11),
Hansen suggested society has reached its own tipping point. "We
are at a fork in the road. We can either continue with business
as usual and addiction to fossil fuels, or we can put an honest
price on carbon that makes fossil fuels pay their cost to
society,"…Posted.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/11/james-hansen-climate-change-carbon_n_1959268.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000003


FUELS

Dems in coal states diverge on Obama policies. Friends of coal
are certain they know the enemy. They fault President Barack
Obama and his Environmental Protection Agency for new clean air
rules they deride as a devastating blow to a multibillion-dollar
industry that has been the lifeblood of Appalachia for
generations. The agency standards imposed earlier this year
tightened limits on existing coal powered-plant emissions while
guidelines on restricting greenhouse gases could affect new
plants as early as 2013. Posted.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_COAL_POLITICS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


Tesoro offers to sell Calif. plant if regulators balk on BP buy.
As gasoline prices in California spike and consumer watchdog
groups weigh in, Tesoro Corp. is facing tough regulatory scrutiny
of its planned $1.18 billion acquisition of BP Plc’s refinery in
Carson, Calif. — and it’s got a proposal. Bloomberg reports that
the oil refiner offered in an Aug. 13 regulatory filing to sell
its 97,000-barrel-a-day refinery in Wilmington, Calif. — which is
next door to BP’s larger plant in the Los Angeles area – to ease
government opposition on antitrust grounds, if it materializes.
Posted.
http://www.bizjournals.com/sanantonio/news/2012/10/11/tesoro-offering-to-divest-california.html?s=print


California Wholesale Gasoline Prices Drop on Winter Blend Switch.
California wholesale gasoline prices fell up to 12% Monday after
the state government allowed the early adoption of winter-blend
gasoline to help ease California's supply crunch. Gov. Jerry
Brown directed the state's Air Resource Board Sunday to
immediately allow refiners to sell the winter blend, which costs
less to manufacture and isn't normally sold until Oct. 31. Board
members will follow the governor's direction and tell refineries
and importers that they can start selling the cheaper gasoline
right away, said Stanley Young, a spokesman for the board.
Posted.
http://www.nasdaq.com/aspx/stockmarketnewsstoryprint.aspx?storyid=california-wholesale-gasoline-prices-drop-on-winter-blend-switch-20121008-00624


VEHICLES

GREEN ENERGY

Report: Mid-Atlantic offshore wind industry would create 70,000
jobs, generate billions.  The large-scale development of wind
power off the Mid-Atlantic coast would create more than 70,000
jobs from New York to Virginia, an industry-sponsored study
concludes.  The study released Wednesday said those jobs would be
created by a new industrial base needed to manufacture, build,
operate and maintain the towering wind turbines, and an
additional 40,000 jobs would be needed to serve the supply chain.
The job growth would be realized over a 10-year build out of the
offshore industry.  Posted. 
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/report-mid-atlantic-offshore-wind-industry-would-create-70000-jobs-generate-billions/2012/10/10/ab391dd2-12bc-11e2-9a39-1f5a7f6fe945_story.html


For Solar Panel Industry, a Volley of Trade Cases.  The solar
panel manufacturing industry in the United States and Europe has
begun a volley of trade cases against imports, following the same
track as the steel industry before it — and for many of the same
reasons.  “Back in the ’60s and ’70s, all over the world,
governments were investing in steel mills,” said Nicholas
Tolerico, a retired American trade official and steel executive.
“These days, they invest in solar panels, and you end up with the
same overcapacity and cutthroat pricing.”  BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY. 
Posted. 
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/12/business/global/us-places-tariffs-on-imports-of-chinese-solar-panels.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
 

State water system buys green energy. Landfill gas and geothermal
energy will soon power a portion of the state's massive water
pumping infrastructure. The California Department of Water
Resources announced Wednesday it has signed contracts to purchase
33 megawatts of electricity from the two source through 2016. The
majority will come from The Geysers geothermal field near
Middletown, Calif., operated by the Northern California Power
Agency. The landfill gas energy supply comes from a gas-to-energy
plant at Ox Mountain Landfill in Half Moon Bay. Posted.
http://www.sacbee.com/2012/10/12/v-print/4906350/state-water-system-buys-green.html
 

Energy Commission Awards More Than $20 Million for Clean
Transportation Projects. Moving California closer to a clean
energy transportation sector, the California Energy Commission
today approved funding of more than $20 million for innovative
transportation projects. "These investments in clean vehicles
will reduce petroleum use, improve air quality, and create jobs,
while demonstrating California's commitment to a greener
transportation future," said Energy Commissioner Carla Peterman.
Posted.
http://www.imperialvalleynews.com/index.php/news/california-news/1926-energy-commission-awards-more-than-20-million.html


MISCELLANEOUS

Corcoran meeting tonight to focus on high-speed rail comments. 
Kings County Supervisor Richard Valle and Corcoran Mayor Raymond
Lerma will host a town hall meeting on the high-speed rail
project tonight at Corcoran City Hall.  Organizers of the
meeting, which will begin at 6 p.m., said the purpose is to
collect public comments on the draft environmental impact report
issued for the Fresno-to-Bakersfield portion of the project.
Posted. 
http://www.hanfordsentinel.com/news/local/corcoran-meeting-tonight-to-focus-on-high-speed-rail-comments/article_36e9c7e4-13c8-11e2-8d94-001a4bcf887a.html


California industry group says economic analysis of proposed
regulation is inadequate. Report estimates regulation could cost
billions, environmental health advocates say the benefits are not
fully accounted for. A report released this week by the
California Foundation for Commerce and Education says the state's
Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) has not provided “a
meaningful economic analysis of the safer consumer products
Regulations", and has thus failed to meet its obligations under
the state’s administrative procedures Act. Posted.
http://chemicalwatch.com/12571/california-industry-group-says-economic-analysis-of-proposed-regulation-is-inadequate


OPINIONS

How to refuel California. $5-a-gallon gas is a wake-up call.
Let's change the way oil companies operate here. How can a power
outage at a refinery spark $5-a-gallon gasoline at some L.A.
stations? Why would the fact that California had to switch to the
winter-blend fuel at the end of October — a fact known all year —
raise gasoline prices to record levels? This price surge is not a
freak phenomenon or the result of a convergence of refinery
problems, as the oil industry has argued. Posted.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-court-california-gas-prices-20121012,0,1450818.story


Our Voice: Spike in gas prices is a scary reminder.  Last week’s
sudden spike in gasoline prices reminded California motorists of
just how vulnerable we are. We’re at the mercy of volatile
changes in oil prices as traders try to second-guess the future,
of flaring hot spots in the Middle East and of disruptions in the
delivery system.  Industry officials contend the most recent
surge was caused by a power failure at a Torrance refinery and
closure of a pipeline in Northern California on Oct. 1. AAA
reported that since Sept. 11 average California gas prices
increased 50 cents a gallon to $4.49, highest in the nation —
even Hawaii. Posted. 
http://www.mydesert.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2012310110012 

BLOGS

How a Green Fuel Turned Slimy.  How did the oil industry and the
Environmental Protection Agency end up with a system for tracking
the production of biodiesel that was vulnerable to fraud?  As I
report in The Times, the agency is working on new rules to rescue
the program after a yet-to-be-determined number of swindlers
manufactured more than100 million credits tied to the manufacture
of biodiesel that did not actually exist. Posted. 
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/12/how-a-green-fuel-turned-slimy/