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newsclips -- Newsclips for January 4, 2012
Posted: 04 Jan 2013 12:49:21
ARB Newsclips for January 4, 2013. 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 Court orders EPA to try again on soot standards implementation. A federal appeals court ruled today that U.S. EPA must re-examine how it implements standards for fine particulates emitted by power plants, boilers and motor vehicles. The three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rejected EPA's argument that it is required under the Clean Air Act to use a less stringent implementation regime for fine particulates than it is for more coarse -- and less dangerous -- particles. BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY. Posted. http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/2013/01/04/2 Keeping a nose on the Salton Sea's smell. The region’s air quality board is poised to approve spending $200,000 Friday to track the smell of dead fish and rotten eggs that often emanates from the Salton Sea. It would be the first time the South Coast Air Quality Management District would have year-round sensors to study the stink. The system would be installed at the shore and in Mecca. “The purpose is to monitor the levels of hydrogen sulfide in the area on a continuous basis so that we have a better idea of what these levels are,” said Sam Atwood, the district’s spokesman. “Down the line, once we have a good sense of the typical levels of sulfur coming from the lake, we can work to establish an action plan, such that if these levels are high, we can notify the public.” Posted. http://www.mydesert.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2013301030050&nclick_check=1 Stage 2 ban means no burning – indoors or out. It may be tempting to start a fire in the fireplace with temperatures lately dipping below freezing, but don't do it tonight. The Sacramento Air Quality Management District's "check before you burn" program notes that weather conditions mandate that the Sacramento region must be under a Stage 2 ban today. Posted. http://www.modbee.com/2013/01/04/2518652/stage-2-ban-means-no-burning-indoors.html#storylink=misearch#storylink=cpy CLIMATE CHANGE Calif. carbon trading takes off. California's official carbon market kicked off this week with an uptick in trading, as businesses began accounting for their greenhouse gas emissions in earnest. No lawsuit against the program accompanied the official start date of Jan. 1, as many had anticipated. Instead, appetite for California's carbon allowances grew, reflecting confidence in the burgeoning, first-in-the-nation economywide greenhouse gas market, traders said. BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY. Posted. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2013/01/04/6 Climate change may drastically alter region. Lake Tahoe is "the fairest picture the whole earth affords," Mark Twain once wrote. Its crystal blue waters, surrounded by stunning snowy mountains, define one of California's crown jewels as an American landmark. It attracts 3 million skiers, boaters, campers, hikers and other visitors each year. But it could look very different in 100 years. Climate change could profoundly affect the Tahoe area, scientists say, taking the snow out of the mountains and the blue out of the water. Posted. http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/localnews/ci_22269700/climate-change-may-drastically-alter-region Climate change threatens Tahoe's snow levels, lake clarity. Lake Tahoe is "the fairest picture the whole earth affords," Mark Twain once wrote. Its crystal blue waters, surrounded by stunning snowy mountains, define one of California's crown jewels as an American landmark. It attracts 3 million skiers, boaters, campers, hikers and other visitors each year. But it could look very different in 100 years. Posted. http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_22307260/climate-change-threatens-tahoes-snow-levels-lake-clarity FUELS U.S. natgas futures edge higher before EIA releases storage data. U.S. natural gas futures edged higher early on Friday, as expectations for a large drawdown from winter inventories boosted prices for the first time in four sessions. Prices remained above Wednesday's three-month spot chart low, but most traders expect the upside to be limited, with long-term weather outlooks still calling for milder weather for consuming regions in the eastern half of the United States. Posted. http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/04/markets-nymex-natgas-idUSL1E9C3A5520130104 Other related articles: http://www.modbee.com/2013/01/04/2519060/us-natural-gas-supplies-shrank.html#storylink=misearch#storylink=cpy DOE awards $10 million to 5 projects for advanced biofuels and bio-based products. The US Department of Energy announced more than $10 million in funding to five new projects that will develop new synthetic biological and chemical techniques to convert biomass into advanced biofuels and bioproducts such as plastics and chemical intermediates. Two of these projects will develop cost-effective ways to produce intermediates from the deconstruction of lignocellulosic biomass, while three projects will propose new conversion techniques to transform biomass intermediates into advanced biofuels and bioproducts. Posted. http://www.greencarcongress.com/2013/01/doe-20130103.html 5 Biofuels Trends for 2013. Despite a relatively down year with respect to investment and production capacity expansion, the biofuels industry grew modestly in 2012, continuing a shift from first generation facilities to next generation, advanced biorefineries. Although it was a year of challenges for corn starch ethanol production in particular, the industry proved its mettle against persistent drought across the U.S. Midwest that led the UN to call for a scale back of biofuel production mandates. Posted. http://www.biofuelsdigest.com/bdigest/2013/01/04/5-biofuels-trends-for-2013/ VEHICLES Grant powers new electric charging station in Sunnyvale. Thanks to a Green Innovations Challenge Grant awarded by the state, the city of Sunnyvale and the Foothill-De Anza Community College District are now equipped with electric vehicle charging stations. The stations were awarded as a part of the Solar Electric Vehicle Charging Corridor Project, aimed at developing skills of unemployed electricians and to build more green energy infrastructure for the public. One of the solar-powered stations was awarded to NOVA, a Sunnyvale-based job training consortium, to benefit the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers for demonstration and training purposes. Posted. http://www.insidebayarea.com/ci_22308260/grant-powers-new-electric-charging-station-sunnyvale?IADID=Search-www.insidebayarea.com-www.insidebayarea.com GREEN ENERGY Budget Deal Provides Tax Breaks For Green Energy. Whether you're a homeowner who bought an energy-saving refrigerator last year or a company hoping to build a wind farm, the tax package Congress just approved may give you a reason to cheer. "It's got something in there, a Christmas gift if you will, for almost everyone — American homeowners, workers who commute via transit, and manufacturers of efficient equipment like clothes washers, dryers, refrigerators," says Kateri Callahan, president of the Alliance to Save Energy. Posted. http://www.npr.org/2013/01/04/168590135/budget-deal-provides-tax-brakes-for-green-energy MISCELLANEOUS Students' energy savings ideas can earn classes green cash. West Sacramento students are being challenged to think of energy conservation projects that would benefit their community and earn their classes cash prizes, thanks to a partnership between a Sacramento heating and air conditioning company and the West Sacramento Educational Foundation. Posted. http://www.modbee.com/2013/01/04/2518643/students-energy-savings-ideas.html#storylink=misearch#storylink=cpy OPINION The best solution for climate change is a carbon tax. With Lisa Jackson, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, stepping down, President Barack Obama is losing one of the few people left in Washington who was willing to speak up about global warming and to push for significant measures to curb its impact. During her tenure, Ms. Jackson was frequently denounced by GOP members of Congress and all too often reined in by Obama. Despite his and Congress’ failure to pass legislation addressing global warming, Ms. Jackson advanced a regulatory agenda to pick up some of the slack. Posted. http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2013/01/04/the-best-solution-for-climate-change-is-a-carbon-tax/ Editorial: California’s Experiment; Golden State Tries Cap and Trade. On the first of the year, California began the nation’s most ambitious experiment yet in fighting climate change, and it will do it more or less alone. For environmentalists depressed by years of the United States’ unproductive “debate” on global warming, this moment is heady — and perilous. The nation’s largest state, the ninth-largest economy in the world, has put a price on the greenhouse gas emissions responsible for global warming. California has established a cap-and-trade program, a design similar to what Congress considered but failed to pass in 2010. Posted. http://www.vnews.com/opinion/3634955-95/california-state-carbon-cap BLOGS An Antidote for Climate Contrarianism. I would guess a few Green readers had the experience, over the holidays, of arguing yet again about global warming with a parent or brother-in-law who thinks it’s all a big hoax. Maybe there’s some undiscovered substance in roast turkey that makes people want to pick fights around the dinner table. Posted. http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/04/an-antidote-for-climate-contrarianism/ Global Temperature Goals Could Become Impossible With Climate Inaction, Study Finds. Delaying global action on climate change by 20 more years will put the goal of keeping the world relatively cool out of reach forever, no matter how much money humanity later spends to try to solve the problem, a new study finds. Since the 1990s, scientists and international negotiators have aimed to keep global temperatures from warming more than 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit), but little progress has been made so far in concrete steps toward that goal. The most recent climate talks, in Qatar in December, ended with only modest steps that fail to address growing greenhouse gas emissions, climate scientists said. Posted. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/03/global-temperature-goals_n_2404322.html?utm_hp_ref=green Avis-Zipcar Acquisition: Good for Smaller Car-Share Players? Avis said Monday that it agreed to buy car-sharing service Zipcar for $500 million. That might worry many of the startups also vying for users seeking cars on demand, but not exactly, says Jessica Scorpio, co-founder of Getaround. There is a slight difference between Getaround and Zipcar: Instead of controlling the fleet of cars, Getaround gives car owners a way to rent their cars to Getaround users for an hourly rate. The renters get paid for doing so. Posted. http://blogs.wsj.com/drivers-seat/2013/01/03/avis-zipcar-acquisition-good-for-smaller-car-share-players/ Fun times at Avis, after the Zipcar purchase. In a week of strange bedfellows announcing mergers, the news that Avis was purchasing Zipcar hardly seemed out of place. Many cried that this was the equivalent of the Empire purchasing the Rebel Alliance, and Steven Pearlstein said that this was exactly the sort of anti-competitive merger that courts ought to discourage. Posted. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/compost/wp/2013/01/04/fun-times-at-avis-after-the-zipcar-purchase/ Richmond, Calif., fights back against Chevron’s choke hold. Chevron has dominated the town of Richmond, Calif., for 110 years, but that dominance is finally being called into question. Tensions have been escalating for decades, but came to a head after a fire in August 2012 at the oil giant’s Richmond refinery belched toxic smoke all over the Bay Area. Posted. http://grist.org/news/richmond-calif-fights-back-against-chevrons-choke-hold/ Stop Winter Indoor Air Pollution at Its Source. You’ve got the sniffles. Your eyes are watery and you have a sore throat, too. But, hey, it’s winter; what else can you expect in the thick of cold and flu season, right? Maybe. But while you’re downing lozenges and soup broth, consider this: Eye, nose and throat irritations, wheezing, coughing, skin rashes and severe allergic reactions can result from extensive exposure to indoor air pollution, which has also been linked to headaches, dizziness, and fatigue. Posted. http://www.care2.com/greenliving/stop-winter-indoor-air-pollution.html