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newsclips -- ARB Newsclips for January 28, 2013.
Posted: 28 Jan 2013 14:41:11
ARB Newsclips for January 28, 2013. ARB Newsclips for January 28, 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 Valley air district $500 million fund targets diesel pollution. As the economy shrunk government budgets over the past five years, a special air district fund quietly has grown tenfold -- beyond $100 million annually. But it's no slush fund, and it isn't the target of activist lawsuits. This obscure pot of money is a key to curbing diesel pollution, the biggest California air-quality problem of this era. It's the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District's incentive fund, bankrolled by government agencies, businesses and your vehicle registration fees. Posted. http://www.fresnobee.com/2013/01/27/3150359/valley-air-districts-500m-fund.html#storylink=cpy NASA flights measure quality of San Joaquin Valley's air. ABOVE THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY -- A pair of NASA airplanes crisscrossing the sky and doing stomach-turning loops are giving scientists a 3-D look at winter air pollution in a way they've never seen before. The flights are part of a five-year, $30 million mission called DISCOVER-AQ, an effort to help researchers develop the next generation of satellites to measure air pollution from space. Posted. http://www.modbee.com/2013/01/26/2550510/nasa-flights-measure-quality-of.html#storylink=cpy BY SUBSCRIPTION CLIMATE CHANGE Norway Data Shows Earth’s Global Warming Less Severe Than Feared. New estimates from a Norwegian research project show meeting targets for minimizing global warming may be more achievable than previously thought. After the planet’s average surface temperature rose through the 1990s, the increase has almost leveled off at the level of 2000, while ocean water temperature has also stabilized, the Research Council of Norway said in a statement on its website. Posted. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-01-27/norway-data-shows-earth-s-global-warming-less-severe-than-feared.html ‘Bipartisan’ task force on climate change one party short. Two Democrats on Capitol Hill are seconding President Obama’s call for real political muscle to address climate change and vowed to form a bipartisan task force — but they haven’t found any Republican takers yet. The administration found itself under growing pressure on another front, as a bipartisan majority of senators has signed on to a letter seeking approval of a massive new oil pipeline project staunchly opposed by leading environmental groups. Posted. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/jan/24/bipartisan-task-force-on-climate-change-one-party-/?utm_source=RSS_Feed&utm_medium=RSS#ixzz2JHuok2zA Big cities' heat can change temperatures a continent away -U.S. study. The energy big cities burn - mostly coal and oil to power buildings, cars and other devices - produces excess heat that can get into atmospheric currents and influence temperatures thousands of miles (km) away, a new study found. The so-called waste heat that leaks out of buildings, vehicles and other sources in major Northern Hemisphere cities makes winters warmer across huge swaths of northern Asia and northern North America…Posted. http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/27/environment-cities-heat-idUSL1N0AV1HW20130127 http://www.latimes.com/news/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-energy-consumption-heating-20130125,0,3163938.story?track=rss http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2013/01/28/4 BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY Major climate changes looming. In his inaugural address last Monday, President Obama made climate change a priority of his second term. It might be too late. Within the lifetimes of today's children, scientists say, the climate could reach a state unknown in civilization. In that time, global carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels are on track to exceed the limits that scientists believe could prevent catastrophic warming. CO{-2} levels are higher than they have been in 15 million years. The Arctic, melting rapidly and probably irreversibly, has reached a state that the Vikings would not recognize. Posted. http://www.sfgate.com/science/article/Major-climate-changes-looming-4227943.php#ixzz2JIfLwCYm A new water fight — over global warming. The perpetual and sometimes bitter disputes between the San Diego County Water Authority and Metropolitan Water District have taken another twist, this time over recouping the cost of buying state permits to release greenhouse gasses linked to global warming. The county water authority is proposing legislation that would guarantee it a share of any state Air Resources Board rebate issued to Metropolitan in the future. Posted. http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/jan/25/water-dispute-global-warming/?print&page=all On battered Jersey shore, Sandy victims struggle with costs of climate change. Before Sandy hit, FEMA was redrawing its flood-risk maps to account for rising sea levels connected to climate change. The result: rebuilding in some places has become much costlier. Nearly three months after hurricane Sandy inundated their house with five feet of water, retirees Brian and Dorothy Beebe went to the town hall here, clutching a survey of their home stuffed into a brown envelope, eager to repair their split-level home along New Jersey's shore. Posted. http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2013/0128/On-battered-Jersey-shore-Sandy-victims-struggle-with-costs-of-climate-change FUELS Canadian carbon project aims to prove 'clean coal' works. A technology that holds the hope for cleaner use of coal will be tested on a commercial scale for the first time in Canada next year, aiming to resolve big uncertainties about the vast amount of power it will need. Saskatchewan Power Corp. (SaskPower) hopes that a $1.24 billion refit of its 45-year-old Boundary Dam power plant to capture carbon dioxide emissions will make investors think twice about shifting to gas-fired plants from dirtier coal. Posted. http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/28/climate-carbon-canada-idUSL5N0AX5X220130128 California Sued for Allegedly Failing to Regulate Fracking. California was sued for allegedly failing to regulate and supervise hydraulic fracturing by oil and gas companies under the state’s underground injection control program. The Center For Biological Diversity, a Tucson, Arizona- based environmental group, said in a complaint filed in state court in Oakland today that the program requires the state to obtain detailed studies, conduct inspections and supervise testing before any subsurface injection or disposal project can begin. Posted. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2013-01-24/california-sued-for-allegedly-failing-to-regulate-fracking-1-.html Court Overturns E.P.A.’s Biofuels Mandate. A federal appeals court threw out a federal rule on renewable fuels on Friday, saying that a quota set by the Environmental Protection Agency for incorporating liquids made from woody crops and wastes into car and truck fuels was based on wishful thinking rather than realistic estimates of what could be achieved. The ruling by the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia involved a case brought by the American Petroleum Institute, whose members were bound by the 2012 cellulosic biofuels quota being challenged. Posted. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/26/business/energy-environment/court-overturns-epas-biofuels-mandate.html?ref=earth DART rolls out new compressed natural gas bus. Dallas Area Rapid Transit has rolled out the first of hundreds of new buses meant to be more friendly to the environment. DART's first bus fueled by compressed natural gas began service Monday. Several of the updated buses will be introduced each week as the 459 vehicles become available from the manufacturer. DART has a $210 million contract with North American Bus Industries Inc. of Anniston, Ala. The 30- and 40-foot buses are part of the latest phase of DART's clean transit fuels program. Posted. http://www.insidebayarea.com/ci_22465119/dart-rolls-out-new-compressed-natural-gas-bus Rising use of corn ethanol stresses Midwestern groundwater. Biofuel production is often touted as a boon to rural development, but a University of Iowa engineering professor is worried about the effect of corn ethanol plants on his and other states' water supplies. At a biofuels energy symposium hosted by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies last week in Washington, D.C., Professor Jerald Schnoor said corn ethanol production facilities require large quantities of high-purity water during the fermentation process. Posted. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2013/01/28/5 BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY VEHICLES Daimler, Ford and Nissan ink deal on fuel cell cars. Three global carmakers joined forces on Monday to develop a line of affordable fuel cell cars for sale starting in 2017 in what could be the first major advance for the promising zero-emission technology. Daimler (DAIGn.DE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Ford (F.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Nissan (7201.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said the new alliance sends a clear signal to suppliers, policymakers and the industry to encourage the further development of hydrogen infrastructure worldwide. Posted. http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/28/us-daimer-ford-nissan-idUSBRE90R0CO20130128 http://www.vcstar.com/news/2013/jan/28/ford-daimler-nissan-to-research-hydrogen-02/#ixzz2JIDPk7pP HIGH-SPEED RAIL California still hasn't bought land for bullet train route. Construction is supposed to start in July. High-speed rail officials say they can do it. But they face resistance from landowners, and if the schedule slips, costs could grow too high. Construction of California's high-speed rail network is supposed to start in just six months, but the state hasn't acquired a single acre along the route and faces what officials are calling a challenging schedule to assemble hundreds of parcels needed in the Central Valley. Posted. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-bullet-land-20130127,0,6688039.story?track=rss GREEN ENERGY ENERGY: Riverside businessman’s plan riles Utah town. A Riverside company with ties to Inland political and business leaders has filed plans to build an experimental energy plant in scenic southeastern Utah, raising dissension among residents who say it will be a polluting eyesore and those who welcome the new jobs. The plant would be based on technology developed at UC Riverside’s engineering school to break down coal, green waste, trash, sewage sludge or other carbon-based materials into what the company’s president described as “building block” hydrogen, methane and carbon monoxide gases. Posted. http://www.pe.com/local-news/topics/topics-environment-headlines/20130125-energy-riverside-businessmans-plan-riles-utah-town.ece What holds energy tech back? The infernal battery. As 21st century technology strains to become ever faster, cleaner and cheaper, an invention from more than 200 years ago keeps holding it back. It's why electric cars aren't clogging the roads and why Boeing's new ultra-efficient 787 Dreamliners aren't flying high. And chances are you have this little invention next to you right now and probably have cursed it recently: the infernal battery. Posted. http://www.insidebayarea.com/business/ci_22445989/what-holds-energy-tech-back-infernal-battery?IADID=Search-www.insidebayarea.com-www.insidebayarea.com Researchers develop safer, lighter and more efficient lithium battery. Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory have developed a component for rechargeable batteries that can increase energy densities while improving safety. The component is a nanostructured electrolyte engineered from bulk lithium thiophosphate to conduct ions 1,000 times faster. "This is a solid electrolyte," explained Chengdu Liang, a co-author and a research staff member in the chemical functionality group at the Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences at Oak Ridge. Posted. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2013/01/28/2 BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY MISCELLANEOUS Moderate Michael Rubio takes on California's environmental law. State Sen. Michael Rubio says he first wondered if something were wrong with California's environmental review law during his days as a Kern County supervisor, when he saw it used to slow wind and solar projects he considered green by their very nature. Now, just more than two years into his Senate term representing a large swath of the southern Central Valley, he is taking on fellow Democrats on the issue…Posted. http://www.sacbee.com/2013/01/28/5144984/moderate-michael-rubio-takes-on.html#mi_rss=Top%20Stories OPINIONS A Powerful Way to Galvanize Protest. Well-intentioned critics of fossil fuel divestment have called for students to lobby their senators and representatives as a more direct path to federal action on climate change. These critics underestimate the fossil fuel industry’s stranglehold over our political system, and their suggested path would only repeat past failures of the climate movement. They also ignore the networks of institutions, influence and capital that can be moved to support an end to extraction and fight climate change. Posted. http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2013/01/27/is-divestment-an-effective-means-of-protest/a-powerful-way-to-galvanize-protest-over-climate-change Your Biggest Carbon Sin May Be Air Travel. LAST fall, when Democrats and Republicans seemed unable to agree on anything, one bill glided through Congress with broad bipartisan support and won a quick signature from President Obama: the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme Prohibition Act of 2011. This odd law essentially forbids United States airlines from participating in the European Union Emissions Trading System, Europe’s somewhat lonely attempt to rein in planet-warming emissions. Under that eight-year-old program…Posted http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/27/sunday-review/the-biggest-carbon-sin-air-travel.html?src=twr&_r=1& BLOGS Europe’s Big Bet on EVs and Hybrids. If you build it, they will come. That’s the bet behind an ambitious plan to boost the number of electric vehicles and hybrids plying European roads by making electric charging stations nearly as common as gas stations. The European Union wants to build a half million charging stations by 2020. Posted. http://rendezvous.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/28/europes-big-bet-on-evs-and-hybrids/ An Ecolabel for McDonald’s Fish Fare. McDonald’s has signed on with the Marine Stewardship Council to show that the fish it serves is caught in an environmentally responsible manner. While the fish is not changing, the deal will make the council’s distinctive blue logo familiar to tens of millions of Americans for the first time. The world’s biggest fast-food company announced last week that its sourcing of fish for the United States market, which is entirely wild-caught Alaska pollock, had been certified by the council, perhaps the best-known organization promoting sustainable fishing around the world. Posted. http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/27/an-ecolabel-for-mcdonalds-fish-fare/?ref=earth Is There a Green Side to the Super Bowl? Opower, an energy consulting firm, compared the electricity use of 145,000 American households during last year’s Super Bowl with consumption on other winter Sundays when the weather was similar. Power use was down by as much as 7.7 percent, depending on the region of the country. And in the West, where the game ended early in the evening, electricity consumption was depressed until bedtime. The precise reasons are hard to identify, but apparently the increased sources of use – running a big-screen TV…Posted. http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/28/is-there-a-green-side-to-the-super-bowl/?ref=earth Weaker Global Warming Seen in Study Promoted by Norway’s Research Council. | Updates below | Purveyors of climate doubt have seized on a news release from the Research Council of Norway with this provocative title: “Global warming less extreme than feared?” The release describes new research finding that global warming from the buildup of greenhouse gases will be on the low end of the persistently wide spread of projections by other research groups. (There’s a presentation describing the work below.) Posted. http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/26/weaker-global-warming-seen-in-study-promoted-by-norways-research-council/