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ARB Newsclips for March 14, 2013. ARB Newsclips for March 14,
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

Study finds no rheumatoid arthritis, pollution link. Although
previous research has suggested a connection between exposure to
air pollution and the risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis, a
large new study of nurses finds no link. "Overall, we did not
observe any evidence that increases in pollution levels were
associated with increases in the risk of rheumatoid arthritis,"
wrote study leader Jaime Hart, an instructor of medicine at
Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, in an email. Posted.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/14/us-study-rheumatoid-idUSBRE92D0QG20130314


CAP AND TRADE

Cap and trade system lauded. The head of the California Air
Resources Board touted the state's controversial new carbon cap
and trade program Wednesday at an annual green business and
recycling exposition. James Goldstene said the program, which had
its first auction in November, gives the 500 or 600 largest
facilities in California the flexibility to reduce emissions
while still doing business. Cap and trade is a key product of
Assembly Bill 32, a 2006 law requiring the state to reduce carbon
emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. Posted.
http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130314/A_BIZ/303140314&cid=sitesearch


FUELS

California Fracking May Boost State Economy 14%, USC Says.
Development of oil-shale deposits through Central California
using fracking and other techniques may boost the state’s
economic activity by as much as 14.3 percent, a University of
Southern California study said. Such drilling in the Monterey
Shale Formation, in addition to increasing per-capita gross
domestic product, may add as much as $24.6 billion in state and
local tax revenue …Posted.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-14/california-fracking-may-boost-state-economy-14-usc-says.html

UPDATE 1-U.S. refiners may boost gasoline exports on ethanol
rule- Lyondell  U.S. refiners may be forced to boost gasoline
exports if the government does not revise the country's ethanol
requirements, a refining executive said on Wednesday. Faced with
a spike in ethanol credits that gasoline producers must purchase
to stay in compliance with federal renewable fuels requirements,
refiners could be forced to export more gasoline, shrinking the
supply for domestic consumption. Gasoline prices at the pump last
week hit the second highest level on record for this time of
year. Posted.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/13/gasoline-ethanol-lyondell-rins-idUSL1N0C58DK20130313


California governor Brown says state needs to look at "fracking".
California Governor Jerry Brown, a prominent environmentalist,
said on Wednesday the state should consider the use of "fracking"
technology to develop its massive shale oil reserves and reduce
reliance on imported oil. Brown, who led California's efforts to
curb climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions,
cautioned the state would develop rules to preserve the
environment, and said many questions on the technology were still
to be answered. Posted.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/14/us-california-brown-fracking-idUSBRE92D04320130314
http://www.sbsun.com/ci_22787155#ixzz2NWvtAPx3  

Obama: Keystone XL pipeline not major jobs creator. obs numbers
and other benefits touted by supporters of the Keystone XL oil
pipeline are probably exaggerated, President Barack Obama told
House Republicans on Wednesday, according to lawmakers who
attended the closed-door meeting. But Obama did not rule out a
decision to approve the $7 billion pipeline, according to
participants. Posted.
http://www.vcstar.com/news/2013/mar/13/obama-keystone-xl-pipeline-not-major-jobs/#ixzz2NWpyIlWM
 

VEHICLES

Germany makes new offer over EU-Daimler coolant spat –sources.
Germany has written to the EU executive with a new set of
proposals aiming to break a deadlock over law requiring carmakers
to stop using extremely potent greenhouse gases in air cooling
systems, EU sources said. The problem for Germany is that luxury
car giant Daimler AG says the new, less polluting fluid on the
market is dangerously flammable and is refusing to use it. That
has set it at odds not only with the European Commission, but
with U.S. firm Honeywell International Inc., which developed the
coolant in partnership with Dupont and says it is safe. Posted.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/13/eu-daimler-idUSL6N0C5AXI20130313


The road to electric vehicles should be paved with more creative
incentives, business groups say. Creative approaches are needed
to drive faster adoption of renewable energy technologies, a lead
investor in the sector said here yesterday. SolarCity, for
example, has suggested packaging leases of solar energy systems
for homes with leases for electric vehicle charging stations,
said Nancy Pfund, managing partner of DBL Investors, a venture
capital firm. The move would shrink costs for installation of
both, Pfund said, and also save consumers time. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2013/03/14/6 BY
SUBSCRIPTION ONLY

GREEN ENERGY

Suntech, Owing Millions, Is Near Takeover by Chinese Holding
Company. One of the world’s largest manufacturers of solar
panels, Suntech Power, has nearly run out of cash and is poised
to be taken over partly or entirely by the municipal government’s
holding company in its hometown, Wuxi, China, solar industry
executives and a Wuxi official said Wednesday. Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/14/business/energy-environment/suntech-power-on-financial-brink.html?_r=0
 

Solar Trade Group Reports Surge in U.S. Installations. Partly
driven by an oversupply of cheaper panels from China, the
domestic solar market had its best year in 2012, with the growth
in installations outpacing that of the global market, according
to an annual report to be released Thursday. The report, from the
Solar Energy Industries Association, the industry’s main trade
group, and GTM Research, a renewable energy consulting firm,
found that the amount of new solar electric capacity increased
last year by 76 percent from 2011…Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/14/business/energy-environment/solar-group-reports-surge-in-us-installations.html?ref=earth

 Vt utility starts work on energy innovation center. Vermont's
largest electric utility says work is getting under way on an
energy innovation center in an existing building in downtown
Rutland. Officials with Green Mountain Power say the work began
Thursday in the former Eastman building on Merchants Row when
officials from the utility, the community and guests signed a
2-by-12 beam that was immediately incorporated into the framing.
Posted.
http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Vt-utility-starts-work-on-energy-innovation-center-4355059.php#ixzz2NXfCjmEH


California wants to lead America to a greener future. IN LOS
ANGELES, California’s largest city, the natural world is both far
away and close. You spend your days stalled in traffic, cursing
your fellow motorists as your car spews out the noxious fumes
that, trapped in the Los Angeles basin, blanket the city in smog.
When you do get moving, you may find yourself driving through
miles of low-rise urban sprawl. Yet, depending on which one of
the metropolitan area’s 4,850 square miles (12,600 square
kilometres) you are in…. Posted.
http://www.economist.com/news/united-states/21573547-california-wants-lead-america-greener-future-gold-and-green/print
 

Simi Valley teen's invention earns him meeting with President
Obama. Pavan Narain Mehrotra hopes the clean-energy device he
built and tested will someday eliminate the need to burn fossil
fuels to produce electricity. It already has earned him a few
minutes with President Barack Obama. Mehrotra, 18, of Simi
Valley, and other young inventors from across the country met
with Obama at the White House on Tuesday and told him about their
inventions. Posted. 
http://www.vcstar.com/news/2013/mar/13/simi-teens-invention-earns-him-meeting-with/#ixzz2NWqqtH4x


3 West renewable energy projects get green light. Three
large-scale renewable energy projects have been approved for
construction on public lands in California and Nevada, federal
and state officials announced on Wednesday. In a joint press
conference in San Francisco, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and
Gov. Jerry Brown announced that the final regulatory approvals
were given for two solar projects in Southern California and a
wind farm in Nevada. Posted.
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/mar/13/3-west-renewable-energy-projects-get-green-light/


Calif. groups to provide loans for energy efficiency projects in
buildings. Small businesses, schools, churches and nonprofits
that could benefit from energy efficiency upgrades but lack the
capital to pay for such work could receive up to $1 million in
no-cost financing under a new lending mechanism announced this
week by a California-based nonprofit and energy efficiency
project developer. The newly created Efficiency Resource Fund,
which aims to raise $10 million this year, will be jointly
managed by Metrus Energy, an energy efficiency services
firm…Posted. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2013/03/14/5
BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY

MISCELLANEOUS

Supervisor's 2nd try to change environmental appeals. In a city
where land-use fights often take center stage, it's no surprise
that any attempt to tweak the environmental appeals process for
new projects would be scrutinized.  When San Francisco Supervisor
Scott Wiener went before the Planning Commission in November
proposing to attach a deadline to some California Environmental
Quality Act appeals, he was met by 90 minutes of strong
opposition from public commenters and commissioners, who told him
to come back with a better plan done with more public outreach.
Posted.
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Supervisor-s-2nd-try-to-change-environmental-4352827.php#ixzz2NXoxyp6A


Patchwork of bills cover flame retardants. Couches or car seats
free of toxic flame retardants may soon be available, but you
might have to pay more for them. That's one possible outcome of
an ongoing nationwide debate over how to reduce the chemicals,
which for three decades have permeated the foam in furniture and
children's products.
In recent years, many of those chemical compounds, which are
intended to slow down fires, have been linked to obesity,
infertility, cancer and other health conditions. Posted.
http://www.sfgate.com/health/article/Patchwork-of-bills-cover-flame-retardants-4353348.php#ixzz2NXphnpga


3 former execs plead guilty in CA asbestos case. Three former
executives of a now-defunct nonprofit have been convicted of
violating federal asbestos laws when the former Castle Air Force
Base in Atwater was cleaned up. The Merced Sun-Star reports
(http://bit.ly/XGHDAm) Rudy Buendia, Patrick Bowman and Joseph
Cuellar each pleaded guilty Monday to one count of breaking a
federal law for hazardous air pollutants. Bowman and Cuellar will
face 27 months in prison according to a plea agreement, while
Buendia will face a two-year term. Posted.
http://www.sacbee.com/2013/03/13/5258750/3-former-execs-plead-guilty-in.html#storylink=misearch

http://www.mercedsunstar.com/2013/03/13/2875216/3-former-execs-plead-guilty-in.html##storylink=cpy


OPINIONS

Can California do without San Onofre? Southern California Edison,
the majority owner of the nuclear plant on the San Diego County
coast, says the answer is no. That's the response of the
utility's president, Ronald Litzinger, to my column this week
questioning why Edison ratepayers are still forking over $54
million a month in rates for a facility that hasn't generated a
watt of electricity in 13 months -- and may never operate again.
Posted.
http://www.latimes.com/business/money/la-fi-mo-san-onofre-20130313,0,926769.story?track=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+MoneyCompany+%28Money+%26+Company%29


Immigration reform -- for the climate. Immigrants come to the
U.S. determined to make a new life. So often they're more open to
the kind of changes we'll need to deal with climate change. For
environmentalists, population has long been a problem. Many of
the things we do wouldn't cause so much trouble if there weren't
so many of us. It's why I wrote a book some years ago called
"Maybe One: An Argument for Smaller Families." Heck, it's why I
had only one child. And many of us, I think, long viewed
immigration through the lens of population…Posted.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-mckibben-immigration-environment-20130314,0,1673842.story


BLOGS

Ari Asmi: Air pollution, another factor in global warming.  There
are several kinds of small particles, or aerosols, in the
atmosphere. It can be dust, or maybe sea salt. When you see black
smoke, this is small aerosol particles absorbing light. These can
have a climate effect by blocking sunlight. We were looking at
particles below one micron in size, so that's one-thousandth of a
millimeter. Most of them are even smaller, below the wavelength
of visible light, so you can't really observe them without a
special instrument by simply looking at them.  Posted. 
http://phys.org/news/2013-03-ari-asmi-air-pollution-factor.html