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ARB Newsclips for July 19, 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.

CAP AND TRADE

Carbon’s Longest Rally to Persist on Supply Crunch. The
longest-ever rally in United Nations carbon prices shows little
sign of easing as traders bet companies running
emission-reduction projects will stop creating credits because
it’s no longer profitable to do so. UN-approved Certified
Emission Reductions, or CERs, for December have more than doubled
to 49 cents (64 U.S. cents) from a record low in April on the ICE
Futures Europe exchange. Posted.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-18/carbon-s-longest-rally-to-persist-on-supply-crunch.html
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2013-07-18/carbon-supply-crunch-set-to-extend-longest-rally-energy-markets
 

Scientific Advisory Panel Offers Blueprint For California REDD. 
After more than two years of open consultations among indigenous
leaders, environmentalists, and governmental representatives, the
REDD Offsets Working Group (ROW) on Thursday offered its final
recommendations for incorporating international REDD offsets into
California’s cap-and-trade program. The recommendations have been
endorsed by a diverse array of environmental groups, green-minded
corporations…Posted.
http://www.ecosystemmarketplace.com/pages/dynamic/article.page.php?page_id=9846§ion=news_articles&eod=1


AIR POLLUTION

Beijing Tells Residents to Reduce Time Outdoors on Air Pollution.
Beijing advised the young, elderly and ill among its 20 million
residents to reduce time spent outdoors as a U.S. Embassy
pollution monitor showed air quality in the Chinese capital at
“heavily polluted” levels today. Concentrations of PM2.5, fine
air particulates that pose the greatest health risk, rose to 241
micrograms per cubic meter as of noontime near Tiananmen Square
from an average of 124 in the past 24 hours…Posted.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2013-07-18/beijing-tells-residents-to-reduce-time-outdoors-on-air-pollution.html


Chevron pays $425,000 to settle air pollution violations with ARB
(Photos). The California Air Resources Board (ARB) announced
today that Chevron U.S.A. Inc. has paid $422,500 in penalties for
supplying gasoline and diesel fuel in violation of California air
pollution control regulations. The agreement was part of three
separate settlements with ARB. Posted.
http://www.examiner.com/article/chevron-pays-425-000-to-settle-air-pollution-violations-with-arb

http://www.environmentalleader.com/2013/07/19/chevron-violates-air-rules-pays-422500/

http://www.truckinginfo.com/news/story/2013/07/carb-fines-chevron-422-500-for-selling-non-compliant-gasoline-and-diesel-in-california.aspx?prestitial=1


APCD considers charging for air monitors. New fees will be
imposed on the California State Parks Department if they are
approved by the San Luis Obispo County Air Pollution Control
District board at its meeting next week. But at least one board
member is privately campaigning against the proposal. The fees to
be added to APCD’s Rule 302 would cost State Parks a minimum of
$49,240 a year for meeting the district-imposed requirements for
controlling dust from the Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation
Area. Posted.
http://www.theadobepress.com/articles/2013/07/18/news/news51.txt


CLIMATE CHANGE

Obama's unlikely climate change partner: China. President Barack
Obama has stumbled on an unusual partner in his quest to combat
climate change: China. The world's two biggest emitters of
heat-trapping greenhouse gases are finding common cause in
efforts to reduce global warming, cooperation the U.S. says could
clear the way for other developing nations like India and Brazil
to get on board, too. Posted.
http://www.sfgate.com/business/energy/article/Obama-s-unlikely-climate-change-partner-China-4673303.php

http://www.modbee.com/2013/07/18/2813378/obamas-unlikely-climate-change.html
http://www.fresnobee.com/2013/07/18/3393721/obamas-unlikely-climate-change.html

 http://www.contracostatimes.com/ci_23687908/obamas-unlikely-climate-change-partner-china?IADID=Search-www.contracostatimes.com-www.contracostatimes.com
 
http://www.insidebayarea.com/ci_23687908/obamas-unlikely-climate-change-partner-china?IADID=Search-www.insidebayarea.com-www.insidebayarea.com


Sen. Boxer sets committee hearing on climate change. Sen. Barbara
Boxer sought Thursday to rally support for federal action to
curtail greenhouse gas emissions, eliciting testimony that
catastrophic climate change is under way and Republican denials
that the atmosphere is warming. At the helm of the Environment
and Public Works Committee…Posted.
http://www.sfgate.com/science/article/Sen-Boxer-sets-committee-hearing-on-climate-4673955.php
 http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-democrats-new-climate-change-action-20130718,0,4590908.story


Continuing heat, drought and flooding make up this year's weather
story – NOAA. Global average temperatures in June were the fifth
highest on record, as above-average heat conditions continued a
multidecade streak, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration reported yesterday. June marked the 340th
consecutive month -- a span of time more than 28 years -- that
global temperatures surged above the 20th century average,
according to the agency. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1059984695/print BY
SUBSCRIPTION ONLY

Higher cost assigned to CO2 emissions not 'generated in a black
box,' White House official says. A federal official yesterday
defended the new, higher dollar amount assigned to future damages
to society associated with climate change, saying that the
increase could be blamed on improvements to the scientific models
used to determine the updated price tag. Because these models are
constantly subject to peer review…Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1059984698/print BY
SUBSCRIPTION ONLY

Some small businesses say they can't afford to support Obama's
climate plan. President Obama's new climate plan centers on
establishing tight pollution regulations on the country's coal
plants, and since coal currently provides 40 percent of the
country's electricity, the regulations stand to affect a lot of
people. In a hearing yesterday morning, the House Small Business
Subcommittee on Agriculture, Energy and Trade tried to draw
attention to the possible impacts of the regulations on small
businesses. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1059984696/print  BY
SUBSCRIPTION ONLY

DIESEL EMISSIONS

DTF: Diesel will keep driving freight transportation. Advocacy
group firm that diesel will help reduce emissions, improve air
quality and save fuel. hat diesel power will continue to drive
the “expansion of freight transportation and the continued growth
of the U.S. economy” is the strong contention of Allen Schaeffer,
executive director of the Diesel Technology Forum advocacy group.
Posted.
http://fleetowner.com/running-green/dtf-diesel-will-keep-driving-freight-transportation


FUELS

Nampa sugar plant aims to cut gas emissions. Executives of a
sugar processing plant in southwest Idaho say they will invest in
new equipment designed to reduce gas emissions blamed for
creating haze in the region. But officials with Amalgamated Sugar
Co. in Nampa say the new equipment will not reduce the odor
emitted from the facility where sugar beets are converted into
raw sugar. Posted.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/ID_SUGAR_PLANT_EMISSIONS_IDOL-?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


TransCanada Rebuffs EPA’s Call for Keystone Clean Energy. The
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says TransCanada Corp. (TRP)
should be required to buy renewable power to run pumps along the
route of its proposed Keystone XL pipeline, a measure the company
said is unworkable and unnecessary. In a July 17 letter to the
U.S. State Department, the Calgary-based company said the EPA
suggested it buy renewable energy to run pumping stations from
Alberta to Steele City, Nebraska. Posted.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2013-07-19/transcanada-rebuffs-epa-s-call-for-keystone-clean-energy.html


First-ever federal study finds natural gas fracking chemicals
didn’t spread.  A landmark federal study on hydraulic fracturing,
or fracking, shows no evidence that chemicals from the natural
gas drilling process moved up to contaminate drinking water
aquifers at a western Pennsylvania drilling site, the Department
of Energy told The Associated Press.  After a year of monitoring,
the researchers found that the chemical-laced fluids used to free
gas trapped deep below the surface…Posted. 
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/apnewsbreak-first-ever-federal-study-finds-natural-gas-fracking-chemicals-didnt-spread/2013/07/19/85b75e4e-f03c-11e2-8c36-0e868255a989_story.html


VEHICLES

RIVERSIDE: Grant provides electric car charging stations. 
Western Municipal Water District has taken another step to reduce
its carbon footprint by installing two electric car charging
stations at its office near Interstate 215 and Alessandro
Boulevard. The stations are available to the public 24 hours a
day for a small fee.  “Already a Silver LEED certified building,
adding electric charging stations to our Meridian office is a
nice complement to the building’s green components,” said Board
President Tom Evans.  Posted. 
http://www.pe.com/local-news/riverside-county/riverside/riverside-headlines-index/20130719-riverside-grant-provides-electric-car-charging-stations.ece
BY SUBSCRIPTION

Cars Are Getting Cleaner, Could Greener Roads Be Next? It was the
terrible smog of cities like Los Angeles in the 1970s that
prompted a huge change in the efficiency and pollution controls
of automobiles. Today, cars are many orders of magnitude cleaner
than their counterparts from previous decades. But what if our
roads could help further? No, not by reducing congestion (though
that would be nice), but by swallowing up the pollutants pumped
out by cars. The sidewalks in one Dutch neighborhood are doing
just that. Posted.
http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1085660_cars-are-getting-cleaner-could-greener-roads-be-next


MISCELLANEOUS

Senate confirms McCarthy as chief environmental regulator. The
Senate confirmed Gina McCarthy on Thursday to head the
Environmental Protection Agency, a long-awaited move that could
help President Barack Obama revive his plans to fight climate
change. The Senate voted 59 to 40 for McCarthy, who oversaw rules
on mercury and soot pollution from power plants in her prior job
as the EPA's top air official, a position she held since 2009.
Posted.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/18/us-usa-senate-epa-idUSBRE96H18W20130718

http://www.sfgate.com/news/science/article/Senate-approves-Obama-pick-McCarthy-to-head-EPA-4671783.php


Fertilizer industry grows despite safety concerns. In years past,
Brian Moody's efforts to bring economic development to his small
Illinois town focused on modest projects: merging an old hardware
store whose owner was retiring with another shop to preserve 30
jobs or pointing artists to a vacant downtown building. Now he
has a bigger prospect. Cronus Chemicals wants to build a $1.2
billion plant on a nearby cornfield that would manufacture
nitrogen-based fertilizer…Posted
http://www.sfgate.com/news/texas/article/Fertilizer-industry-grows-despite-safety-concerns-4671819.php
. 

OPINIONS

What’s Cooler Than Cool? 78 Degrees on the A.C. For the past
several years, I’ve spent some portion of the summer on a lake in
the South, where the regularity of high temperatures leaves the
heat rarely a subject of discussion. It is not considered a mark
of lunacy, for instance, to play golf in the middle of the
afternoon when it is 95 degrees with a humidity level that feels
Amazonian; country clubs ventilate their greens with huge
standing fans. Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/21/nyregion/whats-cooler-than-cool.html?_r=0

RICK FARINELLI: Fuel 'experiment' puts communities at risk. When
you think about county government, you usually think about things
like parks, libraries, building codes and other services and
rules for which your elected representatives are responsible. One
thing you probably don't think of is the enormous amounts of fuel
it takes keep things humming in your community. Local governments
are among the largest fuel users in California. Posted.
http://www.fresnobee.com/2013/07/17/3392103/fuel-experiment-puts-communities.html#storylink=cpy


BLOGS

Climate Change Conundrum. The need to address climate change and
reduce global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is one of the most
prominent international policy issues of the last two decades.
Governments around the world have legislated in an attempt to
address this challenge, and many of these legislative measures
have come at a huge cost. Posted.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/badr-jafar/climate-change-conundrum_b_3610672.html


Climate Change Takes Center Stage. Climate change took center
stage this week as the Senate confirmed climate and clean air
champion Gina McCarthy to lead the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) with strong bipartisan support. Just a few days ago,
climate hero Ed Markey was sworn in as the junior Senator from
Massachusetts, marking a historic week that shows growing
momentum in the fight to tackle the climate crisis. Posted.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gene-karpinski/climate-change-takes-cent_b_3622973.html