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newsclips -- ARB Newsclips for October 22, 2013.
Posted: 22 Oct 2013 14:30:15
ARB Newsclips for October 22, 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 Long Beach Gas and Oil Actively Tracking AB 32 Impacts. A partnership between the Long Beach Gas & Oil Department (LBGO) and other utilities across the state provides a unified voice advocating for natural gas customer rate protections under the regulations of AB 32 – the state’s Global Warming Solutions Act. Over the past year, LBGO has been working with a Gas Utility Group – comprised of Southern California Gas Company, Pacific Gas and Electric Company…Posted. http://www.lbbusinessjournal.com/long-beach-business-journal-newswatch/1876-long-beach-gas-a-oil-actively-tracking-ab-32-impacts.html AIR POLLUTION US carbon dioxide pollution down 3.8 percent. The United States cut its energy-related carbon dioxide pollution by 3.8 percent last year, the second biggest drop since 1990, the Department of Energy said Monday. The only recent year with a bigger percentage drop was in 2009, when America was in a large recession. American cars and factories spewed 5.83 billion tons of carbon dioxide in 2012, down from 6.06 billion in 2011. It is the lowest level for U.S. emissions since 1994. Carbon dioxide is the chief man-made global warming gas. Posted. http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_CARBON_POLLUTION?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT OTHER RELATED STORIES http://www.sacbee.com/2013/10/21/5840138/us-carbon-dioxide-pollution-down.html http://www.fresnobee.com/2013/10/21/3565133/us-carbon-dioxide-pollution-down.html http://www.insidebayarea.com/ci_24359624/shutdown-over-solution-next-crisis-unclear?IADID=Search-www.insidebayarea.com-www.insidebayarea.com http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/u-s-cuts-carbon-dioxide-pollution-3-8-percent-article-1.1492155 http://grist.org/news/party-like-its-1994-americas-co2-emissions-hit-18-year-low/ Beijing adopts new smog emergency measures. Beijing is seeking to tame the spikes in its infamous smog by preparing emergency measures such as factory shutdowns and traffic limits to kick in when air pollution levels are especially heavy. The city government said Tuesday the strictest emergency measures will take effect when the pollution index for fine particulate matter, PM2.5, is forecast to exceed 300 micrograms per cubic meter for three days running. Posted. http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_CHINA_POLLUTION?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT OTHER RELATED STORIES http://www.sacbee.com/2013/10/22/5841082/beijing-adopts-new-smog-emergency.html Beautiful China tourism pitch misfires amid smog. Forget all the headlines about eye-watering pollution in Beijing and Shanghai - the Middle Kingdom's latest tourism slogan invites visitors to "Beautiful China." Adorning buses and trains in cities such as London, the international marketing effort has been derided as particularly inept at a time when record-busting smog has drawn attention to the environmental and health costs of China's unfettered industrialization. Posted. http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_BEAUTIFUL_CHINA?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT OTHER RELATED STORIES http://www.sacbee.com/2013/10/22/5841024/beautiful-china-tourism-pitch.html Prodding China to confront its urban air pollution problems. Noxious, choking air pollution has smothered Beijing and other major Chinese cities for years, making it difficult for people to breathe and causing an estimated 1.2 million premature deaths in 2010 alone. But until recently, the Chinese government routinely dismissed the public health risk. Posted. http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/federal_government/prodding-china-to-confront-its-urban-air-pollution-problems/2013/10/22/2b93d8ca-3b23-11e3-b6a9-da62c264f40e_story.html 'Airpocalypse': Severe pollution cripples northeastern China. A large swath of northeastern China has been virtually paralyzed for two days by severe air pollution that forced airports and schools to close and drivers to turn on their headlights in the middle of the day. The “airpocalypse” was blamed on the start of the winter heating season Sunday in a region that still uses coal-powered plants and the burning of fields at the end of the harvest. Posted. http://www.latimes.com/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-pollution-northeastern-china-20131022,0,5024464.story#axzz2iTgXjlb0 CLIMATE CHANGE CORRECTED-(OFFICIAL)-Global climate spending falling further behind target. The amounts refer to investment received by countries, not investments made) Global spending to combat climate change fell last year and remains far below the level needed to prevent its most dangerous effects, a report by the Climate Policy Initiative said on Tuesday. Investment in renewable energy, energy efficiency and adaptation to climate change totaled $359 billion, $5 billion less than in 2011, as an economic slowdown hit state and private-sector budgets. Posted. http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/10/22/climate-investment-idUSL5N0IB32X20131022 http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-10-21/global-climate-change-finance-fell-1-in-2012-study-says.html UPDATE 1-United States urges flexibility in new global climate deal. The United States called on Tuesday for a more flexible approach to a new United Nations' climate deal which balances the needs of all countries and has a better chance of success. Two years ago, some 190 countries agreed to develop a pact to succeed the Kyoto Protocol which would force all nations to cut their greenhouse gas emissions. The deal is to be signed by 2015 and come into force in 2020. Posted. http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/10/22/usa-climate-idUSL5N0IC2E820131022 U.S. Rejects Rigid Rules as ‘Roadblock’ to Climate Treaty. Rigid rules and emissions targets may hinder efforts to draft a new climate treaty by 2015, the lead U.S. envoy said, calling for a more flexible approach for nations to set individual goals. “Rigidity is a potential roadblock,” U.S. Special Envoy on Climate Change Todd Stern said today in a speech at the policy-analysis group Chatham House in London. While a “system of strict rules and compliance might sound good on paper…Posted. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2013-10-22/u-s-rejects-rigid-rules-as-roadblock-to-climate-treaty.html Warm winter helped U.S. carbon emissions drop to lowest level since 1994 -- EIA U.S. carbon dioxide emissions declined last year to their lowest level since 1994 and more than 12 percent below the recent 2007 peak, according to data released yesterday by the Energy Information Administration. Since 1990, only 2009 saw a larger percentage decrease in emissions than 2012, the EIA said. The decline occurred in tandem with an increase in gross domestic product and an increase in energy output. Posted. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1059989176/print BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY U.S. climate envoy calls inflexibility the 'enemy' of a 2015 global deal. U.S. Special Envoy for Climate Change Todd Stern is calling for a "creative and flexible" global warming deal in 2015 that allows countries to declare their own emissions targets and attempts to bridge a 20-year-old division between rich and poor nations. Speaking in London today to the Chatham House think tank, Stern will warn that "rigidity is a potential roadblock" when it comes to a new global warming agreement. Posted. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1059989181/print BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY DIESEL EMISSIONS CARB Fines KS Industries $230,000 for Diesel Fleet Violations. The California Air Resources Board has fined Bakersfield-based KS Industries, an engineering and construction firm, $230,250 for failing to update its diesel trucks to clean up harmful emissions as required by state anti-pollution laws. CARB investigators cited the company for missing two key compliance deadlines. Posted. http://www.bakersfieldcalifornian.com/local/x196574718/Firm-fined-230-000-for-violating-air-rules http://www.landlinemag.com/Story.aspx?StoryID=25976 Oakland port truckers shut down terminal to protest work conditions, rising costs. A group of truck drivers halted commerce at one of the Port of Oakland's biggest terminals Monday to protest work conditions and the rising costs of hauling cargo out of the busy seaport. Truckers and their supporters picketed outside three entrances to the SSA Marine terminal and effectively shut down cargo traffic because crane operators and other terminal workers refused to cross the protest line. Posted. http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_24353991/some-oakland-port-truckers-stop-working-protest-rising Do Hybrid Construction Machines Pollute More? Scientists at the University of California, Riverside, have found that while hybrid construction machines reduce fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, they pollute more smog-forming gases than their nonhybrid counterparts. The school's two-year, $2-million study, funded by California Air Resources Board, evaluated the Caterpillar D7E dozer and Komatsu HB215LC-1 hydraulic excavator in various field trials. Posted. http://enr.construction.com/products/equipment/2013/1021-do-hybrid-construction-machines-pollute-more.asp FUELS Ann Arbor asks for sale of fossil fuel holdings. The Ann Arbor City Council has approved a proposal asking a board to sell off fossil fuel-linked investments in its $429 million municipal pension plan. The Michigan Daily reports (http://bit.ly/16sOf6n ) the resolution that passed Monday was softened from a previously discussed one, using the word "request" instead of "urge." The city's Energy Commission had wanted the council to pass a resolution directing the pension board to sell holdings in the top 200 publicly traded fossil fuel companies. Posted. http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/Ann-Arbor-asks-for-sale-of-fossil-fuel-holdings-4916291.php Fracking California’s Future: Balancing. In September, Gov. Jerry Brown signed Senate Bill 4 (SB 4), legislation creating notification and reporting requirements for oil and gas well operators utilizing well stimulation treatments to increase rock formation permeability – specifically hydraulic fracturing and acid well stimulation. Hydraulic fracturing is a process by which water, sand and other chemicals are pumped at high pressure into rock to create cracks. Posted. http://www.lbbusinessjournal.com/long-beach-business-journal-newswatch/1877-fracking-californias-future-balancing-an-economic-boon-and-environmental-uncertainty.html HIGH-SPEED RAIL Calif. high-speed rail begins search for artifacts. Backhoes began digging up a parking lot in downtown Fresno on Monday in search of underground tunnels and artifacts from an 1880s-era Chinatown neighborhood that lies in the path of California's planned high-speed rail network. An archaeological report prepared by the High-Speed Rail Authority indicates crews could find decades-old artifacts on several properties in the area. Posted. http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/CA_CALIFORNIA_HIGH_SPEED_RAIL_ARTIFACTS_CAOL-?SITE=CASON&SECTION=STATE&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-10-21-19-05-51 GREEN ENERGY British lawmakers to quiz energy bosses over price hikes. British lawmakers plan to quiz energy company bosses next week over big increases to household gas and electricity prices, in the midst of a political row over rising energy costs. The Energy and Climate Change Committee said on Tuesday it wanted bosses from the country's big six energy firms, as well as other smaller suppliers, to explain and justify the rises and had invited them to appear before lawmakers on Oct. 29. Posted. http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/10/22/britain-lawmakers-energy-idUSL5N0IC2K120131022 NRG Energy agrees to buy most of Edison Mission for $2.64 billion. NRG Energy Inc., the largest independent U.S. electricity producer, agreed to buy most of the assets of Edison International's bankrupt Edison Mission Energy for $2.64 billion to expand its coal and wind holdings. The purchase price consists of about 12.7 million NRG shares, with the balance to be paid in cash on hand, NRG said. About $1.06 billion is expected to be on hand at Edison Mission on closing. Posted. http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-edison-mission-nrg-20131021,0,6002950.story?track=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+latimes%2Fbusiness+%28L.A.+Times+-+Business%29 A French Blueprint to Achieve Energy Indepence. Energy independence is a "straw man" in this country, with political and financial pundits tossing the term around despite the fact that there are no real plans to get there. However, we could get there if we start to rethink our energy dependencies. And, in this regard, France is a model citizen. Just say no. France has decided that it wants nothing to do with fracking, a drilling method that has materially increased the amount of recoverable oil and natural gas in the United States. Posted. http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/A-French-Blueprint-to-Achieve-Energy-Indepence-4916372.php Environmental group launches crowd-funding campaign to put solar power in schools. One of the nation's largest environmental advocacy groups is throwing its organizational and fundraising muscle behind an effort to bring more solar power to America's schools. The launch of a $54,000 crowd-funding campaign, which seeks donations made online via indiegogo.com, is a first for the New York-based Natural Resources Defense Council …Posted. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1059989157/print BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY Ikea on track to use 100% renewable energy by 2020, CEO says. Ikea is on track to fulfill all its electricity needs with self-produced renewable power by 2020, CEO Peter Agnefjäll said at the Global Green Growth conference here. "We have to do a lot more than just sell furniture and make profit for our owners," he said. "We want to create a better everyday life. Our vision is to grow Ikea in sync with society and the limits of our planet." Posted. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1059989158/print BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY MISCELLANEOUS Hydrogen highway coming to California. Governor Jerry Brown has approved a plan to construct 100 hydrogen fueling stations in California in the next 10 years. [SB Sun] Currently, there are about 300 hydrogen-powered cars in operation in California with only nine fuel stations statewide. But, major automakers, like Toyota, have announced plans to begin selling hydrogen cars in California showrooms beginning in 2015. Posted. https://calcoastnews.com/2013/10/hydrogen-highway-coming-california/ OPINIONS Danny Cullenward: Don't let accounting tricks dominate the carbon market. As the anniversary of California's first carbon market auction approaches, the Air Resources Board has a lot to celebrate. In just a few short years, the board has developed California's comprehensive climate policy system (know as AB 32) into the most important carbon market in the world. With all eyes on California, every step the board takes sets a crucial precedent for how forward-thinking governments can address the climate crisis. That's why it is critical that the board's next step not undo its early success. Thursday, the board will vote to amend the carbon market regulations. Posted. http://www.mercurynews.com/opinion/ci_24354840/danny-cullenward-dont-let-accounting-tricks-dominate-carbon BLOGS The shale-gas boom won’t do much for climate change. But it will make us richer. The shale-gas boom in the United States won't keep pushing U.S. carbon-dioxide emissions down in the decades ahead. That's because, in addition to killing off coal-fired plants, cheap gas will also crowd out cleaner energy sources like wind, solar, and nuclear. Posted. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/10/21/the-shale-gas-boom-wont-do-much-for-climate-change-but-it-will-make-us-a-bit-richer/ 7 reasons to consider indoor air-quality testing. Air isn't as light as it seems. It's pushing on your skin right now with up to 15 pounds of pressure per square inch, a weight so familiar you can't feel it. Your lungs feel it, though, especially when it's bogged down with toxins. And while we tend to think of air pollution as an outdoor threat, it can be even worse inside the buildings where we live and work. The causes of indoor air pollution vary from region to region, house to house and even room to room. Posted. http://www.mnn.com/family/protection-safety/stories/7-reasons-to-consider-indoor-air-quality-testing# Clean-water laws: The second front in the war on greenhouse gases. Necessity being the mother of invention, congressional inaction on climate change has forced environmentalists to be creative. Since Congress won’t pass a cap-and-trade bill to control atmospheric emissions, activists are trying to apply existing laws to the problem. In 2007, the Supreme Court ruling in Massachusetts v. EPA forced the Environmental Protection Agency to examine whether greenhouse gases harm the public. Posted. http://grist.org/climate-energy/clean-water-laws-second-front-in-the-war-on-greenhouse-gases/