What's New List Serve Post Display

ARB Newsclips for January 23, 2014. 

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

Group urges E.U. not to count land-use emissions as offsets. With
the recent announcement of Europe's carbon emissions reduction
targets up to 2030, a forest group is urging the European
Commission to restrict countries from counting forests and
agricultural lands to help reach their goals. Since the European
Union began keeping track, emissions from energy and those from
land use – farming…Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1059993332/print BY
SUBSCRIPTION ONLY

AIR POLLUTION

Beijing Warns Reduced Outdoor Activities on Heavy Pollution.
Beijing warned its 20 million people to reduce outdoor activities
as smog enshrouded the north and southwest of China. The
concentration of PM2.5, fine particulates that pose the greatest
risk to human health, was 230 micrograms per cubic meter at 4
p.m. near Tiananmen Square in Beijing, compared with an average
of 229 over the past 24 hours…Posted.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-01-23/beijing-warns-reduced-outdoor-activities-on-heavy-pollution.html


Utah lawmakers unveil air quality proposals.  A bipartisan group
of Utah lawmakers has unveiled more than dozen proposals to
tackle the state's pollution problems this year. About 20
legislators held a news conference Wednesday afternoon while
standing in the frigid smog outside Utah's Capitol. Posted.
http://www.modbee.com/2014/01/22/3148114/utah-lawmakers-unveil-air-quality.html#storylink=cpy
 

Calif. Air Quality Affected By Lack Of Rain.  California's
drought is having a big impact on air quality. Winter storms
usually clean out pollution, but without any rain the air is
staying stagnant and could present a health risk.  Posted. 
http://www.npr.org/2014/01/22/264742844/calif-air-quality-affected-by-lack-of-rain
 

Wood smoke causing unhealthy air quality in SLO interior.  Air
quality is unhealthy for sensitive persons in the interior
valleys of San Luis Obispo County: Air quality monitors are
currently reporting particulate concentrations that are Unhealthy
for Sensitive Groups. Stagnant weather conditions are allowing
pollutants to be trapped in the interior valleys of San Luis
Obispo County.  Posted. 
http://www.ksby.com/news/wood-smoke-causing-unhealthy-air-quality-in-slo-interior/


CLIMATE CHANGE

Europe, Facing Economic Pain, May Ease Climate Rules.  For years,
Europe has tried to set the global standard for climate-change
regulation, creating tough rules on emissions, mandating more use
of renewable energy sources and arguably sacrificing some
economic growth in the name of saving the planet. But now even
Europe seems to be hitting its environmentalist limits. Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/23/business/international/european-union-lowers-ambitions-on-renewable-energy.html?hp&_r=0


Antarctica's peculiar climate appears connected to temperatures
in Atlantic Ocean – study. One of the recent puzzles in polar
science has been the question: Why is Antarctic sea ice growing
and moving? In the Arctic, the story is clear. Sea ice, melted by
a warming trend in the northern pole, is steadily diminishing.
But in Antarctica, sea ice has been growing and moving to new
places -- particularly in the wintertime. In the meantime, the
Antarctic Peninsula has experienced the fastest warming on the
planet. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1059993334/print BY
SUBSCRIPTION ONLY

U.S. Navy prepares for broader operations in a rapidly melting
Arctic. The U.S. Navy needs improved mapping and better wide-band
communications to prepare for increased operations in the melting
Arctic, the director of the Navy's Task Force Climate Change said
yesterday. With many climate models predicting that the Arctic
could experience an ice-free summer before midcentury…Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1059993333/print BY
SUBSCRIPTION ONLY

DIESEL EMISSIONS

Natural gas locomotives may prove cheaper, cleaner.  The
diesel-burning locomotive, the workhorse of American railroads
since World War II, will soon begin burning natural gas — a
potentially historic shift that could cut fuel costs, reduce
pollution and strengthen the advantage railroads hold over trucks
in long-haul shipping.  Posted. 
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_NATURAL_GAS_LOCOMOTIVES?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
 

OTHER RELATED STORIES:
http://www.fresnobee.com/2014/01/22/3727854/natural-gas-locomotives-may-prove.html
 
www.washingtonpost.com/business/natural-gas-locomotives-may-prove-cheaper-cleaner/2014/01/23/51af1f6e-83f4-11e3-a273-6ffd9cf9f4ba_story.html


FUELS

Australia Divided on Fracking.  Debate over hydraulic fracturing
is growing in Australia, where environmentalists are concerned
about new efforts to tap the country’s substantial reserves of
oil and natural gas. So far, experts say, hydraulic fracturing
has made few inroads in Australia. Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/23/business/energy-environment/australia-divided-on-fracking.html?ref=earth


Arctic Ocean oil drilling opponents win appeal. The U.S. 9th
Circuit Court of Appeals says the government failed in evaluating
the potential effects of offshore oil drilling in Alaska's
Chukchi Sea when it sold leases to develop millions of acres
there. The U.S. government violated the law when it opened
millions of acres of the Arctic Ocean to offshore oil drilling, a
federal appeals court ruled Wednesday…Posted.
http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-arctic-drilling-20140123,0,2981481,print.story


Proposed fracking in national forest meets broad opposition. The
U.S. Forest Service considers allowing hydraulic fracturing for
natural gas in George Washington National Forest in Virginia,
stirring concern about risks to drinking water in the Washington,
D.C., area. he headwaters of the Potomac River rise amid the
hills and hollows of George Washington National Forest in
Virginia. Posted.
http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-national-forest-fracking-20140123,0,987706.story#ixzz2rFAPYQ4O


Sustainable Fracking? For Real? Hydraulic fracturing, or
fracking, has hardly been the darling of the environmental
movement. Plagued with such ominous-sounding concerns as fugitive
emissions, induced seismicity, and groundwater contamination,
fracking has emerged as something of a dirty word in many
quarters. Posted.
http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/Sustainable-Fracking-For-Real-5166397.php


VEHICLES

Automakers say 2014 is 'the moment' for emergence of fuel-cell
vehicles. For almost two decades, fuel-cell electric vehicles
have been another five years away. That is, until now, according
to major automakers. Hyundai Motor Co. announced in November that
it will begin offering a fuel-cell version of the Tucson
crossover this spring, making it the first mass-market, federally
certified hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle in the United States.
Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1059993336/print BY
SUBSCRIPTION ONLY

HIGH-SPEED RAIL

Loan for bullet train part of Gov. Jerry Brown's budget proposal.
California would lend $29 million to the High-Speed Rail
Authority. Financing proposals for the project have raised
concerns from lawmakers, including a key bullet train supporter.
Under a little-noticed item in Gov. Jerry Brown's proposed
budget, the state would lend California's bullet train agency $29
million to keep the project moving ahead amid increased
uncertainty about the availability of future funding for the
massive project. Posted.
http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-0123-bullet-loan-20140123,0,405875,print.story


GREEN ENERGY

EU Renewable Energy Loses Out on Bloc’s ‘Lame-Duck’ Plan. Wind
and solar power producers said they’re at risk of losing
investment after the European Union’s executive arm scrapped
proposals for a mandatory target on renewable energy use in 2030.
The European Commission yesterday said the 28-nation bloc should
get 27 percent of its energy from renewables by 2030, up from 20
percent at the end of this decade. Posted.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2014-01-23/eu-renewable-energy-loses-out-on-bloc-s-lame-duck-plan.html

U.S. mayors plan to make cities more energy-efficient and save
money – study. According to a survey released yesterday, 288 U.S.
mayors, representing all 50 states, plan to increase their
investment in new technologies over the next five years to make
their cities more energy-efficient. The survey "Energy Efficiency
and Technologies in America's Cities"…Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1059993331/print BY
SUBSCRIPTION ONLY

OPINIONS

'Windfall' explores the business of climate change. “Apparently,
if you look at climate change the right way, it looks like money
instead of disaster — if you're looking at it from a corporate
boardroom, for example, and not, say, coastal Bangladesh.
Journalist McKenzie Funk spent six years traveling the world to
report "Windfall," his account of how governments and
corporations — many of whom heavily contribute to the problem of
global warming but balk at mandates to cut greenhouse gas
emissions…Posted.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_BOOK_REVIEW_WINDFALL?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


OTHER RELATED STORIES
http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/Windfall-explores-the-business-of-climate-change-5165723.php
 

A united call for action on climate change.  When Nelson Mandela
formed the Elders in 2007 to promote peace and human rights
across the world, he challenged us to be bold and to give a voice
to those who have none. No issue demands these qualities more
than our collective failure to tackle climate change.  Posted. 
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/kofi-annan-a-united-call-for-action-on-climate-change/2014/01/22/3694fa0c-82c1-11e3-9dd4-e7278db80d86_story.html


In California's drought emergency, Gov. Brown declares the
obvious. Now that 2013 has gone down as the driest calendar year
in 119 years of California rainfall records, Gov. Jerry Brown has
officially declared a drought emergency, asking Californians to
reduce their water usage by 20%. Times columnist George Skelton
predicts: "Next comes serious flooding." Skelton says it's a
familiar pattern…Posted.
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/opinion-la/la-ol-rall-drought-california-jerry-brown-20140122,0,3799723.story#ixzz2rFB8e7uT


We've come a long way in slaking SoCal's thirst. Yes, we're in a
drought. But Southern Californians should also know that the
situation here isn't yet dire, and it doesn't need to be if we
are careful. Given the record dry weather in recent months, it is
quite possible that Southern California will receive very little
water from Northern California this year. Posted.
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/commentary/la-oe-kightlinger-drought-southern-california-20140123,0,276812.story#ixzz2rFfixLqF


Encourage delivery trucks to go electric to clean the air. I live
in West Oakland. From my apartment window in a two-story
affordable-housing complex, the sounds of passing BART trains add
to the other impacts of living on 7th Street, especially the
trucks from the U.S. Postal Office Distribution Center and Port
of Oakland, less than a mile away, that pass 24 hours a day.
Posted.
http://www.sfgate.com/opinion/openforum/article/Encourage-delivery-trucks-to-go-electric-to-clean-5166742.php


State panel releases dueling climate reports. A bipartisan state
climate panel has released dueling reports how to reduce the
state's greenhouse gas emissions. The panel posted separate
reports online Wednesday, splitting along party lines. It had
missed a December deadline to come up with recommendations on
tackling carbon pollution. Posted.
http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/State-panel-releases-dueling-climate-reports-5165689.php


BLOGS

No one tries harder than Europe to fight climate change. The
recession is testing that. This week, the European Union outlined
a plan for the 28-member bloc to cut carbon-dioxide emissions 40
percent below 1990 levels by 2030. Seeing as how the E.U. tends
to be the most aggressive region in the world on climate-change
policy, it's worth taking a close look. Posted.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/01/23/no-one-tries-harder-than-europe-to-fight-climate-change-the-recession-is-testing-that//?print=1


Divesting from Big Oil — and making money. The fossil fuel
divestment movement spreading across the country focuses most on
ethics and the environment, not on cash. Its supporters push
schools and cities to drop financial investments in oil, gas and
coal companies, and they typically frame the argument in moral
terms. Fossil fuel use is warming the world — therefore, holding
stock in fossil fuel companies is wrong. Posted.
http://blog.sfgate.com/energy/2014/01/22/divesting-from-big-oil-and-making-money/


Inaction on Climate Change. Climate change has the potential to
wipe out 20 years of economic and social development. Action is
being taken and we're moving in the right direction, but not fast
enough, so what more can be done? Inaction on climate change is
fifth in this year's top-10 list. That's not due to climate
skepticism, which is now less pervasive than it used to be.
Posted.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/christiana-figueres/inaction-on-climate-change_b_4648991.html?view=print&comm_ref=false


Tesla announces aggressive Model S pricing for Chinese market.
Most cars exported to China end up with a hugely inflated price
tag – often hovering around twice as much as what we'd expect to
pay in the United States. Part of that can be chalked up to
duties and taxes – which can be quite prohibitive in the People's
Republic – but a big part of it comes down to profitability.
Posted.
http://www.autoblog.com/2014/01/23/tesla-model-s-aggressive-pricing-china/