What's New List Serve Post Display

ARB Newsclips for March 12, 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

Russia Considers Domestic Carbon Market in Global Warming Fight. 
Russia is considering a domestic carbon market to cut
greenhouse-gas emissions and may start providing poorer nations
with cash to cope with global warming, according to the country’s
climate negotiator. “We would like to elaborate our domestic
market and eventually make it link into other markets,” Oleg
Shamanov said in an interview today in Bonn, where United
Nations-led climate talks are being held this week. Posted.
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2014-03-12/russia-considers-domestic-carbon-market-in-global-warming-fight
 

What is the Social Cost of Carbon Emissions? Pt. 1. UMass Amherst
Economics Professor and Director at the Political Economy
Research Institute (PERI), James Boyce, gives a cost-benefit
analysis of carbon emissions on human society. Posted.
https://www.umass.edu/researchnext/what-social-cost-carbon-emissions-pt-1
 

China carbon tax in doubt as air pollution takes centre stage. 
China is reconsidering plans for a carbon tax as local air
pollution trumps concerns over climate change and some rich
nations back away from imposing a tax on greenhouse gas
emissions, a top official said. Premier Li Keqiang last week
declared war on pollution, which is expected to speed up the
process of turning China's limited environmental levy into a
full-blown tax targeting the nation's major polluters. Posted.
http://in.reuters.com/article/2014/03/12/china-parliament-carbon-idINL3N0M92LG20140312
 

AIR RESOURCES BOARD

CARB Stresses ILUC Update is Preliminary.  California Air
Resources Board (CARB) staff spent four hours on Tuesday
afternoon detailing reviews made of Indirect Land Use Change
(iLUC) models and analysis for the state’s Low Carbon Fuel
Standard (LCFS), strongly stressing that their results are
preliminary. “This is a work in progress,” said Air Resources
Engineer Anil Prabhu as he began his power point presentation
detailing the history of the iLUC analysis used by the
agency…Posted.
http://domesticfuel.com/2014/03/12/carb-stresses-iluc-update-is-preliminary/


IG questions EPA stimulus spending on train refurbishing in
California.  Under a program established in 2005, EPA officials
gave $8,888,888 in stimulus funds to the California Air Resources
Board (CARB) to refurbish eight switchyard locomotives. CARB had
found that most of the pollution from railroads came from engines
that worked exclusively in switch yards, and the grant was an
attempt to create cleaner engines that would cut down on air
pollution. In fact, officials hoped the overhauls would cut
emissions of some toxic particulates by as much as 90 percent.
Posted. 
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/mar/11/ig-questions-epa-stimulus-spending-on-train-refurb/#ixzz2vm01fVIV
 

AIR POLLUTION

Court rejects industry challenge on clean air. A federal appeals
court has turned aside an industry effort to weaken compliance
requirements for environmental standards that reduce soot
pollution from power plants. The Utility Air Regulatory Group had
challenged as too burdensome compliance regulations covering
fossil-fuel-fired steam generating plants built between 1971 and
1978. Posted. 
http://www.vcstar.com/news/2014/mar/11/court-rejects-industry-challenge-on-clean-air/#ixzz2vlSfu56W


New super-warming and ozone-depleting gases discovered on the
rise. Flying under the radar of scientific detection until now,
four ozone-depleting gases are raising concern over enforcement
of and legal loopholes within the Montreal Protocol, an
international treaty designed to phase out emissions of such
man-made substances. While two of the gases appear to be
decreasing, the other two are increasing in abundance and showing
an accelerating trend…Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1059995955/print BY
SUBSCRIPTION ONLY

House subcommittees wrestle with carbon capture, storage
technologies. Two House Science, Space and Technology
subcommittees grappled again today with the technology
underpinning a controversial U.S. EPA power plant regulation
aimed at curbing emissions of heat-trapping carbon dioxide. At
issue: Is technology for capturing, transporting and storing CO2
emissions ready for commercial prime time? Republicans on the
Energy and Environment subpanels and industry witnesses
questioned the technology that EPA uses to justify requiring
industry to meet its proposal for new power plants. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/stories/1059996024/print BY
SUBSCRIPTION ONLY

CLIMATE CHANGE

NASA Study Projects Higher Temperatures Despite Recent Slowdown
in Global Warming.  Global temperatures will likely continue to
rise in coming decades on track with higher estimates, despite a
recent slowdown in the rate of global warming, according to a new
study from a National Aeronautics and Space Administration
scientist. The study sought to reconcile different estimates for
the Earth's climate sensitivity, or how temperatures change in
response to changes in the atmosphere. Posted.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-03-12/nasa-study-projects-higher-temperatures-despite-recent-slowdown-in-global-warming.html


Why don't climate change adaptation strategies include population
growth? While developed nations are largely responsible for
global warming, the burden of climate change is often placed on
the shoulders of the world's poorest countries -- where, research
shows, population growth can exacerbate vulnerability. Yet
despite this clear link, population-related susceptibility is
rarely included in climate change adaptation efforts, according
to experts. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1059995985/print BY
SUBSCRIPTION ONLY

3rd major warning on possible El Niño weather event. Commodities
traders and farmers have been alerted to the coming about of the
El Niño weather phenomenon, which could influence food and energy
markets that are already hurting from extreme weather in much of
the world. El Niño is a warming of Pacific Ocean temperatures
that happens naturally every few years but can lead to droughts
in some countries while floods can occur in other regions.
Australia's Bureau of Meteorology said yesterday that the
tropical Pacific subsurface had "warmed substantially" during the
last couple of weeks…Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1059995951/print BY
SUBSCRIPTION ONLY

DROUGHT

California drought to drive up food prices in the long term. 
With 2013 the driest year on record and 2014 possibly worse, the
devastation of California's drought is trickling down to crops,
fields, farmers markets, grocery stores -- and the kitchen
table.
While it's too early to tell precisely how much the drought will
push up household grocery bills, economists say consumers can
expect to pay more for food later this year because fewer acres
of land are being planted and crop yields are shrinking. Posted.
http://www.insidebayarea.com/business/ci_25322583/farm-fork-california-drought-drive-up-food-prices


FUELS

Spike in gas prices hits home for local drivers.  Susan Bennett
of Santa Rosa said she blew it by pumping $4 a gallon gas into
her Toyota Prius on Tuesday at a Chevron station on Airport
Boulevard. “I didn't look at it,” she said, referring to the
price of $4.09 per gallon of regular. The hybrid Prius was
telling her it would run out of fuel in a mile, she said. “I had
to go to the nearest station.” Posted.
http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20140311/articles/140319906


Calif.'s pioneering low-carbon fuels rule could see multiple
changes.  California's landmark law requiring lower-carbon fuels
is poised for a rewrite. Advisers to the state's Air Resources
Board yesterday detailed proposed revisions to the low-carbon
fuel standard (LCFS), a first-in-the-nation regulation. Potential
changes include allowing oil companies to earn program credits
for making refinery upgrades that shrink greenhouse gas
pollution. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1059995992 BY
SUBSCRIPTION ONLY

China sticks with coal gasification to curb smog despite
potentially big rise in CO2 emissions. While experts worldwide
have opened fire on China's move to produce natural gas from
coal, Chinese policymakers appear to be standing pat on their
decision. During a recent press conference in Beijing, Wu
Xiaoqing, vice minister of China's Ministry of Environmental
Protection, told reporters that "central and western China are
rich in coal and have a bigger environmental capacity…Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1059995991/print BY
SUBSCRIPTION ONLY

Can Kemper become the first US power plant to use 'clean coal'? 
The massive block of steel towers and pipes rises out of the
morning fog like a sci-fi fantasy. But this coal-fired power
plant could help save the climate, or at least that's the hope of
the Obama administration. The plant in east-central Mississippi
was repeatedly invoked by the Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) to justify sweeping new climate change rules. Posted.
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/mar/12/kemper-us-power-plant-coal-carbon


GREEN ENERGY

Solar on sale, almost anywhere.  You can buy it from your
financial planner, at home improvement stores, shopping-mall
kiosks, while buying a house or a car, online or by phone.
Rooftop solar is for sale seemingly everywhere, as no-money-down
lease agreements allow more and more homeowner to undercut
utility electricity prices. Posted.
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2014/mar/12/solarcity-best-buy-partner/


Agricultural economists see rural power systems based on biomass.
Millions of tons of farm wastes could fuel a new kind of
electricity generation and delivery system that would cater to
rural areas where the prospect of building long transmission
systems is economically difficult, new research by agricultural
economists in Missouri and Illinois suggests. Such a power grid
would rely on biomass-fueled generators that can be built at
relatively low cost and be linked to end-users via regional
distribution grids…Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1059995962/print BY
SUBSCRIPTION ONLY

Vestas passes GE to regain title as biggest wind turbine maker.
Denmark's Vestas Wind Systems A/S is once again the undisputed
top turbine manufacturer in the world, according to a report by
Make Consulting. The Danish company had 13.2 percent of the
market share in 2013, down from 14.6 percent the year before,
Make said. General Electric Co., which some studies had listed as
having surpassed Vestas in 2012, fell to No. 6 with a market
share of 4.9 percent from 13.7 percent a year earlier. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1059995943/print BY
SUBSCRIPTION ONLY

MISCELLANEOUS

Farm-to-Table Living Takes Root.  In many American suburbs,
outward signs of life are limited to the blue glow of television
screens flickering behind energy-efficient windows. But in a
subdivision of this bedroom community outside Phoenix, amid
precision-cut lawns and Craftsman-style homes, lambs caper in
common green areas, chickens scratch in a citrus grove and
residents roam rows of heirloom vegetables to see what might be
good for dinner. Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/12/dining/farm-to-table-living-takes-root.html?hpw&rref=dining&action=click&module=Search®ion=searchResults%230&version=&url=http%3A%2F%2Fquery.nytimes.com%2Fsearch%2Fsitesearch%2F%3Faction%3Dclick%26region%3DMasthead%26pgtype%3DHomepage%26module%3DSearchSubmit%26contentCollection%3DHomepage%26t%3Dqry299%23%2Fgreen%2Benergy%2F24hours%2F


Wish you could fertilize crops with pee? Urine luck.  “When are
you going to start bringing pee out to the farm?” Jay Bailey, a
local farmer, asked Abe Noe-Hays when they ran into each other at
the hardware store in Battleboro, Vt. “Um, how about now?
Noe-Hays had just teamed up with Kim Nace to form the Rich Earth
Institute, an organization that separates out pee to use as
fertilizer for local farms —  ”peecycling” to those in the know.
Posted.
http://grist.org/food/wish-you-could-fertilize-crops-with-pee-urine-luck/


OPINION

Exploiting California’s Drought.  The San Joaquin Valley in
California can be stunningly beautiful: On a visit two weeks ago,
I saw billions of pink almond blossoms peaking, with the Sierra
Nevada towering over all. It can also be a hideous place, the air
choked with microparticles of unpleasant origins (dried cow dung,
sprayed chemicals, blowing over-fertilized soil), its cities like
Fresno and Bakersfield sprawling incoherently and its small towns
suffering from poverty, populated by immigrants from places as
near as Baja, Mexico, and as far as Punjab, India. Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/12/opinion/exploiting-californias-drought.html?action=click&module=Search®ion=searchResults%230&version=&url=http%3A%2F%2Fquery.nytimes.com%2Fsearch%2Fsitesearch%2F%3Faction%3Dclick%26region%3DMasthead%26pgtype%3DHomepage%26module%3DSearchSubmit%26contentCollection%3DHomepage%26t%3Dqry299%23%2Fclimate%2Bchange%2F24hours%2F&_r=0


Editorial: Carbon tax not best way to offset cap-and-trade gas
price volatility. The weather is warming up and so are gas
prices. Drivers seem to be putting more miles on their vehicles,
which is part of the reason prices are quickly jumping, up 28
cents a gallon statewide from a month ago. In Santa Cruz County,
the average price of a gallon of gasoline this month is $3.78, up
22 cents from last month. The average for Northern California is
higher, at $3.84. Posted.
http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/opinion/ci_25322907/editorial-carbon-tax-not-best-way-offset-cap


BLOGS

Freedom From Driving. Americans are catching on to the joys of
not driving. The American Public Transportation Association
announced on Monday that more people used buses, trains and
subways in 2013 than in any year since 1956. More than 10.65
billion passenger trips were taken last year — enough to surpass
even the ridership during the latest recession, when gas prices
rose to $5 a gallon. Posted.
http://takingnote.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/03/11/freedom-from-driving/?action=click&module=Search®ion=searchResults%230&version=&url=http%3A%2F%2Fquery.nytimes.com%2Fsearch%2Fsitesearch%2F%3Faction%3Dclick%26region%3DMasthead%26pgtype%3DHomepage%26module%3DSearchSubmit%26contentCollection%3DHomepage%26t%3Dqry299%23%2Femissions%2F24hours%2F


BYD gets order for 1,200 electric buses from Dalian, China.  The
good news is that the BYD electric buses slated for service in
the China city of Dalian will easily be able to go from the
factory to the streets on a single charge. Dalian has put an
order in for a whopping 1,200 BYD electric buses, which are said
to have a single-charge range of about 155 miles. BYD will
deliver 600 buses this year and another 600 in 2015. Posted.
http://green.autoblog.com/2014/03/12/byd-gets-order-for-1200-electric-buses-from-dalian-china/


Americans taking public transit at highest rate in 57 years.  I
don't like public transportation. It's a completely irrational
dislike, I'll admit, and is largely due to the fact that I'm a
control freak. It's the reason I like living in Detroit, rather
than New York, Chicago, London, Paris or any other city with a
sprawling transit system - I have to drive everywhere. Posted.
http://www.autoblog.com/2014/03/11/americans-taking-public-transit-highest-rate-57-years/


BMW i8 customer demand exceeding planned production; improved
fuel consumption.  Series production of the BMW i8 plug-in hybrid
(earlier post) begins in April, with delivery of the first
customer cars to start in June 2014, beginning with the main
European markets. Customers have already been able to place
pre-orders for the BMW i8 in all major markets since autumn 2013;
BMW says that demand for the BMW i8 is already exceeding the
planned production volume during ramp-up. Posted.
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2014/03/20140311-i8.html 

Four reasons why the fight against climate change is likely to
fail.  Democrats in the Senate stayed up all night talking about
the perils of climate change. But while there's hope that
technology, changing consumer and business practices or new
policies could finally turn the tide and slow or reverse climate
change, there are also good reasons to think those efforts will
fail. Posted.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/03/11/four-reasons-why-the-fight-against-climate-change-is-likely-to-fail-2/




California is in a drought emergency.
Visit www.SaveOurH2O.org for water conservation tips.