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newsclips -- ARB Newsclips for May 16, 2014.
Posted: 16 May 2014 14:54:58
ARB Newsclips for May 16, 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 California carbon slips to $11.73 as traders eye auction. California's benchmark carbon contract slipped 8 cents from its close one day earlier to settle at $11.73 a tonne on Thursday as traders positioned themselves ahead of Friday's state-run allowance auction, where permits are expected to clear near the floor price. Posted. http://in.reuters.com/article/2014/05/16/californiacarbon-idINL1N0O200320140516 California: Affordable housing at issue in cap-and-trade talks. With billions of dollars forecast to flow into state coffers under a landmark clean air act, there is a battle underway over how to allocate the money. State Senate President Pro Tempore Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, was in Oakland on Wednesday promoting his plan that includes setting aside one-fifth of the funds for affordable housing construction near transit hubs. Posted. http://www.mercurynews.com/science/ci_25772028/state-affordable-housing-at-issue-cap-and-trade BY SUBSCRIPTION AIR POLLUTION EPA proposes changes to refinery emission rules. Texas environmental advocates are applauding a new U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposal to reduce oil refinery pollution by forcing operators to adopt new technology that better monitors and controls emissions. If adopted, the rule would mark the first change to the industry's emission standards in nearly two decades. Posted. http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_EPA_OIL_REFINERIES_RULE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT OTHER RELATED STORIES http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2014-05-15/white-house-carbon-rules-said-to-seek-cuts-beyond-plants.html http://www.bna.com/epa-proposes-emissions-n17179890522/ http://www.latimes.com/science/la-na-0516-refineries-20140516-story.html http://www.environmentalleader.com/2014/05/16/epa-targets-refineries-emissions/ Air quality monitor near I-5 in Anaheim finds higher pollution level. The first permanent air quality monitor near a Southern California freeway has detected elevated pollution levels, a finding that will increase pressure on state and local officials to address health risks facing nearly 1 million people in the region living near busy transportation corridors. Posted. http://www.latimes.com/science/la-me-freeway-air-20140515-story.html EPA targets oil refineries' emissions into neighborhoods. Oil refineries would be required to cut emissions and begin monitoring levels of toxic air pollutants at their fence lines with neighboring communities under standards proposed Thursday by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Posted. http://www.latimes.com/science/la-na-0516-refineries-20140516-story.html Officials peg West Sacramento neighborhood as region’s most vulnerable to pollution. Ramirez’s family lives on the eastern end of West Sacramento’s Westfield Village neighborhood, a tract of about 5,400 residents among the city’s poorest, which state environmental officials last month pegged on a CalEnviroScreen map as the most vulnerable to pollution in the Sacramento region. Posted. http://www.sacbee.com/2014/05/16/6395057/officials-peg-west-sacramento.html Schumer urges battle against toxic algae. U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer urged federal regulators Wednesday to take a tougher stance against a form of freshwater toxic algae that's becoming more common in the state, in part due to climate change. So-called blue-green algae produces cyanotoxins that can sicken animals and people…Posted. http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/Schumer-urges-battle-against-toxic-algae-5478988.php Toxic smoke could blow back onshore. Air pollution crept up past healthy levels in Oceanside early Thursday, as fires burned nearby, but dropped back down by late morning, air quality experts said. Air quality monitors in Oceanside showed particle pollution at 70 micrograms per cubic meter around midnight Thursday, a level ranked as unhealthy…Posted. http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2014/may/15/environment-air-quality-fire-toxics/ No surprises: More pollutant near freeway, first numbers show. Confirming previous scientific reports and popular assumptions, the region’s first freeway-adjacent air-quality monitoring device has shown that one pollutant is more concentrated next to the freeway than farther away. Posted. http://www.ocregister.com/articles/monitor-614502-quality-air.html Air Quality Tips for San Diegans. In the wake of the wildfires in San Diego, the air quality across the county has been impacted, according to county officials. Thus, locals are advised to follow a few tips to reduce their exposure to the smoke and air pollution. According to the San Diego County Air Pollution Control District, air quality is currently considered less than moderate. Posted. http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/Air-Quality-San-Diego-Wildfires-Health-259457571.html#ixzz31tnZ6o6Q CLIMATE CHANGE Climate Change to Hit Sovereign Creditworthiness: S&P. Global warming will harm sovereign creditworthiness around the world this century, with poorer nations the worst hit, Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services said. Climate change is one of two “global mega-trends” alongside aging populations that dominate global economic risks, the agency said today in a report. It identified the most vulnerable nations as Vietnam, Bangladesh and Senegal. Posted. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2014-05-15/climate-change-to-hit-sovereign-creditworthiness-s-p.html Brown: Climate change is factor. Gov. Jerry Brown Thursday blamed climate change for producing timber-dry conditions fueling the infernos rampaging through San Diego County, but he was less sure about rumors that an arsonist was on the loose. “Despite what you may hear in Washington, climate change is a factor,” he told CNN. “This is not about theory. It’s not about politics. This is about fires on the ground, people’s homes.” Posted. http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2014/may/15/brown-climate-change-is-factor/ Tropical storms shifting paths; impact of climate change debated. Hurricanes and typhoons are migrating from the tropics toward the North and South poles, a new study finds. In the past 30 years, the total number of storms has remained about the same in the tropics, said lead study author Jim Kossin, a climate scientist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Climatic Data Center. Posted. http://www.cbsnews.com/news/tropical-storms-shift-paths-toward-poles-impact-of-climate-change-debated/ State plans to double down in fight against climate change. California is raising its game against climate change as the stakes get higher, girding for a long-term battle with carbon dioxide that will stretch through at least 2050. The state is planning to bring more of its regulatory muscle to bear on greenhouse gases, working to set a "midterm" 2030 emissions target, and is preparing to broaden its focus on electric-sector emissions…Posted. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1059999697/print BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY As El Niño potential increases, summer outlook warms for West Coast – NOAA. If Californians can see through the wildfire smoke and across parched farmland through to their next wet season, they may find some relief. The potential for an El Niño, which tends to bring strong winter storms to much of the state, has continued to increase as summer approaches, scientists with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported yesterday. Posted. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1059999695/print BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY Scientists pledge to study Amazon's carbon sink potential if CO2 levels increase 30%. An international group of scientists announced Wednesday that they will embark on a decadelong study to determine the Amazon's capability to store carbon dioxide should global concentrations of the greenhouse gas increase by 30 percent. Tropical forests have the potential to store vast quantities of carbon dioxide in the air. Posted. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1059999677/print BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY Climate change could rid Ariz. of Joshua trees. Climate change may be pushing Arizona's Joshua trees north, and the U.S. Geological Survey has sent a researcher to investigate. Todd Esque, a research ecologist, is inspecting and measuring the trees at Grapevine Mesa Joshua Trees Forest in Mohave County to figure out whether they'll face the same fate as those he's been examining in Nevada. Posted. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1059999676/print BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY Absent climate policies, widespread use of natural gas is unlikely to curb greenhouse gases – study. An oft-heard comment about America's natural gas boom is that it has led to a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Insofar as natural gas replaces coal in electricity generation, this claim is probably true. But step back and look globally and into the future, and widespread use of natural gas fails to significantly alter the world's current global warming trajectory, a new study finds. Posted. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1059999696/print BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY DROUGHT Drought, Hurricane Bigger Threat to World’s Top Companies. Drought, hurricanes and rising seas are becoming more significant threats to the world’s biggest companies and the risk is accelerating, according to the Carbon Disclosure Project. Companies planning for various threats related to climate change say they’re grappling now with about 45 percent of the potential risks, or will be within five years…Posted. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2014-05-16/drought-hurricane-bigger-threat-to-world-s-top-companies.html Feinstein: Environmentalists no help on California drought. Washington -- Sen. Dianne Feinstein will try to fast-track farm-friendly drought legislation through the Senate over the objections of environmentalists, who the senator complains have done nothing to help her adapt California's aging water system to deal with climate change and the addition of millions of thirsty residents. Posted. http://www.sfchronicle.com/science/article/Feinstein-Environmentalists-no-help-on-5481560.php 100 Percent of California Now in Highest Stages of Drought. It might not seem possible, but California's drought just got worse. According to Thursday’s release of the U.S. Drought Monitor, 100 percent of the state is now in one of the three worst stages of drought. Posted. http://www.climatecentral.org/news/california-severe-drought-or-worse-17444 FUELS Biofuel groups take aim at EPA methods in U.S. blending quota cuts. Nearly three dozen advanced biofuel companies including DuPont and Spain's Abengoa appealed to President Barack Obama on Thursday to rethink the methodology for setting U.S. biofuel blending quotas. In their letter, a copy of which was seen by Reuters, 33 suppliers of "advanced" biofuels such as lower-carbon ethanol made from corn stovers…Posted. http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/15/epa-rvo-final-rule-idUSL1N0O114720140515?feedType=RSS Intended showcase of clean-coal future hits snags. Last November, Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz rode an elevator to the top of the 11-story scaffolding surrounding Southern Co.’s new coal-fired power plant here and gazed out over the Mississippi flatlands. Below him lay a new lignite coal mine, new storage facilities and a glimmering maze of steel. The beauty of it all was this: Sixty-five percent of the plant’s carbon dioxide…Posted. http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/intended-showcase-of-clean-coal-future-hits-snags/2014/05/16/fc03e326-cfd2-11e3-b812-0c92213941f4_story.html Can Green Diesel Wean the U.S. Off Oil? A Louisiana refinery ramps up production of a biofuel that could power everything from Jettas to jetliners. When it comes to kicking the United States’s oil addiction by substituting biofuels—mobility methadone—the nation has repeatedly fallen off the wagon. For instance, the U.S. last year was supposed to have produced 1.75 billion gallons of cellulosic biofuels to meet a Congressional mandate set back in 2007. Posted. http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/05/can-green-diesel-get-america-off-oil/370957/ BLM hearing sparks a debate on the agency's role in regulating methane. How many regulations are enough to successfully curb America's methane emissions? It depends on whom you ask. Representatives from environmental groups and the fossil fuel industry sharply disagreed on the Bureau of Land Management's role in regulating venting and flaring from oil and gas wells on public lands at an information session held yesterday in Washington, D.C. Posted. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1059999698/print BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY VEHICLES Carnage on China Roads Shows Dark Side of Electric Bikes. Electric bicycles are China’s answer to the Prius because they’re green, they’re zippy and they’re cheap. They’re also emerging as a safety hazard in a country where road accidents are the biggest killer of young people. As Chinese cities impose car quotas to fend off record pollution, more residents are turning to rechargeable electric cycles. Posted. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2014-05-15/carnage-on-china-roads-shows-dark-side-of-electric-bikes.html Tesla CEO Elon Musk: Gigafactory will take battery production 'to another level' Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk said Tuesday that Tesla will partner with several companies besides Panasonic for its planned "gigafactory" for battery production, painting a portrait of a facility resembling a massive industrial park and saying that there eventually will be a need for several more. Posted. http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_25761219/tesla-ceo-elon-musk-gigafactory-will-take-battery 80 Days Around The World In Zero Emissions Vehicles (2016). In April of 2016, an 80 day around the world race open only to zero emissions vehicles will begin, inspired by the classic Jules Verne novel. This new race takes to heart the original work’s focus on new technology subverting the status quo, as teams land and sea without burning any fuel. Posted. http://cleantechnica.com/2014/05/16/zero-emissions-vehicles-80-day-around-world-race-2016/#wSpRkoKvBB9kCePu.99 Read more at http://cleantechnica.com/2014/05/16/zero-emissions-vehicles-80-day-around-world-race-2016/#wSpRkoKvBB9kCePu.99 GREEN ENERGY Should energy be taxed? Dean Elliott and others offer insight. The energy industry in the United States is booming, according to Dean Elliott, the owner of Dino Operating, LLC, a company that works in refurbishing oil fields and shallow drilling. The country is on track to become the top producer of oil by 2016, according to the International Energy Agency. Already, the U.S. is the largest producer of natural gas. Posted. http://www.examiner.com/article/should-energy-be-taxed-dean-elliott-and-others-offer-insight-1 MISCELLANEOUS Want to test drive an electric car? Check out this free event. The public is invited to test drive a variety of electric cars from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday in San Francisco in a free event co-sponsored by Bay Area transportation and air pollution control agencies. The free test drives are available on a first-come, first served basis to licensed drivers at the Marina Green Triangle along Marina Green Drive at Marina Boulevard, across from a Safeway store. Posted. http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_25772386/want-test-drive-an-electric-car-check-out Fracking's Air Pollution Drives Couple From Their Home of 23 Years. 'We're not anti-drilling at all...It's just causing me a lot of medical issues, and I can't have it.' After 23 years living on the South Texas prairie, Lynn and Shelby Buehring are looking for a new home, far from the fumes, traffic and noise of the Eagle Ford Shale boom. Posted. http://insideclimatenews.org/news/20140516/frackings-air-pollution-drives-couple-their-home-23-years OPINIONS Climate Change: Prophets and Deniers. To the Editor: Re “Scientists Warn of Rising Oceans From Polar Melt” (front page, May 13): Compounding the tragedy of the collapsing West Antarctic ice sheet is the fact that the possibility was foreseen more than three decades ago. It was, for example, one of the warnings in the 1981 climate change assessment issued by the Council on Environmental Quality during the Carter administration. Posted. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/15/opinion/climate-change-prophets-and-deniers.html?_r=0 How should Washington act on climate change? Your Say Interactive. Climate change remains a low priority for many Americans. The White House this month released the National Climate Assessment, a report that warns of floods at several coastal airports and other damaging effects of climate change. But for Americans, dealing with global warming nears the bottom of their priorities, above only dealing with global trade issues, which ranked lowest. Posted. http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2014/05/15/global-warming-climate-change-your-say/9115659/ Glenn Kessler: Sen. Reid fails fact-check. While the Koch brothers admit to not being experts on the matter, these billionaire oil tycoons are certainly experts at contributing to climate change. That's what they do very well. They are one of the main causes of this. Posted. http://www.fresnobee.com/2014/05/15/3929115/sen-reid-makes-up-his-own-facts.html?sp=/99/274/ BY SUBSCRIPTION LETTER: Agency working to mitigate impacts. The op-ed by John Husing, “Demographics key to Inland Empire job growth” (Opinion, May 13), mistakenly creates an impression that efforts to attain healthful air are incompatible with a strong economy. The South Coast Air Quality Management District is working to bring about economic growth and cleaner air. Contrary to Husing’s op-ed, the SCAQMD is not proposing a rule that would force new warehouses to pay fees to offset truck trips. Posted. http://www.pe.com/articles/air-694599-pollution-california.html Bringing climate change home. Last week, while the city's parks were teeming with birders watching the spring migration and the lilac and wisteria were just starting to bloom, the National Climate Assessment report was issued. A comprehensive work prepared by a team of 300 scientists and climate experts and extensively reviewed, it makes an imposing trilogy…Posted. http://www.examiner.com/article/bringing-climate-change-home BLOGS How to Laugh at Climate Change. In the nineteen-thirties, the literary theorist Kenneth Burke proposed what he called the “comic frame”—the view, he wrote, of “human antics as a comedy, albeit as a comedy ever on the verge of the most disastrous tragedy.” Tragedy marches inexorably toward the end, but comedy keeps us guessing at our fate. Christina Foust, a communications professor at the University of Denver, points out that climate science, and climate news…Posted. http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/elements/2014/05/the-comedy-of-climate-change.html Global warming fight: California’s next steps. California must double its pace of cutting greenhouse gases after 2020 — slashing emissions from factories and power plants, freight trains and farms — in order to meet its long-term global warming goals, according to a state plan to be released Friday. California-Greenhouse Gases.JPEG-08548. The steps proposed by the California Air Resources Board go well beyond the already aggressive moves California has made to fight climate change…Posted. http://blog.sfgate.com/energy/2014/05/16/global-warming-fight-californias-next-steps/ There’s no practical fix for climate change. Missing from the climate-change debate is the recognition that we have no solution, says Robert Samuelson in The Washington Post. With no practical replacement for fossil fuels, and no government willing to risk economic fallout by curtailing their use, and global emissions on the rise in developing countries…Posted. http://blog.timesunion.com/opinion/theres-no-practical-fix-for-climate-change/29083/ EPA Proposes to Limit Cancer-Causing Toxic Air Pollution From Petroleum Refineries. Yesterday, EPA proposed new standards to limit toxic air pollution from petroleum refineries. EPA’s proposal is good news for millions of Americans, since about 90 million Americans live within 30 miles of a refinery, and many live near more than one. There currently are about 150 petroleum refineries in the country, located in over 30 states. Posted. http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/jwalke/epa_proposes_to_limit_cancer-c.html Soot Pollution Limits Unanimously Upheld in Court, Continuing Clean Air Victory Streak. Last week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit unanimously upheld the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) particulate matter (soot) pollution standard, ruling that EPA’s decision to strengthen the standard in 2012 was firmly grounded in science and the law. The ruling also upheld EPA’s new requirement that states install air quality monitors near heavy traffic roads, where soot pollution levels can spike. Posted. http://blogs.edf.org/climate411/2014/05/16/soot-pollution-limits-unanimously-upheld-in-court-continuing-clean-air-victory-streak/#sthash.4uDxBbsL.dpuf Why carbon emissions are material for transportation companies. Federal law requires companies to disclose material information through various standardized forms and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) explicitly has noted that this includes extra-financial factors that may affect investment outcomes. Furthermore, institutional investors and asset managers have a fiduciary duty to consider all material issues when making investment decisions. Posted. http://www.greenbiz.com/blog/2014/05/15/why-carbon-emissions-are-material-transportation-companies California is in a drought emergency. Visit www.SaveOurH2O.org for water conservation tips.