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ARB Newsclips for May 30, 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.


CLIMATE CHANGE

Obama prepares to push for new power plant rules. President
Barack Obama is planning a public show of support for new climate
change rules that his administration will unveil Monday. The
White House says Obama will spotlight the first-ever carbon
pollution limits on existing power plants during his weekly radio
and Internet address, released Saturday. Posted.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_OBAMA_CLIMATE_CHANGE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


How Obama's power plant emission rules will work. The Obama
administration is poised to unveil the first rules limiting
carbon emissions from the thousands of power plants across the
nation. The pollution controls form the cornerstone of President
Barack Obama's campaign to combat climate change and a key
element of his legacy. Obama says the rules are essential to curb
the heat-trapping greenhouse gases blamed for global warming.
Posted.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_CLIMATE_CHANGE_QA?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


U.S. industry gears up to fight Obama's climate rules. A U.S.
plan to curb carbon emissions from power plants is likely to come
under attack this summer by industry opponents in a bid to stir
voter anger ahead of elections in November, when voters in states
such as Kentucky and West Virginia could decide whether Democrats
keep control of the Senate. Posted.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/28/us-usa-climatechange-industry-analysis-idUSKBN0E80CP20140528


Climate Change Meets Kitchen Table as Issue Gets Personal. The
White House, as it prepares to announce new limits on carbon
emissions, is working to transform the debate from distant
threats to more immediate issues. President Barack Obama wants to
shift the conversation from polar bears and melting glaciers to
droughts in Iowa and more childhood asthma across the nation.
Posted.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-05-30/climate-change-meets-kitchen-table-as-issue-gets-personal.html


Scary Statistic: China May Have 1 Billion Drivers. If Beijing’s
bumper-to-bumper traffic looks scary now, imagine this: one
billion Chinese drivers. That’s the number of people that Shi
Jianhua, deputy secretary-general of the state-backed China
Association of Automobile Manufacturers, forecasts could have
driving licenses in the country in the next 10 to 15 years. There
were about 280 million last year, according to the Ministry of
Public Security. Posted.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2014-05-30/scary-statistic-china-may-have-1-billion-drivers.html


A Price Tag on Carbon as a Climate Rescue Plan. Bryan T. Pagel, a
dairy farmer, watched as a glistening slurry of cow manure
disappeared down a culvert. If recycling the waste on his
family’s farm would help to save the world, he was happy to go
along.
Out back, machinery was breaking down the manure and capturing a
byproduct called methane, a potent greenhouse gas. A huge
Caterpillar engine roared as it burned the methane to generate
electricity, keeping it out of the atmosphere. Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/30/science/a-price-tag-on-carbon-as-a-climate-rescue-plan.html?_r=0


Seven things to know about the coming EPA power-plant rule. The
Environmental Protection Agency is expected to announce Monday
the first-ever carbon emissions limits on the nation's 1,600
power plants. The proposed rule is the centerpiece of President
Obama's strategy to cut back on climate change and builds on an
earlier regulation that would set carbon emission standards for
power plants that have yet to be built. Posted.
http://washingtonexaminer.com/seven-things-to-know-about-the-coming-epa-power-plant-rule/article/2549121


Scoping out a plan for cleaner air in California.  California’s
devastating wildfires, ongoing drought and record heat offer a
preview of the hotter, drier, more fiery future scientists say we
can expect as the climate continues to change. For the millions
who struggle to catch a breath in our state, increased air
pollution from a never-ending fire season is just one of the
dangerous side effects of climate change. Last week, the
California Air Resources Board adopted an updated “scoping plan”
to chart the state’s clean energy future under the pioneering
climate change law AB 32. Posted.
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2014/may/30/tp-scoping-out-a-plan-for-cleaner-air-in/


Can measuring megacities' GHGs help reduce global warming? A few
years ago, it looked like efforts to curb releases of greenhouse
gases had come to a screeching halt. The 2009 U.N. treaty
negotiations in Copenhagen, Denmark, were largely deemed a
failure, and months later, the U.S. Senate abandoned climate
legislation. But in the face of national and international
failures, cities stepped up. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1060000431/print BY
SUBSCRIPTION ONLY

DROUGHT 

California orders thousands of Sacramento Valley water users to
stop pumping from streams. California has ordered more than 2,600
water agencies and users in the Sacramento Valley to stop pumping
water from streams, a drastic response to the ongoing drought
that hasn’t occurred since 1977. The curtailment notice was
imposed by the State Water Resources Control Board late
Wednesday. It affects 2,648 water agencies, farms, cities and
other property owners with so-called “junior” water rights, or
those issued by the state after 1914…Posted.
http://www.sacbee.com/2014/05/29/6441935/state-orders-sacramento-valley.html#storylink=cpy
   

DIESEL EMISSIONS

California Air Resources Board OKs use of new locomotive engine
filter at L.A. port. The Port of Los Angeles earlier this month
announced that the California Air Resources Board (CARB) has
approved the use of new locomotive technology to help meet strict
clean-air standards in the area. Developed by Johnson Matthey,
the Locomotive Catalyzed Continuously Regenerating Trap (L-CCRT)
diesel particulate filter recently earned CARB verification that
it meets the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Tier 4
emission standard required for all new locomotives, effective
Jan. 1, 2015. Posted.
http://www.progressiverailroading.com/mechanical/news/California-Air-Resources-Board-OKs-use-of-new-locomotive-engine-filter-at-LA-port--40597


FUELS

Oil edges down but still above $103. The price of oil drifted
down Friday after U.S. crude inventories rose in a possible sign
of slack demand. Benchmark U.S. crude for July delivery was down
38 cents to $103.20 a barrel at 0835 GMT in electronic trading on
the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract added 86 cents to
close Thursday at $103.58. Posted.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/O/OIL_PRICES?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


California Senate rejects bill to halt fracking. The California
state Senate on Thursday rejected for the second year in a row a
bill that would have put a temporary stop to the controversial
oil-producing practice of fracking in the state. The measure
failed with a handful of Democrats joining Republicans in
defeating the bill. Posted.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/30/us-california-fracking-idUSKBN0EA01X20140530


Fracking Sucks Money From Wind While China Eclipses U.S. U.S.
President Barack Obama says natural gas can be a bridge from coal
to a cleaner energy future. Investors are showing it’s more
likely a bridge to nowhere. The country’s embrace of natural gas
means less love for wind and solar. New investments in renewable
energy sources declined 5 percent in North America last year to
$56 billion, the lowest since 2010, according to Bloomberg New
Energy Finance. Posted.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2014-05-29/fracking-sucks-money-from-wind-while-china-eclipses-u-s-.html


'Value over volume' is analysts' mantra for future oil and gas
investments. It's never been rocket science what investors want
to see from their oil and gas companies: oil and gas production.
That means fresh barrels and Btus, quarter in, quarter out. It
means gathering reserves -- finding new resources to show they
can keep it up for years or decades. Should a company stumble on
this mission, markets can be merciless, dashing its stock price
and possibly giving competitors a boost. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/energywire/stories/1060000440/print BY
SUBSCRIPTION ONLY

VEHICLES

8 states release action plan to promote clean cars. Eight states
on the East and West coasts released a plan Thursday for working
together to put 3.3 million zero-emission vehicles on the
nation's roads by 2025. The so-called "action plan" follows last
year's memorandum of understanding announced by the governors of
the states, including California and New York. Posted.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_ZERO_EMISSION_VEHICLE_PLEDGE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


OTHER RELATED STORIES
http://online.wsj.com/article/AP8b4c5e6dcf4b4871baf8c1fef0500c9b.html

http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2014/05/29/california-among-8-states-pledging-to-put-3-3-million-zero-emissions-cars-on-roads-by-2025/

http://www.automotiveworld.com/news-releases/8-state-alliance-releases-plan-put-3-3-million-zero-emission-vehicles-road/

http://www.greencarcongress.com/2014/05/20140529-8states.html 
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2014/05/30/stories/1060000434
BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY

CORRECTED-Car battery maker LG Chem to decide on capacity
expansion in 3 months. South Korea's LG Chem Ltd plans to make a
decision on expanding production capacity for electric vehicle
(EV) batteries in three to four months, expecting EV demand to
take off in 2016. "We are seriously considering investing in
expanding (our EV battery production)," President Kwon Young-soo,
who oversees LG Chem's battery division, said on Thursday at the
Busan Motor Show. Posted.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/29/lg-chem-factory-idUSL3N0OF19Q20140529


Crevier BMW Delivers Its First All-Electric BMW i3.  At the
beginning of May 2014, BMW delivered the first all-electric BMW
i3 in the U.S. to Boston resident and Tufts University professor
of practice, Charles Rabie. And on May 9, 2014 Santa Ana-based
Crevier BMW delivered their first i3 to local resident and
entrepreneur, Ash Satar.  Posted. 
http://www.ocregister.com/occars/bmw-616200-delivers-electric.html


GREEN ENERGY

SunEdison solar power plant unit files for IPO. TerraForm Power
Inc, a unit that solar company SunEdison Inc created to own and
operate some of its solar power plants, filed for an initial
public offering to raise up to $50 million. SunEdison is
following in the footsteps of NRG Energy Inc, which last July
listed a unit holding some of its wind and natural gas assets, as
solar firms seek newer and cheaper ways to finance new solar
power plants. Posted.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/29/us-terraform-ipo-idUSKBN0E90Z520140529
 
New York City Trying to Help Households Turn Waste Into Compost. 
For the first week or so, the brown bins hunkered on the streets
like alien capsules that had fallen to Earth: gingerly stepped
around, uneasily eyed, tenaciously ignored. One was pressed into
service as a wastebasket for empty liquor bottles. Another was
unceremoniously tossed in a street-corner trash can. But many sat
untouched outside the front steps of houses all over Bay Ridge,
Brooklyn, as though their new owners hoped that if they refused
to acknowledge them long enough, they might simply disappear.
Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/31/nyregion/composting-in-new-york-city-pilot-program-expands.html?action=click&module=Search®ion=searchResults&mabReward=relbias%3Ar&url=http%3A%2F%2Fquery.nytimes.com%2Fsearch%2Fsitesearch%2F%3Faction%3Dclick%26contentCollection%3DScience%26region%3DTopBar%26WT.nav%3DsearchWidget%26module%3DSearchSubmit%26pgtype%3Darticle%23%2Fgreen%2Benergy%2F24hours%2F
 

New ‘petuary’ liquifies deceased pets, green alternative to
cremation.  When Jerry Shevick’s and Susan Booker’s beloved dog
died, they were horrified she might be frozen, then hauled off in
a plastic bag and burned. So they made humane arrangements for
their Labrador mix. Then the married couple launched a
full-service “petuary” that does away with crematory fire and
smoke. Instead, it reduces dead household companions to water.
Posted.
http://www.sbsun.com/lifestyle/20140529/new-petuary-liquifies-deceased-pets-green-alternative-to-cremation


OPINIONS

Teaching an Old Law New Tricks. PRESIDENT OBAMA is expected to
announce his much anticipated rule for power plants on Monday,
requiring for the first time that older and dirtier plants reduce
their carbon dioxide emissions, which account for a sizable share
of the nation’s carbon pollution. This new rule has rightly been
called the “cornerstone” of the president’s climate action plan.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/30/opinion/teaching-an-old-law-new-tricks.html?rref=opinion


Taking Up the Climate Challenge. Thomas L. Friedman and others
who write about climate change and related problems are just
tinkering around the edges. Those who address the issues persist
in ignoring the fundamental problem: overpopulation. The solution
is not about accommodating a growing global population in
ingenious ways but about cutting the population in half and
keeping it there. Metaphorically speaking, 10 billion people
driving Priuses won’t stop climate change. We must address the
real problem rather than discuss symptoms and how to palliate
them. Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/31/opinion/taking-up-the-climate-challenge.html?action=click&module=Search®ion=searchResults&mabReward=relbias%3Ar&url=http%3A%2F%2Fquery.nytimes.com%2Fsearch%2Fsitesearch%2F%3Faction%3Dclick%26contentCollection%3DScience%26region%3DTopBar%26WT.nav%3DsearchWidget%26module%3DSearchSubmit%26pgtype%3Darticle%23%2Femissions%2F24hours%2F
 

Cutting Back on Carbon. Next week the Environmental Protection
Agency is expected to announce new rules designed to limit global
warming. Although we don’t know the details yet,
anti-environmental groups are already predicting vast costs and
economic doom. Don’t believe them. Everything we know suggests
that we can achieve large reductions in greenhouse gas emissions
at little cost to the economy. Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/30/opinion/krugman-cutting-back-on-carbon.html?hp&rref=opinion&action=click&module=Search®ion=searchResults&mabReward=relbias%3Ar&url=http%3A%2F%2Fquery.nytimes.com%2Fsearch%2Fsitesearch%2F%3Faction%3Dclick%26contentCollection%3DScience%26region%3DTopBar%26WT.nav%3DsearchWidget%26module%3DSearchSubmit%26pgtype%3Darticle%23%2Femissions%2F24hours%2F


BLOGS

The coming political explosion over climate change. In a speech
last night, embattled Senator Kay Hagan blasted GOP challenger
Thom Tillis over his climate denialism, arguing that North
Carolina “needs a Senator who believes climate change exists.”
Hagan added: “Unlike my opponent who flatly denied the existence
of climate change, I know the EPA’s ability to responsibly
regulate greenhouse gas emissions is key to protecting our
environment for future generations.” Posted.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2014/05/28/the-coming-political-explosion-over-climate-change/


Evolving the conversation on climate change.  Ed Rogers wrote
yesterday that liberals are to blame for the poisoned nature of
the political debate on climate change, not Republican
“intransigence or denial.” Ed argues that climate “alarmists” are
vague or dishonest about the costs and effectiveness of efforts
to lower carbon dioxide emissions. Posted. 
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2014/05/29/evolving-the-conversation-on-climate-change/
  

Hookah Bars Contain Elevated Levels Of CO2 And Air Pollution. 
Waterpipes - hookahs - create hazardous concentrations of indoor
air pollution and poses increased risk from diminished air
quality for both employees and patrons of waterpipe bars,
according to a new paper from Johns Hopkins, which did an
analysis of air quality in seven Baltimore waterpipe bars and
found that airborne particulate matter and carbon monoxide
exceeded concentrations common in public places that allowed
cigarette smoking. Posted. 
http://www.science20.com/news_articles/hookah_bars_contain_elevated_levels_of_co2_and_air_pollution-137395
    

John Boehner: 'I'm Not Qualified To Debate The Science Over
Climate Change' The Obama administration is preparing to roll out
new regulations on greenhouse gas emissions from existing power
plants on Monday, and the rules are already drawing criticism
from congressional Republicans. Of course, many of the rules'
opponents are not even convinced that the issue the rules seek to
address -- namely, climate change -- is even a problem at all.
Posted.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/29/boehner-climate-change_n_5411154.html


Climate Change This Week: Religion Gets Climate Change,
Undrillable Reserves, and More! How unusual has the weather been?
No one event is "caused" by climate change, but global warming,
which is predicted to increase unusual, extreme weather, is
having a daily effect on weather, worldwide. Looking above at
recent temperature anomalies, much of the US is experiencing
warmer than usual temperatures, while the Pacific warm spot
continues to prevent rain from reaching California. Posted.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mary-ellen-harte/climate-change-this-week_b_5415270.html


Emissions Without Borders: The Problem With Greenhouse Gas. We
can fence national boundaries with concrete and barbed wire, but
unseen CO2 emissions are released into a border-less atmosphere.
Right now, we are on track to triple these emissions by century's
end. The last time CO2 levels went sky-high, the planet was
probably 18 degrees Fahrenheit hotter, with sea levels
approximately 120 feet higher than now. But we were not here then
to enjoy the overly sultriness of it all. Posted.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/belinda-waymouth/emissions-without-borders-climate-change_b_5390373.html





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