What's New List Serve Post Display

ARB Newsclips for June 5, 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 investigating validity of 4.3 mln carbon offset
credits. California is reviewing half of the offset credits it
has issued for its carbon market while regulators investigate
whether wrongdoing at an incineration facility in Arkansas
rendered those credits out of compliance with the cap and trade
program's rules. Posted.
http://in.reuters.com/article/2014/06/05/usa-california-carbonoffset-idINL1N0OM01R20140605
 

AIR POLLUTION

Bill to preserve beach bonfire rings passes state Senate
committee. The legislation draws questions because some say the
pits are still widely used after a mandate that only charcoal be
burned. A bill to safeguard beach bonfire rings by requiring
coastal regulators to sign off before rings can be removed or
their use restricted passed Wednesday out of the state Senate
Environmental Quality committee. Posted.
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/bill-617111-rings-beach.html 

Monitor tracks downwind pollution from Sentinel power plant.  An
air pollution monitor now tracks emissions downwind of the CPV
Sentinel power plant, one year after the 800-megawatt project
went online near Desert Hot Springs. South Coast Air Quality
Management District, the government agency which monitors air
quality across much of Southern California, announced on Friday
the new $52,000 monitor began collecting data May 23. Posted.
http://www.pe.com/articles/plant-695714-air-monitor.html  

Gov. Herbert has concerns about new pollution cuts. Utah Gov.
Gary Herbert said Wednesday that President Barack Obama's new
plan to cut pollution discharged by America's power plants will
likely raise electricity rates for consumers and cost the state
jobs. He said the state is in good shape to make the transition
from coal-powered plants to natural gas because the state has
been taking steps in that direction for the past nine
years…Posted.
http://www.vcstar.com/news/2014/jun/04/new-pollution-cuts-on-agenda-at-utah-energy/#ixzz33mU0X6Kz


Feds could impose air plan on Arizona.  A 2010 state law designed
to prevent Arizona from limiting greenhouse gases could prevent
state regulators from coming up with a plan to limit carbon
dioxide emissions from power plants without approval from the
Republican-controlled Legislature, which has repeatedly opposed
new federal regulations. That means the federal government could
be left to choose how to implement new air rules proposed by
President Barack Obama this week. Posted. 
http://www.vcstar.com/news/2014/jun/04/feds-could-impose-air-plan-on-arizona/#ixzz33mWJa3bj


CLIMATE CHANGE

Interior chief: Jamestown at risk from rising seas. Interior
Secretary Sally Jewell got a firsthand look Thursday at the
effect of climate change on ever-receding Jamestown island,
concluding that America's first permanent European settlement is
clearly vulnerable to rising seas. Led by National Park Service
rangers, Jewell trekked around the island, where some sections
now lie beneath the James River…Posted.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_DISAPPEARING_JAMESTOWN?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


OTHER RELATED STORIES
http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/Interior-chief-Jamestown-at-risk-from-rising-seas-5530086.php


China Working to Cap Emissions as Soon as Possible: Xie. China is
working on how to cap its greenhouse gas for the first time, an
effort that would spur the worldwide effort hold back climate
change. The world’s biggest producer of fossil fuel emissions has
been studying for more than a year how and when it might be able
to make its pollution levels peak and hopes to act as soon as
possible, said Xie Zhenhua…Posted.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-06-05/china-working-to-cap-emissions-as-soon-as-possible-xie.html


Time to take climate change quite seriously.  Even for people who
don't believe in it, climate change just got real. It's about
time. The Obama administration's proposed new rule for existing
power plants - reducing heat-trapping carbon emissions by up to
30 percent by 2030 - is ambitious enough to get anyone's
attention. Posted.
http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20140605/A_OPINION0608/406050314/0/SEARCH


Some states already lashing at climate rule. Long before
President Barack Obama’s Environmental Protection Agency unveiled
its major climate rule for power plants this week, legislators
around the country were working to undercut it with a big money
conservative group nudging them along. In at least eight states,
lawmakers have approved symbolic anti-EPA resolutions based on a
model approved by the American Legislative Exchange
Council…Posted.
http://www.politico.com/story/2014/06/obama-climate-rule-states-lash-out-107450.html#ixzz33myrasPu


Scientists report breakthrough in capturing CO2 from natural gas
production. A research team says it may have a better way to
capture carbon dioxide from natural gas wells. The team's
results, published this week in Nature Communications, unveil a
patented material that, at least in a lab, can capture CO2 from
natural gas more cheaply and efficiently than typical amine
scrubbers on natural gas processing facilities. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1060000758/print BY
SUBSCRIPTION ONLY

Severe Flooding May Follow Summer Fires Out West, Thanks to El
Nino. Drought-stricken states in the western United States could
face severe flash flooding later in the year due to the
combination of an intense wildfire season in the summer and a
strong El Niño event the following winter. Posted.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/severe-flooding-may-follow-summer-fires-out-west-thanks-to-el-nino/
 

DIESEL EMISSIONS

Ship Operators Propose Drones to Hunt Sulfur Scofflaws. Container
carriers may find it difficult to pass on the cost as the
oversupply of ships persists. The world’s biggest shipping
companies will call on authorities to deploy drones in enforcing
new pollution controls that may tempt competitors to use cheaper,
dirtier fuel and undercut prices. Posted.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-06-04/ship-operators-propose-drones-to-hunt-sulfur-scofflaws.html


VEHICLES

Electric-car company Tesla Motors might be able to stay plugged
in in New Jersey. The Assembly's consumer affairs committee on
Thursday unanimously advanced a bill that would allow electric
car manufacturers to sell vehicles directly to residents. The
companies would be required to operate maintenance facilities in
the state. Posted.
http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/Bill-to-allow-Tesla-to-sell-in-New-Jersey-advances-5530414.php


GREEN ENERGY

Energy storage: The hot new thing in Silicon Valley. First, Randy
Ross bought a Chevy Volt. Faced with the need to charge his car
and eager to cut his utility bill, he installed solar panels on
the roof of his Pleasanton home. Now Ross, 61, has taken the next
big step toward energy independence: his own battery storage
system, which gives him a source of backup power and could
ultimately…Posted.
http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_25900627/energy-storage-hot-new-thing-silicon-valley


State renewable energy mandates raise power prices by only tiny
amounts so far – study. Electricity ratepayers in states with
renewable portfolio standards (RPSs) have seen their power bills
increase slightly as utilities and other power providers work to
incorporate more wind, solar and biomass energy into their fuel
mixes.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2014/06/05/stories/1060000742
BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY

EPA proposal unlikely to be a game changer for clean energy
'innovation' Despite White House promises to "spur" innovation in
drumming up support for the new U.S. EPA rule to cut carbon
emissions on existing power plants, the rule if enacted will not
create any great leap forward in clean energy technology. The
rule would not solicit a surge of investment for advanced energy
storage and batteries; flexible, paper-thin solar panels would
not become the building material of choice because states are
looking for cleaner generation. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/stories/1060000787/print BY
SUBSCRIPTION ONLY

BLOGS

What’s News in Washington: Obama Talks Climate Change at Summit. 
Good Thursday morning. Political controversies over a prisoner
swap with the Taliban and the scandal at the Department of
Veterans Affairs are still swirling in Washington, but on this
warm and gloomy day, President Obama has a busy agenda across the
pond. Mr. Obama is meeting with foreign leaders at the Group of 7
in Brussels to discuss energy, climate change and, of
course…Posted.
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/06/05/whats-news-in-washington-obama-talks-climate-change-at-summit/?_php=true&_type=blogs&action=click&module=Search®ion=searchResults&mabReward=relbias%3Ar%2C%5B%22RI%3A6%22%2C%22RI%3A12%22%5D&url=http%3A%2F%2Fquery.nytimes.com%2Fsearch%2Fsitesearch%2F%3Faction%3Dclick%26region%3DMasthead%26pgtype%3DHomepage%26module%3DSearchSubmit%26contentCollection%3DHomepage%26t%3Dqry377%23%2Fclimate%2Bchange%2F24hours%2F&_r=0
 

Energy Choices. Nate Silver got a lot of grief when he chose
Roger Pielke Jr., of all people, to write about environment for
the new 538. Pielke is regarded among climate scientists as a
concern troll – someone who pretends to be open-minded, but is
actually committed to undermining the case for emissions limits
any way he can. But is this fair? Posted.
http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/06/05/energy-choices/?_php=true&_type=blogs&module=BlogPost-Title&version=Blog%20Main&contentCollection=Opinion&action=Click&pgtype=Blogs®ion=Body&_r=0


Power Plant Rule A Tipping Point For Clean Energy Economy. For
those of us (and all of you) who’ve been urging the government to
implement meaningful climate policy, the release yesterday of a
plan to cut carbon emissions from power plants has been a long
time coming. But it finally came. The U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency’s proposed carbon pollution rule for existing
fossil-fueled power plants – also known as the Clean Power Plan –
are a huge win for our climate. Posted.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/edfenergyexchange/2014/06/04/power-plant-rule-a-tipping-point-for-clean-energy-economy/


Average new-vehicle MPG climbs yet again, to 25.6. April Fools!
That dip in new-car fuel economy during the fourth month of this
year was in fact an aberration. The University of Michigan
Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI) calculated the weighted
average of new-car fuel economy and determined that new car
month-over-month fuel economy in May rose for the fourth time in
five months. Better yet, May represented a monthly record high.
Posted.
http://green.autoblog.com/2014/06/05/average-new-vehicle-mpg-climbs-yet-again-to-25-6/
 

Tucson hydrogen fuel cell CUV will allow Hyundai to sell more
dirty cars.  With the first Hyundai Tucson Fuel Cell Vehicle
deliveries happening soon (a bit later than expected), it's time
for the Korean automaker to explain why it's offering the H2 CUV
here in the states. After all, there are only 10 public hydrogen
stations in the US today, according to the DOE, so it can't be to
take over the market. Posted.
http://green.autoblog.com/2014/06/04/tucson-hydrogen-fuel-cell-cuv-allow-hyundai-sell-dirty-cars/
 

Production Tesla Model X designed for women, looks 'better'
[w/video]. A recent study found that men and women drive their
electric vehicles differently. That might help explain why there
is a male bias towards Tesla's electric offerings while the more
practical Nissan Leaf get the attention of female drivers. Well,
according to Tesla CEO Elon Musk…Posted.
http://green.autoblog.com/2014/06/04/production-tesla-model-x-designed-for-women-looks-better/


The Fight Over Drones, As Seen From A Drone. There are
entrepreneurs who would love to fly drones all over the country.
They dream of drones taking photos for real estate agents and
survey their fields. But there's a battle in the courts right now
standing in their way. The battle is about whether it's legal for
drones to take to the sky. The question at the core of the
battle: Who owns the air? We explored this question in a and in
the video above. Posted.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2014/06/05/318861346/the-fight-over-drones-as-seen-from-a-drone





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