What's New List Serve Post Display

ARB Newsclips for July 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.

CAP AND TRADE

Activist will fight delay of vehicle fuels in cap-and-trade
system. Billionaire environmental activist Tom Steyer, who has
pledged to spend $100 million in the midterm elections to push
his climate change agenda across the nation, announced Tuesday
that he would fight efforts to delay a key element of
California's landmark environmental law. Posted.
http://www.latimes.com/local/politics/la-me-pol-steyer-20140730-story.html


Washington State outlines plans for carbon trading. Governor Jay
Inslee prepares second attempt at developing cap and trade scheme
in north west state. Washington appears to be the latest US state
considering tightening its climate laws, with plans for a cap and
trade system released on Monday. A memorandum posted on Governor
Jay Inslee’s website says design options on a carbon trading
scheme will be presented by the Community Emergency Response Team
(CERT) later today. Posted.
http://www.rtcc.org/2014/07/29/washington-state-outlines-plans-for-carbon-trading#sthash.O7ks0bVU.dpuf


CLIMATE CHANGE

This Happened While Everybody Was Putting on War Paint for the
Obama Climate Hearings. Supporters and foes of President Obama’s
climate change policy are airing their thoughts publicly this
week during two-day hearings in each of four cities. In Denver
yesterday, an opponent called the White House’s proposed
power-plant rules “a war on prosperity.” Some supporters by
contrast wore “I (heart) Clean Air” T-shirts to the event.
Posted.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2014-07-30/this-happened-while-everybody-was-putting-on-war-paint-for-the-obama-climate-hearings.html


Merkel’s Air Travel Funds Green Power From India to China. German
Chancellor Angela Merkel’s flights around the world helped fund a
wind farm on a luxury hotel in India and a biogas plant run by a
Chinese beer maker. Germany spent about 9.9 million euros ($13.3
million) from 2008 through 2012 to offset the greenhouse-gas
emissions made by the air travel of members of the government and
parliament, the government said in a reply to questions from the
Green Party. Posted.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-07-29/merkel-s-air-travel-funds-green-power-from-india-to-china.html


German Water Supply Threatened as Climate Change Boosts Droughts.
 German water supplies will become increasingly threatened this
century as climate change raises the risk of droughts and water
shortages in the country. While Germany is considered water-rich,
more water evaporates than falls as rain in the eastern part of
the country, according to a report by a German parliamentary
committee. Posted.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-07-30/german-water-supply-threatened-as-climate-change-boosts-droughts.html


White House Pushes Financial Case for Carbon Rule.  Failing to
adequately reduce the carbon pollution that contributes to
climate change could cost the United States economy $150 billion
a year, according to an analysis by the White House Council of
Economic Advisers released Tuesday. The report is part of the
White House’s effort to increase public support for President
Obama’s climate-change agenda, chiefly an Environmental
Protection Agency proposal targeting coal-fired power
plants…Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/30/us/politics/white-house-report-presses-economic-case-for-carbon-rule.html?module=Search&mabReward=relbias%3As%2C{%221%22%3A%22RI%3A7%22}&_r=0


3 advisers to Patrick quit amid energy dispute. Three members of
an environmental advisory committee for the Patrick
administration resigned Monday in protest of policies they say
hinder the state’s goal of significantly cutting the greenhouse
gases that cause climate change by the end of the decade. In a
letter to officials at the Executive Office of Energy and
Environmental Affairs, the members of the Global Warming
Solutions Act Implementation Advisory Committee called
the…Posted.
http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/07/29/environmental-advisers-patrick-administration-resign/vWio5x2NELLsxhMSn3SbwN/story.html


Brown follows up Mexico climate pact with another on energy.
California Gov. Jerry Brown signed an agreement yesterday with
Mexico to promote renewable energy, biofuels and other clean
energy technologies. The memorandum of understanding, signed with
Mexico's energy secretary, Pedro Joaquín Coldwell, calls for
technical cooperation and joint implementation of programs to
boost low-carbon energy, biofuels, energy efficiency, energy
storage and other emissions-reducing technologies. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1060003762/print BY
SUBSCRIPTION ONLY

Some lawmakers see limited risk from climate change as White
House plows ahead with carbon rules. Opinions split sharply
yesterday on whether tackling climate change would help or hurt
the economy, but none of the lawmakers at a Senate hearing
directly dismissed its scientific underpinnings. Sen. David
Vitter (R-La.), a candidate in his state's 2015 gubernatorial
election, said that many people of different political stripes
accept that human activity is affecting the atmosphere. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1060003763/print BY
SUBSCRIPTION ONLY

Climate change is among top national security concerns – experts.
National security once referred only to the defense against armed
conflict. But today, there is substantial evidence that national
security is also affected by a variety of climate-induced
threats, which are expected to become more severe in the coming
decades, government leaders and military experts said yesterday.
Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1060003767/print  BY
SUBSCRIPTON ONLY

DROUGHT

New statewide water waste prohibitions take effect. It is now
illegal for any Californian to hose down a driveway or sidewalk,
or allow landscape irrigation to flood off their property. These
and other new regulations were approved July 15 by the State
Water Resources Control Board in response to the ongoing drought
in California. They formally took effect Tuesday after passing a
legal review by the state Office of Administrative Law. Posted.
http://www.sacbee.com/2014/07/29/6591112/new-statewide-water-waste-prohibitions.html#mi_rss=Latest%20News#storylink=cpy


ENVIRONMENT: Agencies accelerate drought response. Leaky and
ill-timed sprinklers that send precious fresh water flowing down
sidewalks and gutters will be the primary focus of efforts by
local agencies to enforce state-ordered conservation that started
Tuesday, officials said. Inland water districts are ramping up
their drought response plans and considering higher rates on
water used for irrigation and swimming pools. Posted.
http://www.pe.com/articles/water-698126-use-state.html 

FUELS

Ethanol producer secures $3M grant.  Pacific Ethanol Inc., a
Sacramento-based renewable fuels producer with a production plant
in Stockton, said it and its research partners had received a $3
million California Energy Commission matching grant to further
develop sorghum as a feedstock. Pacific Ethanol is working with
sorghum seed producer Chromatin Inc., California State
University, Fresno's Center for Irrigation Technology and
University of California's Kearney Agricultural Research Center.
Posted.
http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20140730/A_BIZ/407300309/-1/A_NEWS14


DOE discloses first steps to curb leaks in natural gas systems.
Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz yesterday announced preliminary
initiatives to combat leaks of the potent greenhouse gas methane
from pipelines, compressors and other parts of the natural gas
distribution infrastructure. The Department of Energy is taking
first steps to look into mandatory energy efficiency standards
for natural gas compressors, which are devices that compress gas
and push it down pipelines. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1060003765/print BY
SUBSCRIPTION ONLY

Enviro group pushes for third-party sustainability audits.
Voluntary third-party certification systems are poised to play a
large role in future biofuels markets, the Natural Resources
Defense Council predicted in a report yesterday. As advanced
biofuels begin to be produced commercially in large facilities,
environmentalists, policymakers and fuel purchasers will
inevitably ask questions of their environmental footprints, NRDC
said. Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/stories/1060003791/print BY
SUBSCRIPTION ONLY

VEHICLES

UC Davis launches website to compare driving costs of electric
vehicles. A new, UC Davis-developed website enables car buyers to
weigh the potential costs of operating a plug-in electric
vehicle. Tuesday’s launch of the “Electric Vehicle Explorer” site
is a collaboration of the UC Davis Institute of Transportation
Studies and the university’s Plug-in Hybrid and Electric Vehicle
Research Center. EV Explorer can be accessed at
http://gis.its.ucdavis.edu/evexplorer/. Posted.
http://www.sacbee.com/2014/07/29/6590581/uc-davis-launches-website-to-compare.html


HIGH-SPEED RAIL

California high-speed rail project considering tunnel under San
Gabriel Mountains. A tunnel under the San Gabriel Mountains has
been added as an alternate route for the $67.6 billion San
Francisco-to-Los Angeles high-speed rail train’s Southern
California segment connecting Palmdale to Burbank, officials said
Monday. The new, more direct corridor, along with the S-shaped
alignment proposed in 2007 that roughly follows the 14 Freeway
through Santa Clarita…Posted.
http://www.dailybulletin.com/article/20140729/NEWS/140729373
http://www.sbsun.com/business/20140729/california-high-speed-rail-project-considering-tunnel-under-san-gabriel-mountains
   

GREEN ENERGY

Business-technology group unveils new solar marketplace.
Installing solar panels can be a time-consuming, inefficient and
frustrating endeavor for businesses to pursue. Companies
interested in solar power can be victimized by fly-by-night
contractors, while others may not see the long-term benefits on
their balance sheets for years to come. A new project unveiled by
a business- and technology-oriented pairing -- the Chambers for
Innovation and Clean Energy…Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1060003760/print BY
SUBSCRIPTION ONLY

OPINIONS

The E.P.A.’s Energy Star Program. Regarding the Environmental
Protection Agency’s Energy Star program, in 2011, the agency
implemented a more rigorous process for protecting the label’s
integrity through independent certification requirements for all
product categories. Additionally, off-the-shelf verification
testing demonstrates a 95 percent compliance rate for Energy Star
products. Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/30/opinion/The-EPAs-Energy-Star-Program.html?module=Search&mabReward=relbias%3As%2C{%221%22%3A%22RI%3A7%22}


Another View: Copper paint rules are reasonable. I would like to
set the record straight on inaccuracies and misconceptions in a
recent Viewpoints article (“A plan to prevent copper pollution is
fatally flawed,” July 19) that takes issue with a water quality
regulation issued by the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality
Control Board that would require a reduction in harmful levels of
copper discharged to Marina del Rey. A statewide study shows
Marina del Rey to have the worst copper pollution of any marina
in California…Posted.
http://www.sacbee.com/2014/07/30/6588659/another-view-copper-paint-rules.html#storylink=cpy


Viewpoints: Ban on fracking would cost jobs. When it comes to oil
regulation, California’s rules are the toughest in the nation.
One would think that these stringent protections, adopted last
year by the Legislature and governor under Senate Bill 4, would
be a cause for celebration among the environmental community. But
instead of claiming victory, extremists are pushing for energy
bans that would make our state more dependent on costly imported
oil. Posted.
http://www.sacbee.com/2014/07/30/6591089/viewpoints-ban-on-fracking-would.html#storylink=cpy


Viewpoints: Oil companies should conserve water, too. The signs
of drought are everywhere. Lawns are brown, lakes and reservoirs
are low, and hundreds of thousands of acres of croplands lie
fallow, threatening farmworkers’ livelihoods. Facing one of the
worst droughts in California’s history, cities across the state
have instituted mandatory water cutbacks. Communities are
capturing and reusing runoff and recycling wastewater with
renewed urgency. Posted.
http://www.sacbee.com/2014/07/30/6591106/viewpoints-oil-companies-should.html#storylink=cpy


BLOGS

Confused about potential Tesla Gigafactory locations? Here's what
we know. Is Sacramento in the race for Tesla's mammoth $5 billion
battery factory? It's hard to say. While other potential sites
boast of their attributes, Sacramento County has been curiously
quiet. The last few weeks have seen competing claims over where
Tesla Motors will locate its mammoth $5 billion battery factory,
dubbed the Gigafactory. Posted.
http://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/blog/morning-roundup/2014/07/confused-about-potential-tesla-gigafactory.html?ana=e_sac_rdup&s=newsletter&ed=2014-07-30&u=48zidwXI73mCj+vn7gp6vA0acf0b37&t=1406741822


Toyota Mirai might be the name of new fuel cell car; it means
'future'.  Anybody remember the Ford Futura? It wasn't exactly a
world-beater of a car, so we don't think the name Toyota's has
apparently chosen for its first production fuel-cell vehicle is a
tribute of sorts. Though one never knows. Maybe Toyota just likes
18-inch-tall EVs. The Japanese automaker has apparently settled
on a nameplate for its fuel-cell model…Posted.
http://green.autoblog.com/2014/07/30/toyota-mirai-might-be-the-name-new-fuel-cell-car-it-means-futu/


Nuisance Flooding An Increasing Problem Due To Rising Sea Levels.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
released a technical report on Monday revealing that of the top
10 US cities that have seen an increase in nuisance flooding,
eight are on the East Coast. Nuisance flooding causes public
inconveniences such as frequent road closures, overwhelmed storm
drains and compromised infrastructure, and is the result of
rising sea levels. Posted.
http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1113200687/sea-level-rise-causes-more-nuisance-flooding-noaa-072914/#ssFb3tSA1xiDX8R1.99




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