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newsclips -- ARB Newsclips for August 5, 2014.
Posted: 05 Aug 2014 15:13:50
ARB Newsclips for August 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 Pollution cap gets wealthy backing. Gasoline producers have a new, wealthy opponent to contend with as they fight to delay California's cap on greenhouse gas emissions for fuels in the transportation sector. Billionaire environmental activist Tom Steyer announced last week that he will spend money defending California clean air regulations against a bill (Assembly Bill 69) that would delay the carbon cap on vehicle fuels for three years. Posted. http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2014/aug/05/carbon-cap-gasoline-embraced/ California lawmakers sound alarm on increased fuel costs. California state lawmakers returned to the state Capitol on Monday to continue discussion on issues that include a delay to putting fuels under the state’s cap-and-trade program. The program has been in place since 2006 through passage of AB32 – the California Global Warming Solutions Act. The program allows the California Air Resources Board to cap greenhouse gas emissions and require companies to buy permits to exceed those caps. Posted. http://www.landlinemag.com/Story.aspx?StoryID=27452 Californians Deserve To Hear More From Sacramento on Cap and Trade Expansion. It is good to hear a public dialogue is occurring on the vast expansion of California’s cap-and-trade system coming January 1, 2015, when gasoline and diesel used by millions of consumers and businesses will be regulated for the first time under the state’s cap and trade program. Posted. http://www.foxandhoundsdaily.com/2014/08/californians-deserve-hear-sacramento-cap-trade-expansion/ AIR POLLUTION Singapore Law to Tackle Haze. Law Equips Singapore With 'Groundbreaking' Legal Tools to Curb Cross-Border Pollution. Singaporean legislators on Tuesday passed a law that allows regulators to prosecute local and foreign companies involved in illegal forest burning that causes severe air pollution in the city state. The legislation, proposed after Singapore endured an air-quality crisis last year stemming from forest fires in Indonesia…Posted. http://online.wsj.com/articles/singapore-law-to-tackle-haze-1407236113#printMode Indigenous Groups Give Tropical Forests a Carbon Boost. One of the best current paths to reduce the globe's carbon emissions goes through tropical forests. They serve as a sink to sequester human emissions, but deforestation risks sending those assets up in smoke. A recent report argues that to avoid that outcome, indigenous communities should be involved in forest management. Currently deforestation and land use change accounts for 11 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions annually. Posted. http://www.vcstar.com/news/state/indigenous-groups-give-tropical-forests-a-carbon-boost_06386849 Determining Methane Leaks Is Key to Climate Goals. If President Obama's Clean Power Plan is going to work, lots of things will have to fall into place. Perhaps the most important is the reduction in greenhouse gases that is expected from increased use of natural gas to generate electricity. Under the plan, which aims to reduce electricity sector emissions by 30 percent by 2030, the EPA projects that coal-fired power will drop more than a quarter from its current 40 percent share of U.S. electricity generation. Posted. http://www.vcstar.com/news/state/step-1-in-climate-goals-determining-methane-leaks_63463584 Pilot program starts to slow ships to benefit whales, air quality. Ships moving through the Santa Barbara Channel will slow down over the next few months as part of a trial program to help reduce air pollution and protect whales. Shipping companies can receive a small financial incentive for reducing shipping speeds to 12 knots or less, in the trial modeled after similar programs at Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. Posted. http://www.vcstar.com/news/outdoors/pilot-program-starts-to-slow-ships-to-benefit-whales-air-quality_40470693 http://www.independent.com/releases/2014/aug/04/slowing-ships-down-cleaner-air-and-whale-protectio/ Rain contributes to Reno air pollution problem today. An odd weather phenomenon is trapping urban pollution and dumping smoke from California wildfires on top it, leading to an air quality alert in the Truckee Meadows. The Washoe District Health Department reported that due to pollution of fine particles in the Reno area, the air has reached a level that is unhealthy for sensitive groups. It recommends that children, adults and people with lung disease like asthma reduce prolonged or heavy outdoor exertion. Posted. http://www.rgj.com/story/news/2014/08/05/rain-contributes-reno-air-pollution-problem-today/13620683/ CLIMATE CHANGE Toledo's Algae Bloom in Line with Climate Projections. Nutrients in agricultural runoff is the biggest contributor to algae blooms in Lake Erie. What brings that runoff from farm fields to the lake is rain, and lots of it. "It's a combo of more rainfall; that climate change is predicted to cause more severe rain events. And more rainfall means more nutrients and higher nutrients mean more toxicity," Timothy Davis, an ecologist at the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, said. Posted. http://www.vcstar.com/news/state/toledos-algae-bloom-in-line-with-climate-projections_28493752 DROUGHT Construction industry preparing for climate change. There's little question many architects and builders are convinced of the threat of climate change and are urging clients to plan for a future of weather extremes. Those who design and construct buildings are required to look decades into the future and are expected to provide owners with their best advice on how and where they should proceed with their projects. Posted. http://www.sacbee.com/2014/08/05/6605765/construction-industry-preparing.html#storylink=cpy Drought watering regulations may leave trees high and dry. Ray Gulliksen sees the dead branches topping his birch trees as a signature of the drought. The trees in his Fair Oaks front lawn are “showing quite a bit of stress,” he said. The stress comes from watering restrictions that are turning lawns brown around the region and could also weaken trees, arborists warn. Posted. http://www.sacbee.com/2014/08/04/6597274/new-state-watering-regulations.html#storylink=cpy How California’s snitches are slaking thirst for justice. As California staggers thirstily through its worst drought in decades, the state’s more conscientious residents are employing extreme measures to curb their neighbours’ wasteful water use. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/how-californias-snitches-are-slaking-thirst-for-justice-9647889.html UN Expert: We Might Have To Migrate People Out Of California If Drought Continues. A United Nations climate change expert said that if California's severe drought continues, eventually, the U.S. might have to migrate people out of California, CNBC reports. More than half of California is currently seeing "exceptional drought" conditions. Wildfires have been ravaging the state. And water is running low. The drought is "the greatest water loss ever seen" in the state, and had already cost the state $2.2 billion. Posted. http://www.businessinsider.com/california-drought-may-mean-people-leave-2014-8 FUELS China Pushes to Build Its Own Ships to Deliver Gas. Chinese shipyards are seeking to take about $10 billion in orders for new liquefied natural gas tankers over the rest of the decade, part of a plan to restructure the country’s ailing shipbuilding sector and secure China’s energy supply chain. China’s push to build its own natural gas delivery vessels will increase its capability in high-tech shipbuilding and challenge South Korean…Posted. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/06/business/energy-environment/china-pushes-to-build-its-own-ships-to-deliver-gas.html?partner=yahoofinance&module=Search&mabReward=relbias%3Aw%2C{%221%22%3A%22RI%3A10%22} Santa Barbara County oil-drilling project elicits worries. It's been 45 years since a calamitous spill off Santa Barbara coated the picturesque coast with oil, killed wildlife and prompted tough new pumping restrictions. But new worries have emerged in Sacramento. It turns out that there was an exemption in a 1994 law that still allows drilling in a single portion of state-controlled, coastal waters. And a Santa Barbara lawmaker wants to immediately halt any possibility of drilling. Posted. http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-oil-drilling-ban-20140805-story.html How biofuels will expand Tesla's charging stations. There aren't many electric vehicles on the road in the United States, especially when compared to the incumbent population of petrol-powered automobiles, but America does have an ample and renewable supply of cows, garbage, and flushable toilets. Leveraging our nation's strengths in the latter could help make electric vehicle charging stations…Posted. http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2014/08/03/how-biofuels-will-expand-teslas-charging-stations/13481289/ UC Riverside team develops new high efficiency method for conversion of biomass to biofuels. A team of researchers, led by Professor Charles E. Wyman, the Ford Motor Company Chair in Environmental Engineering at the University of California, Riverside’s Bourns College of Engineering, has developed a versatile, relatively non-toxic, and efficient way to convert lignocellulosic biomass into biofuels and chemicals. Posted. http://www.greencarcongress.com/2014/08/20140804-celf.html VEHICLES Electric vehicles go from status symbol to company workhorse. Yet for all the hype, EVs remain more common in glossy magazines than in peoples’ driveways. In Western Europe plug-in EVs made up less than 0.5% of total passenger car sales by May this year. It’s not hard to see why: at around £22,000 for the more affordable Nissan Leaf, and minimal resale market, it’s tough to see who beyond the early adopters are likely to take the gamble. Posted. http://cars21.com/news/view/5807 GREEN ENERGY Calif. bill would cut 'red tape' costs of adding solar. The "red tape" costs of adding solar and the time it takes to win approval vary widely depending on where someone lives in Los Angeles County, a report said yesterday. Some cities approve applications in one day, while others can take as long as 12 weeks, the Sierra Club said as it issued the analysis along with Vote Solar. Overall, the costs of obtaining needed permissions from cities and counties can add as much as $3,500 to the total. Posted. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1060004062/print BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY MISCELLANEOUS Study Finds Trees Save More Than 850 Lives A Year. A recent study by the U.S. Forest Service found that by removing pollution from the air, trees are saving lives and preventing respiratory problems. According to the study, U.S. Forest Service scientists and collaborators calculated that trees are saving more than 850 human lives a year and preventing 670,000 incidences of acute respiratory symptoms. This is the first broad-scale estimate of air pollution removal by trees nationwide, according to a news release. Posted. http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2014/08/04/study-finds-trees-save-more-than-850-lives-a-year/ OPINIONS EPA’s plan on climate change fills a void as Congress does nothing. THE ENVIRONMENTAL Protection Agency began marathon public hearings July 29 on its new climate-change plan. “This week,” the Natural Resources Defense Council’s Frances Beinecke predicted before the sessions, “we’ll hear loud and clear that the American people are strongly behind the EPA’s plans.” Things were loud, anyway. Industry groups, environmentalists and various other activists pushed alternate versions of reality. Posted. http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/epas-plan-on-climate-change-is-necessary-as-congress-does-nothing/2014/08/03/73f996e8-176b-11e4-85b6-c1451e622637_story.html Dan Walters: Drought ramps up pressure on Legislature to write water bond. The water squeeze is on. A few sprinkles fell on the Capitol Monday as the Legislature reconvened, but they didn’t relieve either a severe drought or pressure on members to respond. Posted. http://www.sacbee.com/2014/08/04/6605059/dan-walters-drought-ramps-up-pressure.html A short primer on the California water bond debate. In January, a boat ramp is exposed in Granite Bay at Folsom Lake. Reservoirs throughout California are far below normal water levels for this time of year. California lawmakers and the governor want a smaller water bond than the one scheduled for the November ballot. What it is: An $11 billion water bond, scheduled for the November ballot, was hailed as a landmark compromise when the Legislature passed it in 2009. Posted. http://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/news/2014/08/05/a-short-primer-on-the-california-water-bond-debate.html Opinion: Drought goes underground to hurt aquifers. Seven Western states have just received an overdraft notice from nature's water bank, written in red ink, all caps. It turns out that three-fourths of the H2O they've been using during the American West's record drought (14 years and counting) has been drawn from their precious savings account: not the Colorado River itself but aquifers below ground. Posted. http://www.bakersfieldcalifornian.com/opinion/national-voices/x603939158/Drought-goes-underground-to-hurt-aquifers SIMEON GANT: Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund In Disadvantaged Communities. Among the many benefits of living in California, besides the magnificent weather, is the continuing aforethought of its government leaders, progressive and determined to reverse the negative effects of climate change. Senate Bill 535, authored by Los Angeles Senator Kevin DeLeon and signed by Governor Jerry Brown could very well inject as much as $12.4 Billion into disadvantaged communities throughout California. Posted. http://sacobserver.com/2014/08/simeon-gant-greenhouse-gas-reduction-fund-soon-to-be-released-in-disadvantaged-communities/ Big Business Working on Climate Science. Many companies, not gas related, are actively working to fix climate change. HIV is not a partisan issue, though it once nearly became one until medical and pharmaceutical scientists untangled its deadly path. We don’t question the scientists who discovered its true nature and, ultimately, found a way to contain it. Astronomy is no longer a religious issue, though it once was until it helped create the modern scientific era. Posted. http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/at-the-edge/2014/08/05/wal-mart-ibm-and-coke-among-companies-addressing-climate-change Local View: Public needs voice in carbon debate. There’s enough chatter at the Capitol about a pair of climate-change policies — familiar but complex proposals known as “cap-and-trade” and “low-carbon fuel standards” — that it’s time to ask: What do these confusing and complicated discussions mean for the average Washington resident? Both cap-and-trade and LCFS deal with controlling the production of carbon. Posted. http://annrivers.src.wastateleg.org/in-the-news-public-needs-voice-in-carbon-debate-2/ BLOGS The White House posted a video linking the California wildfires to climate change. Here’s why. Here's the tricky thing about President Obama's proposal to cut carbon dioxide emissions 30 percent by 2030: In order for people to support the move, they need to understand the link between carbon dioxide emissions and climate change. They need to accept that the proposal -- a mandate being developed by the Environmental Protection Agency -- will help curtail global warming. Posted. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2014/08/05/the-white-house-posted-a-video-linking-the-california-wildfires-to-climate-change-heres-why/ Column: Cap-and-trade can help forests and businesses grow together. Portland’s nickname “Stumptown” reflects the central but conflicted role of trees in Oregon’s physical, cultural, and economic landscape. Forests cover nearly half of Oregon’s 62 million acres, and while wood product markets have faced challenges in recent years, the forest sector employs more than 76,000 people in Oregon and accounts for nearly 7 percent of Oregon’s economic base. Posted. http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/blog/sbo/2014/08/column-cap-and-trade-can-help-forests-and.html In Effort To Fight Pollution, Beijing Plans To Ban All Coal Use By 2020. China's smog-plagued capital has announced plans to ban the use of coal by the end of 2020 as the country fights deadly levels of pollution, especially in major cities. Beijing's Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau posted the plan on its website Monday, saying the city would instead prioritize electricity and natural gas for heating. Posted. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/05/beijing-coal-ban_n_5650244.html EPA Refinery Standards and California Carbon Limits Can Solve the Puzzle of Refinery Pollution. EPA recently proposed a final pollution reduction rule for refineries that will help cut toxic air emissions and improve monitoring at the nation’s largest industrial facilities. This new rule is an important complement to the state level carbon and air pollution limits we have in California, and together will make our state cleaner, healthier, and more prosperous. Posted. http://blogs.edf.org/californiadream/2014/08/05/epa-refinery-standards-and-california-carbon-limits-can-solve-the-puzzle-of-refinery-pollution/#sthash.aP88vCbs.dpuf This is climate change: Ohio’s water crisis was a man-made disaster. Industrial agriculture, invasive species and warming temperatures are all vital parts of this weekend's big story. Over the weekend, 400,000 people in northwest Ohio were told that their tap water was no longer safe to drink, cook with or bathe in. Water at a treatment plant had tested positive for dangerously high levels of toxins. Posted http://www.salon.com/2014/08/04/this_is_climate_change_ohios_water_crisis_was_a_manmade_disaster/ EV Explorer lets you discover your plug-in commuting costs. Shopping for cars is exciting, but daunting, especially when trying to calculate cost of ownership. And if you commute to work, you want to know what you'll be spending to get there and back. If you want to compare electric cars to gasoline-powered options, this can all get pretty confusing. Thankfully, UC Davis has launched its online Electric Vehicle Explorer tool to help make driving costs much clearer. Posted. http://green.autoblog.com/2014/08/05/ev-explorer-lets-you-discover-your-plug-in-commuting-costs/ Good news! UK's new environment ministers aren't climate change deniers. Being skeptical about global warming was no bar to previous environment and energy ministers, a fact underlining the political problem that climate change poses for the Tories. Happy days! It appears the UK now has a full suite of environment and energy ministers who actually accept that dangerous climate change is being driven by human activities and needs to be tackled. Posted. http://www.theguardian.com/environment/damian-carrington-blog/2014/aug/05/uks-new-environment-ministers-arent-climate-change-deniers California is in a drought emergency. Visit www.SaveOurH2O.org for water conservation tips.