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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.

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