What's New List Serve Post Display

ARB Newsclips for September 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

Big Oil's 'Grass-Roots' Groups in California.  When oil companies
mounted a public campaign in 2010 to roll back California’s
nation-leading greenhouse gas restrictions, the effort backfired
in a big way: 62 percent of the state’s voters rejected
Proposition 23, which would have suspended California’s goal of
slashing carbon emissions by the end of the decade. Posted. 
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-09-04/californias-carbon-laws-oil-companies-fund-grass-roots-revolt


AIR POLLUTION

Chevron's Richmond refinery to pay $278,000 for air pollution
violations.  The Chevron oil company has agreed to pay $278,000
in penalties to a regional air pollution agency for 27 violations
at its Richmond refinery over a period from 2011 to 2013.  The
civil penalties are included in a settlement agreement between
Chevron and the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, which
announced the deal Thursday.  Posted. 
http://www.contracostatimes.com/contra-costa-times/ci_26470287/chevrons-richmond-refinery-pay-278-000-air-pollution

http://www.insidebayarea.com/News/ci_26470284/Chevrons-Richmond-refinery-to-pay-278000-for-air-pollution-violations

http://www.sfgate.com/science/article/Chevron-to-pay-278K-for-Richmond-refinery-air-5734687.php


Mobile sensors to give U. researchers better look at air quality.
 University of Utah researchers are getting a better picture of
Utah's air quality thanks to mobile sensors.  The launch of the
new project this week follows two seasons of poor air quality on
the Wasatch Front. In the winter, particulate matter gets trapped
in the ugly inversions that we see. In the summer, ozone is the
problem.  Posted. 
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865610199/Mobile-sensors-to-give-U-researchers-better-look-at-air-quality.html


CLIMATE CHANGE

Arcata to update coastal commission on sea level rise development
plans.  With its local coastal development program last updated
in 1989, Arcata has been working to incorporate sea level rise
into its future development standards and will provide an update
on its efforts next week at the California Coastal Commission's
meeting in Del Norte County.  Posted. 
http://www.times-standard.com/localnews/ci_26473002/arcata-update-coastal-commission-sea-level-rise-development


Paulson Starts Climate-Change Program to Fund Research.  Former
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is starting a climate-change
program through his Chicago-based think tank to fund research and
advocate for more aggressive environmental action.  The Paulson
Institute’s initiative will begin this month in Beijing and bring
together Chinese and international specialists to share
strategies on reducing the country’s air pollution and identify
ways to measure compliance with government targets, the group
said in a statement today.  Posted. 
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2014-09-04/paulson-starts-climate-change-program-to-fund-research


FUELS

Study: E15 would reduce smog, cancer risk.  Using E15 gas rather
than regular gas will reduce cancer-causing pollutants and smog
in Chicago’s air, says a new report that reviews and aggregates
the results of independent research by the Department of Energy,
National Renewable Energy Laboratory, California Air Resources
Board, Coordinating Research Council, Oak Ridge National
Laboratory, Argonne National Laboratory, the University of
Illinois at Chicago and other institutions.  Posted. 
http://www.ethanolproducer.com/articles/11406/study-e15-would-reduce-smog-cancer-risk
 

OPINION

Let them drive Teslas: Jon Coupal.  Once again, Senate Leader
Darrell Steinberg has thumbed his nose at the working class and
other Californians of modest means by blocking legislation that
would have slightly delayed implementation of carbon emission
fees charged to oil companies. The fees are part of the state’s
“cap-and-trade” program, California’s one-of-a-kind effort to
reduce worldwide carbon emissions. These fees are really taxes
that will be passed on to consumers.  Posted. 
http://www.dailynews.com/opinion/20140904/let-them-drive-teslas-jon-coupal


Pesticide pollution threatens future of our children.  With our
brilliant desert skies and oasis resort towns like Palm Springs,
few realize that air pollution in the Inland Empire and
especially the Coachella Valley is a major public health hazard,
especially for our children. Fewer still realize that pesticides
significantly contribute to this poor air quality by drifting
away from fields and causing smog.  Posted. 
http://www.desertsun.com/story/opinion/contributors/2014/09/05/coachella-valley-air-pollution/15115107/


BLOGS

New EPA Report Assesses Achievements and Hurdles in Reducing
Urban Air Toxics.  Recently, the Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) released the second of two reports required under the Clean
Air Act (CAA) to inform Congress about actions and progress in
reducing air toxics. Given Texas’ history as an industrial state
and major emitter of millions of tons of toxics per year, the
report highlights the importance of the CAA in curbing toxic
pollution.  Posted. 
http://blogs.edf.org/texascleanairmatters/2014/09/04/new-epa-report-assesses-achievements-and-hurdles-in-reducing-urban-air-toxics/
 

What do the new climate rules have to do with my kid’s asthma? 
One of the Environmental Protection Agency’s top selling points
for its recently proposed carbon pollution rules for power plants
is that they will make immediate improvements to our air quality,
in addition to reducing the greenhouse gases that cause climate
change. It’s one of those twofer marketing plans (it tastes great
and it’s less filling) designed to help make the public more
amenable to a new set of rules.  Posted. 
http://grist.org/climate-energy/what-do-the-new-climate-rules-have-to-do-with-my-kids-asthma/


CA Tackles the Question: What Is a “Disadvantaged Community”?  In
a packed, airless room last night in Oakland, several hundred
people grappled with the question of how to define those
communities in California that shoulder a heavier burden of
pollution than others.  The workshop was the third in a series of
three—the other two were held recently in Fresno and Los
Angeles–led by the California Air Resources Board and the
California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA) to gather
input on the question. Posted. 
http://la.streetsblog.org/2014/09/04/ca-tackles-the-question-what-is-a-disadvantaged-community/


Recharge Wrap-up: No Tesla Gigafactory deal with California, BMW
i3 recalled.  Before the Nevada announcement was hinted at, a
deal to incentivize a Tesla Gigafactory in California fell
through. Tesla was looking for around $500 million in incentives,
which the California Governor's Office of Business and Economic
Development was willing to offer in tax breaks along with making
the permit and environmental processes easier. Posted. 
http://green.autoblog.com/2014/09/04/no-tesla-gigafactory-deal-with-california/

How Big Oil is using front groups to attack global warming
regulations.  With California’s landmark measure addressing
climate change, Assembly Bill 32, scheduled to begin covering
automobile fleets and other transportation sources at the end of
this year, Big Oil has been trying to sabotage that process using
a variety of front groups and other tactics.  Posted. 
http://www.sfbg.com/politics/2014/09/04/how-big-oil-using-front-groups-attack-global-warming-regulations






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