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newsclips -- ARB Newsclips for December 23, 2014
Posted: 23 Dec 2014 11:30:35
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 Will state gas prices soar in protest of 2015 environmental law? Jamie Court calls it the “January surprise.” Court, president of the Consumer Watchdog nonprofit, is convinced oil companies may try to artificially inflate California’s gasoline prices in January. The reason? Come the new year, California’s cap-and-trade system for reining in the greenhouse gases behind global warming will expand to cover transportation fuels sold in the state. http://www.sfgate.com/business/article/Will-state-gas-prices-soar-in-protest-of-2015-5974297.php California State Senator Andy Vidak Says Stop the Hidden Gas Tax Immediately following taking the Oath of Office, I introduced Senate Bill 5, which would stop the hidden gas tax, which is going into effect on January 1, 2015. To read the bill, click here. Assemblyman Jim Patterson (R–Fresno) introduced a companion measure, Assembly Bill 23, as well. http://goldrushcam.com/sierrasuntimes/index.php/news/local-news/1831-california-state-senator-andy-vidak-says-stop-the-hidden-gas-tax California Regulators Bump Rice Offsets, Forestry Updates To 2015 The California Air Resources Board (ARB) delayed the potential adoption of a new rice cultivation protocol – the first crop-based methodology considered by the ARB – as well as proposed updates to the forestry protocol to 2015 amid controversy about the planned revisions. The rice cultivation protocol promotes eligible practices that reduce methane emissions from rice cultivation, such as switching from wet seeding to dry seeding and early drainage in preparation for the harvest in California. http://www.ecosystemmarketplace.com/pages/dynamic/article.page.php?page_id=10716§ion=news_articles&eod=1 AIR POLLUTION China drafts new law to fight air pollution: Xinhua China plans tougher pollution limits and heavier penalties in a revision of its air pollution law, state-run news agency Xinhua said, as the government battles to reduce smog that takes hundreds of thousands of lives each year. http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/12/23/us-china-environment-idUSKBN0K105D20141223 As US cleans up, it's exporting more pollution Heat-trapping pollution released into the atmosphere from rising exports of U.S. gasoline and diesel dwarfs the cuts made from fuel efficiency standards... http://www.sacbee.com/news/nation-world/article4816128.html CLIMATE CHANGE Top firms' greenhouse gas emissions rise, despite call for cuts Greenhouse gas emissions by the world's top 500 companies rose 3.1 percent from 2010 to 2013, far off the cuts urged by the United Nations to limit global warming, a study showed on Monday. The top 500 firms by capitalization accounted for 13.8 percent of world greenhouse gas emissions and 28 percent of gross domestic product in 2013, according to the report, drawn up by the information provider Thomson Reuters and BSD Consulting, a global sustainability consultancy. http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/12/22/us-climatechange-companies-idUSKBN0K01MX20141222 Miami’s climate catch-22: Building waterfront condos to pay for protection against the rising sea In one of cities most vulnerable to climate change, a high-stakes bet to out-build the sea. Argentine developer Alan Faena recently listed the most expensive condo in this city’s history at $55 million. The Mid Beach penthouse features a private elevator, an infinity pool, an uninterrupted view of the Atlantic. The catch: The tower stands on what scientists call one of America’s most vulnerable floodplains. http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/storyline/wp/2014/12/22/miamis-climate-catch-22-building-luxury-condos-to-pay-for-protection-against-the-rising-sea/ Another threat from climate change: bad-tasting shrimp Some of the consequences of climate change are obvious -- shrinking polar ice caps, rising sea levels, more damaging floods -- and some are subtle. Among the latter, we can now add bad-tasting seafood. So concludes a team of researchers led by Sam Dupont of the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, recently published in the Journal of Shellfish Research. http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-mh-badtasting-shrimp-20141222-column.html FUELS Nuclear: Carbon Free, but Not Free of Unease Next week, if all goes as planned, the 42-year-old nuclear reactor at the Vermont Yankee generating station will be shut down for the last time. The steam turbine at the plant, which at its peak could make enough electricity for about half a million homes with virtually no greenhouse gas emissions, will grind to a halt. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/23/science/nuclear-carbon-free-but-not-free-of-unease-.html?ref=science Natural Gas: Abundance of Supply and Debate Natural gas is the Rorschach test of energy policy. Depending on one’s point of view, it can be either an essential tool for meeting the challenge of climate change or another dirty fossil fuel that will speed the planet down the path to calamitous warming. President Obama is in the first camp. He sang the praises of natural gas in his State of the Union address in January, saying, “If extracted safely, it’s the bridge fuel that can power our economy with less of the carbon pollution that causes climate change.” http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/23/science/natural-gas-abundance-of-supply-and-debate-.html?_r=0 Biggest Arctic Gas Project Seeks Route Around U.S. Sanctions Total SA (FP) and its partners will use a record 16 ice-breaking tankers to smash through floes en route to and from the Arctic’s biggest liquefied natural-gas development. They’re still looking for a way around a freeze in U.S. financing. With 22 wells drilled, and a runway and harbor built for the $27 billion project in Russia’s Yamal Peninsula, where temperatures can reach 50 degrees below zero Celsius, Total, OAO Novatek (NVTK) and China National Petroleum Corp. have little choice but to push ahead. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-12-22/biggest-arctic-gas-project-seeking-route-around-u-s-sanctions.html Natural Gas Glut Isn’t Deterring Southwestern Energy Across the giant Fayetteville shale gas field here, country roads that were clogged by truck traffic just a few years ago are empty again. Once aglow at night from the bright lights twinkling on drilling rigs, the roads are now dark under the starry Arkansas sky. Virtually all of the few remaining rig and frack crews belong to one survivor: Southwestern Energy, a stubborn believer in the future profitability of natural gas. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/23/business/energy-environment/natural-gas-glut-isnt-deterring-southwestern-energy.html?_r= VEHICLES Electric Cars Hurt Most Among Renewables on Oil's Slump Electric cars are likely to be hurt the most by lower oil prices within the renewable energy industry, according to a report that predicts a limited impact on wind-and solar-power companies. The 45 percent plunge in Brent crude oil prices since the end of June also will slow the shift away from fossil fuels in oil producing nations such as Saudi Arabia and drive up the cost of natural gas in the U.S., Bloomberg New Energy Finance said. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-12-22/electric-cars-hurt-most-in-renewables-industry-from-oil-s-slump.html 'World's first' hybrid aircraft take flight Hybrid cars and trucks are now a common sight on UK streets, but researchers are now taking the technology to greater heights than ever before. A team from the University of Cambridge claims to have successfully built and tested the first aircraft powered by a parallel hybrid-electric propulsion system, where an electric motor and petrol engine work together to drive the propeller. http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2387965/worlds-first-hybrid-aircraft-take-flight GREEN ENERGY Nicaragua’s latest revolution: Becoming a green energy powerhouse How quickly can a nation wean itself from fossil fuels and move toward reliance on renewable energy? In the case of Nicaragua, it can move very, very fast. http://www.sacbee.com/news/nation-world/article2607467.html CEC awards grants for biogas and wind power, including $1 million to UC Davis The California Energy Commission awarded two grants this month for biogas and wind power projects, including $1 million to UC Davis. The UCD... http://www.sacbee.com/news/business/article4819719.html OPINION Steve Hansen: California’s Christmas gift — new tax on gasoline Our California legislature has a holiday greeting for you. Beginning in January, you will be paying a minimum of $1 to $2 more per tank full of gas. Apparently having the second-highest gasoline tax in the nation is not good enough for the majority of folks we put into political office. And it may not stop there. Some experts say these new fees could eventually tack on as much as an additional 76 cents per gallon! http://www.lodinews.com/opinion/columnists/steve_hansen/article_85c6200f-186e-5cc3-90ac-7be39ebc4476.html BLOGS 2014: A Year in Review on Climate and Trade ...fossil fuels. India's national solar program aims to bring 100 gigawatts of solar power to India by 2022--much of it home-grown. "Buy-local"... http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ilana-solomon/2014-a-year-in-review-on_b_6366200.html Coal Ash and Fracking Fluid: Two More Victories for Environmental Protection ...into landfills and waste ponds. We have been living with a variety of forms of pollution from coal for a very long time. America's environmental regulators... http://www.huffingtonpost.com/steven-cohen/coal-ash-and-fracking-flu_b_6365904.html California is in a drought emergency. Visit www.SaveOurH2O.org for water conservation tips.