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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.

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