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CAP AND TRADE

Washington State Offers Ambitious Cap-and-Trade Plan
If Washington’s governor gets his legislative holiday wish, the
Evergreen State in 18 months will launch one of the world’s most
sophisticated and all-encompassing climate-pollution pricing
programs. Draft legislation released last week by the office of
Gov. Jay Inslee (D) would — if sufficient support can be mustered
from state lawmakers — raise an estimated $1 billion a year
through a new levee on greenhouse gas pollution.
http://www.climatecentral.org/news/washington-state-ambitious-cap-and-trade-plan-18493


California fuel prices going up as its green-house gas controls
hit gasoline, diesel sales
After months of seeing gas prices sink ever lower, Californians
will ring in 2015 by paying more at the pump as a result of the
state's landmark greenhouse-gas emissions law. But how much more
we'll pay, and whether it's worth it, remains bitterly debated
among oil companies, some state lawmakers and environmentalists.
http://www.mercurynews.com/california/ci_27218752/california-fuel-prices-going-up-its-green-house


New fuel policy will lead to 10-cent increase
California’s long-disputed and often-misrepresented cap-and-trade
policy for gasoline and diesel fuel goes into effect Jan. 1, and
it will show up quickly as a roughly 10 cent-per-gallon increase
at the pump. That follows months of market actions in the United
States and around the world that have dropped the global price of
crude more than $50 a barrel since June and created the longest
recorded consecutive-days fall of fuel prices.
http://www.pe.com/articles/trade-756971-cap-gallon.html 



AIR POLLUTION

Power-hungry cell towers poisoning air, says study 
A day without your smartphone can be demanding. But a new study
has thrown up some interesting finds about how energy-guzzling
the telecom industry is. Scientists at Indian Institute of
Tropical Meteorology and Forschungszentrum Julich in Germany have
revealed that the Indian telecom sector could be consuming up to
7.5 billion litres of diesel annually to run its mobile towers. 
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/telecom/power-hungry-cell-towers-poisoning-air-says-study/articleshow/45674502.cms


Winter Spare the Air alert issued for Monday
A cold-weather spell that has kept dirty air low in the
atmosphere will bring with it another Spare the Air day on
Monday. The Bay Area Air Quality Management District issued the
alert Sunday afternoon, extending an alert that already was in
effect, which bans wood burning throughout the Bay Area. It is
the fifth of winter season, which runs from November to
February.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/breaking-news/ci_27219169/winter-spare-air-alert-issued-monday


Contractor accused of violating air pollution laws
A Sacramento-based contractor is accused of violating air
pollution control laws for the unpermitted emission of toxic air
contaminants from equipment operated in Yuba City prune and peach
orchards. Howe Operations, owned by Gary Howe, operated a tub
grinder and a large Caterpillar diesel engine in Sutter County
without a permit for several years beyond a 2011 compliance
deadline, according to a complaint filed in Sutter County
Superior Court on Wednesday on behalf of the Feather River Air
Quality Management District. 
http://www.appeal-democrat.com/news/contractor-accused-of-violating-air-pollution-laws/article_0e5d9832-8f22-11e4-ab33-3feb7ee4e31d.html


Despite cold, air board bars wood fires
The calm after the storm has brought holiday sunshine and cold,
frosty nights — seemingly perfect conditions for a family
gathering with hot cider and eggnog by a warm, toasty fire. Not
now it isn’t — not if the Bay Area Air Quality Management
District has anything to do with it. The district has called a
Winter Spare the Air day for Sunday, the season’s fifth alert of
the winter season. 
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Despite-cold-air-board-bars-wood-fires-5981261.php




CLIMATE CHANGE

Lost California rangeland is said to pose greenhouse gas risk 
A comprehensive inventory of Central Valley, Sierra foothills and
Central Coast rangelands between 1984 and 2008 found that almost
half a million acres of rangeland has vanished from California’s
landscape. The disappearance of rangelands – the large and open
lands synonymous with the West – will make it harder for the
state to reach its greenhouse gas emissions goals and may imperil
endangered species, scientists say.
http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/environment/article5058240.html




FUELS

For Energy Policy Makers, Tough Lessons in Downside of Cheap Gas
The sharp drop in fuel prices is undermining government policies
that bet expensive gasoline would prod Americans to find
alternatives to gas-guzzling automobiles. In recent years, the
federal government required passenger cars and trucks to become
much more fuel-efficient, with a goal to more than double average
miles per gallon by 2025. 
http://www.wsj.com/articles/for-energy-policy-makers-tough-lessons-in-downside-of-cheap-gas-1419873527?KEYWORDS=climate+change




VEHICLES

Transportation, not environment, tops Inhofe's priorities for
2015 
The world comes to an end on Jan. 5. That’s the way many people
concerned about climate change and the environment see it,
anyway. That’s because on Jan. 5, U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe is
expected to become chairman of the Senate Environment and Public
Works Committee.
http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/government/transportation-not-environment-tops-inhofe-s-priorities-for/article_129d9551-4686-5357-a40a-6ab55d999ab2.html


Metro takes extra-long electric bus for test drive on the Orange
Line
With a faint hum about as loud as a Toyota Prius, 60 feet of
transportation history rounds a corner in a Lancaster parking
lot. Fresh from a test run on Los Angeles' Metro Orange Line last
week, it is the country's first electric articulated bus.
http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-electric-bus-20141227-story.html




MISCELLANEOUS

Mary Nichols has 'rock star' influence as top air quality
regulator
A meeting with Gov. Jerry Brown and Chevron executives was ending
when an oil company official turned to Mary Nichols, California's
top regulator for air pollution. There was only so much Chevron
could do to meet the state's rules, he told her. "I know we've
told you before that we couldn't do things that you wanted us to
do, and then we've turned around and succeeded," he said. "But
this time we really mean it."
http://www.latimes.com/local/politics/la-me-pol-adv-mary-nichols-20141228-story.html#page=1


Pope Francis’s edict on climate change will anger deniers and US
churches
He has been called the “superman pope”, and it would be hard to
deny that Pope Francis has had a good December. Cited by
President Barack Obama as a key player in the thawing relations
between the US and Cuba, the Argentinian pontiff followed that by
lecturing his cardinals on the need to clean up Vatican politics.
But can Francis achieve a feat that has so far eluded secular
powers and inspire decisive action on climate change?
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/dec/27/pope-francis-edict-climate-change-us-rightwing?CMP=share_btn_fb


Proposed ballot measure means California plastic bag ban likely
on hold
Plastic bag manufacturers stand to sell 9 billion additional
plastic bags simply by gathering enough signatures for a ballot
measure to repeal the state’s plastic bag ban, which is scheduled
to take effect July 1.
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/plastic-646531-bags-ban.html 

Other related articles:
http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article5122236.html




BLOGS

2014: The Year Climate Change Undeniably Arrived
It was January, and tennis players at the Australian Open were
suffering through the scorcher that would be the year 2014. They
threw up and they fainted from the record-setting heat. They put
on ice vests. The soles of their sneakers and the bottoms of
their water bottles softened as the mercury marked 109 degrees
Fahrenheit. They were knocked flat by the longest Melbourne heat
wave in a century.
https://insideclimatenews.org/news/20141229/2014-year-climate-change-undeniably-arrived


US Outlook: California unlikely to see radical price movement 
Despite rising prices on the secondary market, California carbon
allowances are unlikely to move significantly off the floor in
2015 as the programme expands to include natural gas and fuel
suppliers, traders and brokers said. California’s economy-wide
programme will expand to include suppliers who deliver natural
gas, gasoline and diesel to end users in 2015. The expansion is
expected to increase liquidity in the market, because fuel
suppliers will not be freely allocated allowances. 
http://www.icis.com/resources/news/2014/12/29/9849686/us-outlook-california-unlikely-to-see-radical-price-movement/


All The Electric-Car Charging Connectors In One Great Big Poster
Now there's a handy way to keep track of all the different
standards, and where they're used globally. The EV Institute
recently published an updated version of its "Plug-In Around the
EV World" poster of electric-car charging connectors, color-keyed
to the regions that use them.
http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1096058_all-the-electric-car-charging-connectors-in-one-great-big-poster


The Energy Buzzwords People Misuse & Misunderstand
You’ve likely heard them all: “clean energy,” “energy
independence,” “the war on coal,” and even “sustainable.” But
what do these words really mean? We asked a group of energy
insiders to name the energy buzzword they loathe most, and let us
know why. Their choices are below. This discussion relates to the
latest Energy Report and formed the basis of a discussion on The
Experts blog in November.
http://blogs.wsj.com/briefly/2014/12/29/the-energy-buzzwords-people-misuse-and-misunderstand/?KEYWORDS=air+pollution





California is in a drought emergency.
Visit www.SaveOurH2O.org for water conservation tips.