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newsclips -- Newsclips for December 31, 2014
Posted: 31 Dec 2014 11:10:00
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 Prices set to rise around 10 cents in Pennsylvania, California in 2015 Two states are poised for about a 10-cent-per-gallon (CPG) increase in gas prices as the calendar opens on 2015. http://www.cspnet.com/fuels-news-prices-analysis/fuels-news/articles/dime-time-gas-prices AIR POLLUTION Chinese Court Orders 6 Companies to Pay $26 Million for Polluting A court in eastern China has ordered six companies to pay fines totaling about $26 million for discharging waste acid into two waterways, according to the court’s microblog account. The fine, 160 million renminbi, is the biggest of any Chinese environmental pollution case and seems to signal that officials are trying to crack down on companies that have steadily degraded much of China’s land, water and air. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/01/world/asia/chinese-court-orders-6-companies-to-pay-26-million-for-polluting.html?_r=0&gwh=8F77852F15F4520FED55FF4922F324A1&gwt=pay In China, app aims to shame polluters by showing who is fouling air Sitting at a desk in his small office here, Ma Jun, one of China's best-known environmental advocates, shows off his latest tool in the fight against the nation's crippling air pollution: a computer app. Displayed on a tablet, the app shows a map of northeastern China covered with large orange circles, each representing one of the country's major polluters, reporting its emissions in real time. http://www.latimes.com/world/asia/la-fg-china-bad-air-20141230-story.html#page=1 CLIMATE CHANGE French Climate Envoy Sees Hope in Low Oil Prices Low oil prices could paradoxically help the world reach an international agreement to fight global warming, according to the French ambassador charged with organizing a key climate conference in Paris. France is spending the next 11 months trying to cajole more than 190 countries into overcoming disagreements about acceptable greenhouse gas emissions levels and who should pay to achieve them to produce a binding accord to limit emissions. http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/french-climate-envoy-sees-hope-low-oil-prices-27925435 Paris 2015 is climate’s burning deadline Agreements on climate change — to paraphrase what the 19th century German statesman Otto von Bismarck said about lawmaking — are like sausages. It is best not to know how they are made. On Dec. 11 this coming year, 195 states are scheduled to strike a deal in Paris to curb the fossil-fuel gases imperiling Earth’s climate system. http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/12/31/world/science-health-world/paris-2015-is-climates-burning-deadline/#.VKRF5xamOa8 Global agriculture equipment market set to adopt electric machinery to combat carbon emissions The global agriculture equipment market has experienced high growth figures in recent years, as the global population increases and therefore more people need to be fed. However, countries such as India that are seeing their agriculture industry grow rapidly are also increasing their carbon footprint. There is now a growing feeling in the global agriculture equipment market that the adoption of electronically powered machinery can help reduce the levels of carbon emissions released into the atmosphere. http://www.companiesandmarkets.com/News/Agriculture-Farming-Raw-Materials/Global-agriculture-equipment-market-set-to-adopt-electric-machinery-to-combat-carbon-emissions/NI9909 Alaska is Ground Zero for Global Warming Studies To the untrained eye, Bonanza Creek forest is breathtaking, a vibrant place alive with butterflies and birds, with evidence of moose and bear at every turn. But look through forest ecologist Glenn Juday’s eyes, and you see a dying landscape. Since the 1970s, climate change has doubled the growing season in some places and raised state temperatures 6 degrees in the winter and 3.5 on average annually since 1950, says Juday, a professor at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks. Drought is stressing and killing spruce, aspen and birch trees. http://alaskatrekker.com/2014/12/alaska-ground-zero-global-warming-studies/ FUELS Voices and Votes Against Fracking Rang Out and Racked Up in 2014 Burch Muldrow was absolutely fed up with Lewis Petroleum. The oil company was bulldozing dirt over a pit full of black, oily sludge on the ranch where he worked as caretaker. Recalling a dramatic incident that happened two years ago, Muldrow said recently that he couldn't just stand by and watch. So he grabbed an empty one-gallon plastic milk jug from the bed of his pickup. http://insideclimatenews.org/news/20141231/voices-and-votes-against-fracking-rang-out-and-racked-2014?utm_source=Inside+Climate+News&utm_campaign=7e308a28d0-InsideClimate_News12_10_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_29c928ffb5-7e308a28d0-327749509 GREEN ENERGY In California, At Least, The Case For Energy Efficiency Is Building Commercial building owners and managers will invest close to $960 billion globally between now and 2023 to retrofit existing facilities with more energy-efficient heating, ventilation and air conditioning, windows, lighting, plumbing fixtures, and other key technologies. http://www.forbes.com/sites/heatherclancy/2014/12/30/in-california-at-least-the-case-for-energy-efficiency-is-building/ 10 Energy Breakthroughs of 2014 That Could Change Your Life From a new kind of light bulb to a carbon-removing power plant, a dazzling array of new technologies that promise to save energy and help fight global warming debuted this year. They're not just gee-whiz hoverboards—levitating skateboards once considered Hollywood lore that California-based tech firm Hendo has actually managed to build. The developments include practical products for the home, as well as potentially huge advances in how we produce energy and get around. (See related story: "Four 2015 Energy Ideas "Back to the Future" (Almost) Got Right.") http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/energy/2014/12/141231-2014-cool-energy-ideas/ In New Year, Cleaner Fuel Offshore Means Cleaner Air Onshore A key component of one of the most significant health protection measures adopted in the past several years will take effect in the New Year – and Texas is positioned to reap significant benefits. Large ocean-going ships, like container vessels, tankers, and cruise ships are often called floating smokestacks because they have historically burned fuel hundreds to thousands of times dirtier than all other mobile sources, including cars, trucks, trains and construction equipment. http://blogs.edf.org/texascleanairmatters/2014/12/30/in-new-year-cleaner-fuel-offshore-means-cleaner-air-on-land/ Top five stories: Energy and environment It was a busy year on the energy and environment front, from another delay in the review of the Keystone XL pipeline to President Obama unveiling his controversial climate regulations for power plants. Despite being accused of a “war on coal” by Republicans in their successful campaign to win control of the Senate, Obama shifted his climate agenda into high gear after the elections by revealing a deal to cut greenhouse gas emissions with China. http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/227928-top-five-stories-energy-and-environment BLOGS CARB Chairman Nichols Discusses Climate, Air Policies with Bloomberg BNA Mary D. Nichols, chairman of the California Air Resources Board, spoke with Bloomberg BNA correspondent Carolyn Whetzel in Los Angeles Dec. 16 about the agency's air quality and climate policies. In this exclusive interview, Nichols discusses what's ahead in the ongoing implementation of the state's landmark Global Warming Solutions Act (A.B. 32) and for the nation's first economywide greenhouse gas emissions cap-and-trade program—now linked with Quebec's carbon market. This interview has been edited for clarity. http://www.bna.com/carb-chairman-nichols-b17179921775/ While Much of the U.S. Shivers, Alaskan Fourth Graders Bemoan a Warm, Snowless December on YouTube While most of the lower 48 states are shivering their way into 2015, in much of Alaska the concern is persistent warmth. Fourth graders at the Kuinerrarmiut Elitnaurviat school in Quinhagak recently caught the attention of some news outlets and climate scientists with a clever video bemoaning a warm and snowless December. The town of about 660 residents, mostly Yup’ik Eskimos, is a mile from the Bering Sea coast. http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/12/31/while-much-of-the-u-s-shivers-alaskan-fourth-graders-bemoan-a-warm-snowless-december-on-youtube/?_r=0&assetType=opinion Marketing California's "Climate Credit for Cars" to Everyone Starting in January 2015, California's cap and trade program is expanding to include transportation fuels. Gasoline refiners will be required to purchase allowances for the greenhouse gas emissions associated with their product, and at $12 a ton for carbon dioxide, this will raise the price of California gas for consumers by 10 cents a gallon, according to UC Berkeley Professor Severin Borenstein. Consumers will likely not notice the change, given the decrease in the price of oil over the past year and the overall volatility in gas prices. But the funds raised will be substantial. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-sandler/marketing-californias-cli_b_6398554.html California is in a drought emergency. Visit www.SaveOurH2O.org for water conservation tips.