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newsclips -- ARB Newsclips for January 15, 2015.

Posted: 15 Jan 2015 12:21:05
ARB Newsclips for January 15, 2015. 

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

Ontario carbon pricing in the works, finally. After a seven-year
delay, the Ontario government is drafting a plan to charge for
carbon. The Canadian province committed to carbon pricing in
2008, when it signed the Western Climate Initiative with
California, British Columbia and Quebec. The other partners have
all implemented either a carbon tax or a cap-and-trade program.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1060011705/print  

Imposing carbon price would spur bioenergy, slash emissions --
MIT study. Bioenergy production would boom and spur steep
reductions in greenhouse gas emissions if a global price is
slapped on carbon, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
researchers say in a report released today. Examining bioenergy
production under a $15-per-metric-ton carbon price…
http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/stories/1060011746/print 

CLIMATE CHANGE

Study: Sea level rise accelerating more than once thought. The
world's oceans are now rising far faster than they did in the
past, a new study says. The study found that for much of the 20th
century - until about 1990 - sea level was about 30 percent less
than earlier research had figured. But that's not good news,
scientists say, because about 25 years ago the seas started
rising faster and the acceleration in 1990…
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_SCI_SEA_LEVEL?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


OTHER RELATED STORIES
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/15/science/earth/new-research-may-solve-a-puzzle-in-sea-levels-rise.html


Pope on climate change: Man has 'slapped nature in the face'.
Pope Francis said Thursday he is convinced that global warming is
"mostly" man-made and that he hopes his upcoming encyclical on
the environment will encourage negotiators at a climate change
meeting in Paris to make "courageous" decisions to protect God's
creation.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_REL_POPE_ASIA_CLIMATE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


Warm Weather Sinking EU Emissions-Market Plans. Europe’s attempt
to revive its carbon market is being thwarted by a lack of
pollution.  The region’s warmest year in three decades has cut
demand for heating, while utilities are generating a record
amount of power from renewables and the ailing economy is
crimping manufacturing. Electricity producers will need only
about a third of the extra carbon permits being sold in 2015…
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2015-01-14/warm-weather-sinking-eu-emissions-market-plans.html


U.K.’s Miliband to Push for Zero Carbon Emissions by 2050. U.K.
opposition leader Ed Miliband said he’ll push world leaders to
reduce net carbon emissions to zero by 2050 if elected this year.
The target proposed by the Labour Party leader means fossil fuels
would have to be phased out completely unless technology to trap
emissions and pump them permanently underground -- known as
carbon capture and storage -- is deployed at sufficient scale.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2015-01-15/u-k-s-miliband-to-push-for-zero-carbon-emissions-by-2050.html


Texas, South May Be Cooler Through April While West Warms. Texas
and parts of the U.S. South will probably have below-normal
temperatures through April, the U.S. Climate Prediction Center
said in its latest three-month forecast. The western U.S. and
Alaska may be warmer than normal, while forecasters cannot get a
clear indication of what will happen in the East, the center said
today.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2015-01-15/texas-south-may-be-cooler-through-april-while-west-warms.html


West Virginia Withdraws Altered Climate Curriculum. West Virginia
education officials on Wednesday retreated from an earlier
curriculum decision that expressed doubts about widely held views
of climate change. The State Board of Education voted 6-to-2 to
withdraw its altered version of the Next Generation Science
Standards, which were developed by 26 states, including West
Virginia.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/15/us/west-virginia-withdraws-altered-climate-curriculum.html


Center for Urban Resilience sees L.A. as laboratory for green
solutions. The recent dousings of rain in Los Angeles make it
easy to forget that the entire state is still in the grips of a
historic drought. But our dwindling water supply is only one of
many formidable ecological and social challenges facing
California in general and the L.A. region specifically, with its
booming population, rising sea levels and ever-hotter
temperatures caused by global warming.
http://www.latimes.com/brandpublishing/localplus/lmu/la-ss-lmu2015-cures-dto-story.html


U.S. cities lag behind others in the world in meeting the
challenge of sea-level rise. In December, residents in Marin, a
county in the northern part of the San Francisco Bay Area nestled
across from the Golden Gate Bridge, woke up to find that some of
their roadways, docks and parking lots were underwater. Unlike in
past years, when the king tides…
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1060011703/print 

DROUGHT

California Drought Outlook Extends at Least Into April. Most of
California will still be in drought in April even though
conditions will probably improve across the southern part of the
state, according to the latest forecast from the U.S. Climate
Prediction Center. Seasonal rains and the potential for a weak El
Nino forming in the equatorial Pacific have increased the chances
for the drought to ease in southern California as it persists or
gets worse in the central and northern areas…
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2015-01-15/california-drought-outlook-extends-at-least-into-april.html


FUELS

5 things to know about Obama's next climate move: methane. The
Obama administration on Wednesday announced its latest move to
combat global warming, this time trying to rein in heat-trapping
methane gas that escapes from oil and gas fields. The plan relies
on voluntary steps and new rules to reduce leaks from oil and gas
production by 40 percent to 45 percent over the next decade.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_OBAMA_METHANE_5_THINGS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


OTHER RELATED STORIES
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2015/01/14/us/politics/ap-us-obama-methane-5-things.html?_r=0


Wholesale Prices in U.S. Fall by Most in Three Years on Fuel.
Wholesale prices in the U.S. declined in December by the most in
three years, showing little sign that inflation’s bubbling up
amid plunging energy costs. The 0.3 percent decrease in the
producer-price index was the biggest since October 2011 and
followed a 0.2 percent drop the prior month, a Labor Department
report showed today in Washington.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2015-01-15/wholesale-prices-in-u-s-fall-by-most-in-three-years-on-fuel.html


Obama's move to cut methane emissions may hinge on the economy.
Obama administration plans to slash methane emissions to combat
global warming
Energy industry objects, but environmental activist says Obama
isn't doing enough. As President Obama tries to build an enduring
legacy on climate change…
http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-obama-methane-rules-20150113-story.html


California fracking hasn’t unearthed an oil boom. About 20
percent of California’s oil and natural-gas production uses
hydraulic fracturing — with almost all of it happening in one
corner of the San Joaquin Valley — according to the most
authoritative survey yet released of fracking in the Golden
State. Oil companies frack 125 to 175 of the roughly 300 wells
drilled in California each month…
http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/20-of-California-s-oil-natural-gas-comes-from-6016176.php


Enzyme Could Create Biofuels 14 Times Faster than Current
Methods. Scientists at the Energy Department's National Renewable
Energy Laboratory (NREL) have developed an enzyme that could
change the economics of biofuel conversion by converting biomass
to sugars up to 14 times faster and much cheaper than competing
catalysts in enzyme cocktails today.
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2015/01/enzyme-could-create-bioenergy-14-times-faster-than-current-methods


New methane rules fuel oil and gas split over existing
infrastructure. The Obama administration's decision yesterday to
regulate methane emissions from oil and gas wells revealed a
split within the industry as four production companies broke
ranks from the American Petroleum Institute and supported the
regulations.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1060011721/print 

Fracking can be done safely, report says; green groups howl.
Hydraulic fracturing in California can be done safely, the state
said yesterday as it released a draft environmental study on
unconventional drilling. The California Department of
Conservation issued its preliminary environmental impact report
required under S.B. 4, the state's law that mandated the
first-ever rules for unconventional drilling.
http://www.eenews.net/energywire/stories/1060011725/print 

VEHICLES

Electric-car Rivals Like the ‘Tesla Killer’ Are Exactly What Elon
Musk Wants. Tesla Motors' billionaire chief executive Elon Musk
walked into the enemy territory of Detroit
this week with the electric-car maker quickly losing charge.
Chevrolet's all-electric Bolt, which some called a "Tesla
killer," promised a mass-market rollout matching what Tesla's
future cars would offer and cost.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2015-01-14/electric-car-rivals-like-the-tesla-killer-are-exactly-what-elon-musk-wants.html


GREEN ENERGY

US pushes Bulgaria on energy dependence, corruption. U.S.
Secretary of State John Kerry urged Bulgaria on Thursday to wean
itself from its near-total dependence on Russia for energy and
calling for the NATO member to boost anti-corruption efforts.
In meetings with Bulgaria's president, prime minister and foreign
minister on Thursday in Sofia, Kerry said he had spent a
"significant amount of time" discussing ideas for diversifying
their energy supply.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_UNITED_STATES_BULGARIA?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


OTHER RELATED STORIES
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2015-01-15/kerry-pressing-bulgaria-to-end-its-dependence-on-russian-energy.html
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2015/01/15/world/europe/ap-eu-united-states-bulgaria.html
 

Pemex Alumni Ready to Profit From Oil Opening: Corporate Mexico.
For former executives of Petroleos Mexicanos, the opening of
Mexico’s state-controlled energy industry is an invitation to
profits. “Our role is to support national or foreign companies to
help them in their process of growth for energy projects,” Jesus
Reyes Heroles, Pemex’s former chief executive officer who now
oversees energy development company EnergeA…
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2015-01-15/pemex-alumni-ready-to-profit-from-oil-opening-corporate-mexico.html


Dubai Doubles Power-Plant Size to Make Cheapest Solar Energy.
Dubai’s government-owned utility plans to double the size of a
solar power project that it expects will produce some of the
world’s cheapest electricity. Dubai Electricity & Water Authority
awarded a contract to build the 200-megawatt plant to a group led
by Saudi Arabia’s ACWA Power International.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2015-01-15/dubai-doubles-size-of-solar-plant-to-make-world-s-cheapest-power.html


Brooklyn Waterfront Is Fertile Ground for City’s First
Large-Scale Wind Turbine. Modern-day Don Quixotes looking to tilt
at wind turbines can see their latest fearsome foe from far and
wide: Lower Manhattan; Red Hook, Brooklyn; or the Gowanus
Expressway. In less than a month of operation, the first
large-scale wind turbine to be installed in New York City,
standing more than 160 feet tall, has produced enough energy to
power two homes for over a year…
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/16/nyregion/brooklyn-waterfront-is-fertile-ground-for-citys-first-large-scale-wind-turbine.html


Merkel Dashes Loss-Making Power Plants' Aid Hopes. German
Chancellor Angela Merkel said she did not support proposed
payments to loss-making coal and gas-fired power stations in
Germany, dashing ailing conventional power generators' hopes of
receiving cash. Utilities such as RWE and E.ON desperately want
government help through the creation of a "capacity market" to
fund their otherwise unprofitable gas and coal-fired plants…
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2015/01/15/business/15reuters-germany-power-merkel.html


Homes with rooftop solar sell at a premium, study finds. Homes
equipped with rooftop solar panels are often worth thousands of
dollars more in resale than similar properties without solar,
according to new Energy Department research. The study, led by
the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Sandia National
Laboratories alongside experts from academia and the real estate
industry…
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1060011710/print 

U.S. now employs more solar installers than coal miners – study.
A survey released today claims that the solar industry's
galloping growth is having a significant impact on employment,
representing almost 1.3 percent of all new U.S. jobs created last
year. The study by the Solar Foundation triumphantly notes that
the United States now employs more people installing solar
systems (97,031) than it does mining coal (93,185).
http://www.eenews.net/energywire/stories/1060011711/print 

OPINIONS

We burn 2.7 million gallons a minute, so why's oil so cheap? The
world burns enough oil-derived fuels to drain an Olympic-sized
swimming pool four times every minute. Global consumption has
never been higher - and is rising. Yet the price of a barrel of
oil has fallen by more than half over the past six months because
the globe, experts say, is awash in oil. So, where did all this
oil come from?
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_WHERE_DID_ALL_THIS_OIL_COME_FROM?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


Obama targets methane. What is it? Why does it matter? To combat
climate change, the Obama administration is targeting methane – a
greenhouse gas that's less prevalent but more potent than carbon
dioxide. The oil and gas industry is already trying to stop
leaks, though, and argues more regulation would be cumbersome.
Add methane reduction to President Obama’s expanding portfolio of
climate change initiatives.
http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/Energy-Voices/2015/0114/Obama-targets-methane.-What-is-it-Why-does-it-matter
 

Obama targets oil and gas industry, demands massive reduction in
methane emissions. Once again placing himself firmly on the side
of environmentalists and opposite the oil and gas industry,
President Obama on Wednesday rolled out long-awaited regulations
to dramatically cut methane emissions over the next decade.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/jan/14/obama-hits-oil-and-gas-industry-demands-massive-re/#ixzz3OucrzQMb



BLOGS

Behind Obama’s greenhouse emissions math. When you’re setting
goals for combatting climate change, a lot depends on when you
start. The White House announced Wednesday new rules on methane,
the primary component in the massive amounts of natural gas that
the country produces. The administration’s goal is to cut methane
emissions by 45 percent by 2025, based on the emissions level in
2012.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2015/01/15/behind-obamas-greenhouse-emissions-math/


Report: CA Cap-and-Trade Program Is Up to Snuff. The
Environmental Defense Fund released a report this morning that
says the second year of California’s cap-and-trade program is a
success on several fronts. The report, “Carbon Market California
Year Two” [PDF], follows up on its first-year report by analyzing
results from the 2013-14 cap-and-trade program.
http://la.streetsblog.org/2015/01/14/report-ca-cap-and-trade-program-is-up-to-snuff/


California’s Cap and Trade is Succeeding after Two Years, Report
Says. These days, everyone seems to have an opinion about
everything. The ubiquity of social media channels has saturated
public discourse with so many viewpoints that it can be nearly
impossible to distinguish facts from fiction. But facts still
matter.
http://blogs.edf.org/californiadream/2015/01/14/californias-cap-and-trade-is-succeeding-after-two-years-report-says/


Almost All of Canada Will Soon Price Carbon. Believe it or not,
more than 80% of Canada's economy will soon have a price on
carbon.  That's because Ontario announced it will price carbon,
joining Quebec and British Columbia. Ontario, where 40% of
Canada's population lives, will release a strategy later this
year, says its Energy Minister. Even Alberta, land of tar sands,
has a small carbon tax of C$1.80 per ton (BC's is C$30 a ton).
http://www.sustainablebusiness.com/index.cfm/go/news.display/id/26098


New South Korea Cap-And-Trade Market Becomes World’s
Second-Largest. On Monday (January 12, 2015), a new South Korea
cap-and-trade market opened on the Korea Exchange. This carbon
trading scheme is now the second biggest in the world, behind
only the European Union’s, until China’s national market revs up
in 2020.
http://cleantechnica.com/2015/01/14/new-south-korea-cap-and-trade-market/


Higher gasoline taxes? Think again. Americans pay an average
motor-fuel tax around $0.50 per gallon. Of this, $0.184 goes to
Washington, D.C., with the balance going to states and
localities. One would think that a 25 percent retail gas tax is
stiff enough, particularly considering that six months ago the
levy was half as much, percentage-wise.
http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/economy-budget/229395-higher-gasoline-taxes-think-again


EPA actually asking if we want stronger smog health standards.
Smog: It hovers over our cities and communities, putting our
health at risk. It is linked to heart attacks, asthma attacks,
and premature death – and more than one out of three Americans is
at increased risk just because of the air their breathing. The
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released a proposal to
update these standards, and by 2025, it would prevent up to:
http://www.examiner.com/article/epa-actually-asking-if-we-want-stronger-smog-health-standards


$36.6B In Green Bonds Issued Last Year. Growth in the green bond
market is on an upward spiral. That’s according to a report from
Climate Bonds Initiative, a London-based nonprofit. Specifically,
35 organizations in 2014 issued $36.6 billion in green bonds,
more than triple the amount in 2013.  That brings the total
amount of outstanding green bonds to $53.2 billion.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/annefield/2015/01/15/36-6b-in-green-bonds-issued-last-year/
 



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

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