What's New List Serve Post Display

ARB Newsclips for January 16, 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

The real social cost of carbon: $220 per ton, report finds. New
report argues US government estimates for the social cost of
carbon are woefully inadequate. How much does each ton of carbon
dioxide released into the atmosphere really cost us? Whether
you're a corporate executive penciling out the costs of new
emissions-reduction strategies or a government regulator
evaluating the feasibility of a carbon tax…
http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2390589/the-real-social-cost-of-carbon-usd220-per-ton-report-finds


Cap-and-trade plan would make top polluters pay. The state's
largest polluters would have to pay for their carbon pollution
under companion bills introduced in the Legislature Friday. Gov.
Jay Inslee's cap-and-trade plan sets an overall limit on
heat-trapping gases similar to California's program. It requires
power plants, refineries and other large polluters to buy
"allowances"…
http://www.wral.com/cap-and-trade-plan-would-make-top-polluters-pay/14362729/#RVbAFvsAlC5pUlF6.99


AIR POLLUTION

Heavy Smog Casts Pall Over Beijing as It Bids for Olympic Games.
Air pollution hit hazardous levels in Beijing today, presenting a
new challenge to leaders who have tried to curb smog via higher
taxes and casting a pall over the city’s bid for the 2022 Olympic
Games. The concentration of PM2.5, the particulates that pose the
greatest risk to human health, was 444 micrograms per cubic meter
as of 5 p.m. at Tiananmen Square…
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2015-01-15/heavy-smog-casts-pall-over-beijing-as-it-bids-for-olympic-games.html


Mexico's former president says cities face 'the last window' of
opportunity to clear the air. The world's cities present the
biggest hurdles as well as some of the most fertile opportunities
to slow global climate change in the coming decades. This was the
theme used by most people who spoke at a meeting at the World
Bank in Washington, D.C., yesterday. Private engineers met public
urban planners, city officials sat next to logistics experts…
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1060011797/print 

Air Monitor in Texas Fracking-Boom Country Is Up and Soon to
Track Pollution. It may be a while before Karnes County and its
neighbors know whether they're breathing dangerous air. The first
air monitor in the heart of the fracking-intensive Eagle Ford
Shale region of south Texas has been installed and will be in
operation following calibration tests to assess its accuracy.
http://insideclimatenews.org/news/20150116/air-monitor-texas-fracking-boom-country-and-soon-track-pollution


CLIMATE CHANGE

The heat is on; NOAA, NASA say 2014 warmest year on record. For
the third time in a decade, the globe sizzled to the hottest year
on record, federal scientists announced Friday. Both the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and NASA calculated that
in 2014 the world had its hottest year in 135 years of
record-keeping.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_SCI_HOTTEST_YEAR?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


OTHER RELATED STORIES
http://www.centralvalleybusinesstimes.com/stories/001/?ID=27565 

Ocean Life Faces Mass Extinction, Broad Study Says. A team of
scientists, in a groundbreaking analysis of data from hundreds of
sources, has concluded that humans are on the verge of causing
unprecedented damage to the oceans and the animals living in
them. “We may be sitting on a precipice of a major extinction
event,” said Douglas J. McCauley, an ecologist at the University
of California, Santa Barbara…
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/16/science/earth/study-raises-alarm-for-health-of-ocean-life.html?_r=0


Pope Francis says climate change is mostly man-made. Will anyone
care? In case you were waiting for the pope to weigh in on
climate change, here it is. On Thursday, Pope Francis told
reporters on a plane from Sri Lanka to Manila that he believed
humans were largely responsible for global warming. "I don't know
if it is all (man's fault) but the majority is. For the most
part, it is man who continuously slaps down nature," he said,
according to Reuters.
http://www.vox.com/2015/1/15/7553555/pope-francis-global-warming


DROUGHT

Calif. marks entry into 4th year of drought; still able to
increase water deliveries. California is entering its fourth year
of drought, state officials said yesterday as they warned that
despite some winter rains, there are more tough times ahead. The
Golden State needs precipitation at about 150 percent of normal
to catch up, said Mark Cowin, director of the California
Department of Water Resources. There hasn't been significant
precipitation since Dec. 21…
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1060011803/print 

DIESEL ACTIVITIES

Truckers Gain From Diesel’s Drop After Gasoline Plunge: Freight. 
Chris Bortz has seen the cost of gasoline for his car drop by
almost half since June. The price of diesel used by his
construction business has lagged behind. That’s about to change
as sliding farm demand after the U.S. harvest and milder weather
brings diesel, nearly identical to heating oil, more in line with
gasoline.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2015-01-16/truckers-poised-to-join-u-s-car-drivers-fuel-relief-freight.html


Diesel truck dilemma threatens Sacramento church's food program.
California's clean air regulations have unintended consequences.
And this year, the state is targeting diesel trucks --
specifically older models made before 1996, which have the
dirtiest engines and contribute to global warming. Caught in the
crosshairs is a Sacramento food ministry program that is helping
to feed people in need.
http://www.kcra.com/news/diesel-truck-dilemma-threatens-sacramento-churchs-food-program/30748426


CARB levies fines on shippers, food suppliers. The California Air
Resources Board has fined several major freight shippers for
failing to use cleaner burning fuel near ports. CARB also
announced fines for failure to report information for the state’s
reefer regulation. According to a CARB news release, the air
quality agency fined four shipping companies a total of $146,719
for failing to switch from dirty diesel “bunker” fuel to cleaner
fuel close to land.
http://www.landlinemag.com/Story.aspx?StoryID=28342#.V 
http://shipandbunker.com/news/am/752732-shippers-land-147000-in-fines-for-violating-marine-fuel-sulfur-regulations

FUELS

Judge Puts BP's Top Fine at $13.7 Billion for Gulf Oil Disaster;
U.S. Sought $18 Billion. BP Plc (BP/) faces a maximum fine of
$13.7 billion after a U.S. judge ruled that the company dumped
3.2 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 --
about a quarter less than the U.S. had calculated. The
government’s 4.2 million barrel estimate of the spill size was
rejected today by U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier, decreasing
the potential maximum fine from $18 billion.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2015-01-15/bp-dumped-3-19-million-barrels-of-oil-in-2010-spill-judge-says.html


Gas price slide picks up speed in California. California gasoline
prices are once again dropping at a hefty rate as plummeting oil
prices more than cancel out the state’s carbon credit costs that
oil companies are passing along to their customers, according to
price surveys Friday. “Drivers should be aggressively shopping
for the lowest gas prices to encourage further quick drops at
their local stations…
http://www.centralvalleybusinesstimes.com/stories/001/?ID=27564 

GREEN ENERGY

Renewable Energy Association launches solar and energy storage
bodies. Revamp of renewable energy trade body aims to enhance
representation for fast-expanding solar and energy storage
sectors. The Renewable Energy Association (REA) has this week
announced the launch of two trade bodies, following the decision
last year to bring an end to its long-standing affiliation with
the Solar Trade Association.
http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2390513/renewable-energy-association-launches-new-solar-and-energy-storage-bodies


BLOGS

A New Ray of Hope in China’s Fight Against Pollution: Lawsuits.
China’s citizens have been turning out in growing numbers to
protest the rising pollution of their air, water and land, but
the law hasn’t responded.  Local governments often obstruct
enforcement of environmental legislation and block attempts by
environmental non-profit groups to sue polluters.
http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2015/01/16/a-new-ray-of-hope-in-chinas-fight-against-pollution-lawsuits/


A new Pew survey shows Americans might finally be getting serious
about global warming. Pew Research Center is out with a new
survey and, for the first time in years, it actually bodes well
for those hoping climate change will finally become a policy
priority in the United States. The center asked a nationally
representative pool of Americans which policy issues they believe
should be a top priority for the Obama administration and newly
appointed Congress this year.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2015/01/15/new-pew-survey-shows-americans-might-finally-be-getting-serious-about-global-warming/


Why GOP leaders are reckless on global warming. A new Yale poll
finds that solid majorities of Americans want the United States
to act boldly on global warming. Sixty one percent, for example,
agree that the “United States should be a leader on global
warming, even if meant taking action when others do not.” So why
are Republican leaders in the new Congress, who are now
supposedly sensitive to mainstream opinion, so eager to tear
apart President Obama’s greenhouse gas plan…
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2015/01/16/why-gop-leaders-are-reckless-on-global-warming/


A Closer Look at the Global Warming Trend, Record Hot 2014 and
What’s Ahead. There’s plenty of news coverage, including in The
Times, of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
announcement that 2014 was the warmest year since careful record
keeping began in 1880. But it’s worth taking a closer look, and a
look ahead, via a helpful analysis posted today by the climate
team…
http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/01/16/a-closer-look-at-the-global-warming-trend-record-hot-2014-and-whats-ahead/?_r=0


New study: California's carbon market delivers for economy and
climate. Would you believe there's a state that cut pollution and
cleaned up its air, while creating jobs and sustaining economic
growth? And where economic incentives, rather than costly
regulations, are stimulating innovation and investment?
California passed the earliest, most comprehensive law to set a
cap on carbon pollution…
http://www.edf.org/blog/2015/01/16/new-study-californias-carbon-market-delivers-economy-and-climate

Climate hawks are not impressed by Obama’s methane plan. You
would expect environmentalists to offer effusive praise as
President Obama releases the final major component of his Climate
Action Plan: a proposal to clamp down on methane emissions from
the oil and gas sector. And at first glance, they did. “This
announcement once again demonstrates the President’s strong
commitment to tackling the climate crisis,” …
http://grist.org/climate-energy/climate-hawks-are-not-impressed-by-obamas-methane-plan/


Cal Energy Commission to award ~$1.2M for center for alt fuels
and advanced vehicle technologies. The California Energy
Commission Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology
Program (ARFVTP) is making up to $1,194,659 in grant funds
available to develop a new center or expand an existing center
for alternative fuels and advanced vehicle technologies in
Central California. (PON-14-606).
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2015/01/20150116-cec.html 

How Many Tesla Model S Electric Cars Have Been Built So Far?
While Tesla likely won't reveal last year's total production of
Model S electric cars until it releases year-end financial
results, it has said it expected to build 33,000 during 2014. And
with the Model S in production for more than two and a half 
years, clearly there are tens of thousands of them on the roads.
http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1096339_how-many-tesla-model-s-electric-cars-have-been-built-so-far


Nissan To Have Longer-Range Electric Cars 'Relatively Quickly,'
Exec Says. "Range anxiety" has always been one of the main
concerns for buyers of affordable electric cars, and that issue
is now receiving significant attention from automakers. This
week's Detroit Auto Show included the introduction of the
Chevrolet Bolt concept--which promises 200 miles of range at a
price around $37,500.
http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1096334_nissan-to-have-longer-range-electric-cars-relatively-quickly-exec-says


The $2.4 billion plan to get Germans to buy EVs. The disconnect
isn't new or unusual: lofty government goals don't inspire any
desire on the part of the populace to meet them. That's the case
in Germany with electric cars, where the federal government has
set a target of one million BEVs on its roads by 2020.
http://www.autoblog.com/2015/01/15/tbillion-plan-germans-buy-ev/





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