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ARB Newsclips for May 20, 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

Low carbon price shows market does not believe in ETS
reform-RWE's Terium. The low price of carbon is an indication
that the market does not believe European Union politicians will
take the necessary measures to fix the carbon market, the chief
executive of German utility RWE said on Wednesday. EU diplomats
last week approved a proposal to begin reforming the world's
biggest carbon market in 2019…
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/05/20/climatechange-business-rwe-idUSL5N0YB51Y20150520


AIR POLLUTION

Air alerts still in effect from Tracy fire. Health cautions
remain in place today because of a large biomass fire in Tracy
that is sending smoke beyond San Joaquin County into Stanislaus
and Merced counties. Piles of wood are burning at the Tracy
Storage Facility for Agra Marketing of Chico, the Tracy Press
reports. The fire began Monday.
http://www.modbee.com/news/local/article21478890.html#storylink=cpy


Solvay, Enirgi Chemicals Join Forces on Emissions Treatment.
Solvay and Enirgi Chemicals have created a 50-50 joint venture to
speed up the development and offering of sodium-bicarbonate based
products and solutions to reduce airborne emissions from
industries in North America. The new entity, SOLVAir Natural
Solutions, was formed in response to growing demand for air
pollution control applications, including flue gas treatments.
http://www.environmentalleader.com/2015/05/20/solvay-enirgi-chemicals-join-forces-on-emissions-treatment/#ixzz3ahrcyAC3


Dearborn steel plant to pay $1.35M fine to settle alleged
violations.  AK Steel will pay $1.35 million to settle alleged
air pollution violations at a Dearborn plant previously owned by
the American subsidiary of Russia-based Severstal. The Justice
Department announced the agreement between the steelmaker, the
federal government and the state of Michigan today, saying it
settles 42 violations alleged…
http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/2015/05/20/steel-plant-penalty/27646815/


Weakened coal pollution rules will cost UK millions, green groups
claim. Greenpeace and EEB aim to show financial impact of planned
industrial emissions rules, which they say have been weakened by
industry lobbying. European Commission plans to water down
pollution laws for coal power plants could cost the UK more than
£500m each year in healthcare and sick days, new analysis by
environmental groups has found.
http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2409255/weakened-coal-pollution-rules-will-costs-uk-millions-green-groups-claim


Air emissions of BPA may affect aquatic exposures – study.
Industrial emissions of bisphenol-A, or BPA, through the air can
increase BPA levels in nearby aquatic environments, according to
a new study. The study, which was published this week in the
journal Science of the Total Environment by researchers at the
University of Missouri and the U.S. Geological Survey, tracked
water levels of BPA, a common plasticizer…
http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2015/05/20/stories/1060018883 

CLIMATE CHANGE

Obama calls climate change an `indisputable' security threat. 
President Barack Obama has argued for action on climate change as
a matter of health, environmental protection and international
obligation. On Wednesday, he added national security. Those who
deny global warming are putting at risk the United States and the
military sworn to defend it, he told cadets at the U.S. Coast
Guard Academy. Failure to act would be "dereliction of duty,"
their commander in chief said.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_OBAMA?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


OTHER RELATED STORIES
http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-05-20/obama-says-climate-change-threatens-military-readiness-security
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/05/20/us-usa-climate-obama-idUSKBN0O513H20150520?virtualBrandChannel=11563

http://www.wsj.com/articles/obama-to-cast-climate-change-as-a-national-security-threat-1432126767

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/prez-coast-guard-grads-global-warming-national-threat-article-1.2229358

http://www.modbee.com/living/health-fitness/article21453351.html#storylink=cpy

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2015/05/20/obama-climate-change-national-security-coast-guard/27628313/

http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/242622-obama-climate-change-serious-threat-to-global-security

http://news.yahoo.com/obama-frames-global-warming-national-security-threat-100248226--politics.html
http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2015/05/obama-climate-national-security


Pope's No. 2 offers new insights into climate encyclical. A new
development model is needed to combat global warming, one that
marries economic growth to combat poverty with a sustainable use
of resources, Pope Francis' deputy said Wednesday. Cardinal
Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state, said both
political and economic commitment will be required to ensure the
Earth's health for future generations.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_REL_VATICAN_CLIMATE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


OTHER RELATED STORIES

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2015/05/20/world/europe/ap-eu-rel-vatican-climate.html


France wants business world to help curb climate change. French
President Francois Hollande is calling on business leaders to get
more involved in fighting global warming by financing
climate-friendly projects and investing in green technologies.
France is to host the U.N. Climate Change Conference in December.
Hollande stressed Wednesday that an agreement between 196
countries in Paris would have "extremely positive consequences on
economic actors…
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_FRANCE_CLIMATE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


OTHER RELATED STORIES
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/05/20/us-climatechange-business-hollande-idUSKBN0O51ZQ20150520

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2015/05/20/world/europe/ap-eu-france-climate.html


Merkel, Hollande commit to global climate protection. German
Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande
confirmed their commitment to fighting global warning Tuesday,
gathering with others in Berlin to prepare for this year's U.N.
Climate Change Conference. Merkel and Hollande said in a joint
statement that both countries "are firmly decided to take all
efforts to reach an ambitious…
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_GERMANY_FRANCE_CLIMATE_PROTECTION?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


Investors With $25 Trillion Detail Opportunity in Climate Change.
As more than 1,000 executives gather in Paris to discuss their
response to climate change, a group of investors managing $25
trillion opened a web portal detailing the action being taken to
cut pollution. Four investor groups representing 265 institutions
worldwide joined the United Nations Environment Program in
opening a web portal that will show which projects gained finance
to rein in global warming.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-05-19/investors-with-25-trillion-detail-opportunity-in-climate-change


Obama Recasts Climate Change as a More Far-Reaching Peril.
President Obama used a commencement address on Wednesday at the
Coast Guard Academy to cast his push for urgent action to combat
climate change as a national security imperative, saying that the
warming of the planet poses an “immediate risk” to the United
States.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/21/us/obama-recasts-climate-change-as-a-more-far-reaching-peril.html?_r=0
  

Exclusive: Rising carbon emissions from oilsands a 'unique'
challenge, federal cabinet told. Canada may need international
emissions credits to offset increasing emissions from oilsands.
Greenhouse gas emissions from increasing oilsands production will
rise faster than Canada's ability to curb them, the federal
government was warned before new emissions reduction targets were
announced last week.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/rising-carbon-emissions-from-oilsands-a-unique-challenge-federal-cabinet-told-1.3079444


Gov. Brown signs global pact to fight climate change.  Gov. Jerry
Brown sought to reaffirm California’s status as a global leader
in the fight against climate change Tuesday by signing an
agreement with representatives in six foreign nations, including
Germany and Brazil, and three U.S. states aiming to keep the
world’s average temperature from rising another 2 degrees
Celsius.
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Brown-signs-climate-change-deal-with-other-state-6273853.php

http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2015/05/20/stories/1060018857 
http://www.trust.org/item/20150519205153-44lpz/?source=jtOtherNews3


What Global Warming Means For Old, Tall Trees. As climate change
drives up global temperature and increases the frequency of
intense droughts, the world’s oldest, biggest trees might be the
most vulnerable, according to a recent study published in Nature
Climate Change. Using Darcy’s law — an equation that describes
the flow of water through a porous medium — researchers at the
Los Alamos National Laboratory…
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/05/20/3660666/climate-change-tree-death-study/


Obama to tell Coast Guard graduates climate change is a 'serious
threat to global security'. President Obama today will warn the
newest members of America's armed forces that climate change
poses an immediate national security risk and will profoundly
affect the U.S. military. In a commencement address to the
graduating class of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, Obama will
point to sea-level rise worsening floods at the…
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2015/05/20/stories/1060018859 

As region melts, experts grapple with how to simultaneously
develop and protect it. Bouncing his knees like a drummer
pounding on a bass pedal, adjusting his tie and shifting his
weight in front of the multinational crowd, James Stotts was the
most visibly anxious speaker.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2015/05/20/stories/1060018856 

DROUGHT

California decision on farmer water cuts to apply broadly. As
drought deepens in California, the state's water board director
says he'll decide by Friday whether to accept an offer from a
group of farmers to give up a fourth of their available water.
The concession by farmers in the Sacramento and San Joaquin river
delta could be one of the most important yet forced by
California's record four-year drought.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_CALIFORNIA_DROUGHT_WATER_CUTS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


OTHER RELATED STORIES
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2015/05/20/us/ap-us-california-drought-water-cuts.html


California drought: New poll finds residents think it’s serious,
but aren’t sure they can conserve more. An overwhelming majority
of Californians believe the state’s drought is extremely serious
and support Gov. Jerry Brown’s mandatory new water conservation
rules, according to a new statewide poll released Tuesday. But in
a potentially troubling finding for cities and water districts
preparing to launch summer conservation rules…
http://www.dailynews.com/environment-and-nature/20150519/california-drought-new-poll-finds-residents-think-its-serious-but-arent-sure-they-can-conserve-more


FUELS

Saudi Arabia, partners turn down Chinese requests for extra oil.
Saudi Arabia and its main Middle East OPEC partners are turning
down Chinese requests for extra oil as they hold back fuel for
their own refineries just as demand from the world's biggest
crude importer hits new records. While the Saudi and other
refusals for additional crude supplies may not be part of a new
pricing strategy…
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/05/20/us-saudi-china-oil-idUSKBN0O512I20150520


Gasoline demand helping refiners soar through the downturn.
Business remains good for the nation's main refineries and stands
to get much better, even as the collapse of oil prices continues
to roil their suppliers. Refining companies are reporting robust
earnings and a profitable outlook, benefiting as they are from
lower input costs and expanding export opportunities. Industry
insiders are also very optimistic about the near future…
http://www.eenews.net/energywire/2015/05/20/stories/1060018819

Initiative promotes corn-based fuel as boon to public health.
Ethanol backers have launched a campaign to steer attention away
from the corn-based fuel's potential impact on food prices and
toward air quality and public health. Calling itself the Urban
Air Initiative, the ethanol coalition aims to tie its foes in the
petroleum industry to air pollution from automobile tailpipes.
http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2015/05/20/stories/1060018888 

GREEN ENERGY

Wind Power Is Poised to Spread to All States. All 50 states could
become wind energy producers, according to an Energy Department
report released Tuesday, once the next generation of larger,
taller turbines in development hits the market. The bigger
machines — reaching as high as 460 feet — could eventually make
faster winds at higher altitudes an economical source of
electricity…
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/20/business/energy-environment/wind-power-is-poised-to-spread-to-all-states.html


China to Spend $182 Billion to Boost Internet by End of 2017.
China will spend more than $182 billion to boost Internet speeds
by the end of 2017, a top government body said, as Beijing moves
towards a more service-driven economy to boost growth. The State
Council said the government will invest more than 430 billion
yuan ($69.3 billion) this year on network construction…
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2015/05/20/technology/20reuters-china-internet.html
 

Hanergy Under Investigation After Shares Plunge Nearly 50
Percent-Source. China's Hanergy Thin Film Power Group is under
investigation by Hong Kong's market watchdog, a source told
Reuters just hours after the company lost half its market value
of nearly $40 billion in 24 minutes on Wednesday.
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2015/05/20/business/20reuters-hanergy-tfp-stocks.html


Moniz predicts broader wind power growth for U.S. Technological
advances from taller turbine towers to the integration of digital
infrastructure into wind farms are defining the next growth phase
within the U.S. wind energy sector, experts attending the
American Wind Energy Association's annual conference said
yesterday.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2015/05/20/stories/1060018833 

Hawaii plots road map to lead the world in renewable energy by
2045. The goal passed by Hawaii's Legislature this month to some
sounds like a blueprint for a future utopian world: 100 percent
renewable power. But lawmakers in the Aloha State want it to
happen in 30 years. The mandate put on utilities under H.B. 623,
if accomplished, would make Hawaii the nation's first state with
all green power.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2015/05/20/stories/1060018835 

MISCELLANEOUS

Fresno’s dilemma: Save water or pollute the air? Clean air or
drinking water — the Fresno City Council must choose one. Both,
to the despair of Fresno’s politicians, isn’t an option. The
council on Thursday will consider an emergency water-conservation
law that, among other things, would give City Hall authority to
suspend its hydrant-meter program. In a nutshell, city officials
don’t want companies using fire-hydrant water for dust control.
http://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/article21411678.html#storylink=cpy


OPINIONS

In Alberta, Oil, Cowboys … and Liberalism? WHEN I moved from
Houston to Edmonton, Alberta, in 2008, I was told to prepare for
a soft landing, politically speaking. Alberta was supposed to be
just like the Lone Star State: a place full of backslapping good
ol’ boys in cowboy hats, riding high on the hog of oil money. The
province’s politics were even more predictable than Texas’. The
Progressive Conservative Party had been in power longer than I’d
been alive.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/20/opinion/in-alberta-oil-cowboys-and-liberalism.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&version=Moth-Visible&module=inside-nyt-region®ion=inside-nyt-region&WT.nav=inside-nyt-region


BLOGS

California Expands Its ‘Subnational’ Climate Club. California is
adding to its roster of allies in the climate change
counteroffensive. Environmental groups are hailing an agreement
signed Tuesday by Governor Jerry Brown and an assortment of
states, provinces and other “subnational” governments to ratchet
up their own climate strategies. Billed as the “Under 2 MOU,” the
memorandum of understanding is a pledge…
http://blogs.kqed.org/science/2015/05/19/california-expands-its-subnational-climate-club/


Divest From the Carbon Bubble. If it seems that we have more big
problems than we can solve these days, take heart. A small group
of people can create a worldwide movement. It has happened before
and it is happening again. Take the case of Ellen Dorsey, the
executive director of the Wallace Global Fund.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/william-s-becker/divest-from-the-carbon-bu_b_7314654.html


China's Climate Pledge Will Include New Commitment To Forests.
Look for China to make new investments in forestry and deeper
cuts in carbon intensity when it delivers its tardy climate
pledge to the United Nations “soon,” a Chinese official said in
Chicago Tuesday. When Chinese President Xi Jinping and President
Obama signed a climate agreement last November…
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffmcmahon/2015/05/20/chinas-climate-pledge-will-include-new-commitment-to-forests/


Groups File Lawsuit Calling for Federal Government Action on Soot
Pollution.
Environmental Protection Agency is nine months behind on plans
reducing soot in the nation’s dirtiest air basin. Physicians for
Social Responsibility-Los Angeles and Sierra Club, represented by
Earthjustice, filed a lawsuit today in U.S. District Court for
the Central District of California in Los Angeles against the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for its failure to
act…
http://earthjustice.org/news/press/2015/groups-file-lawsuit-calling-for-federal-government-action-on-soot-pollution
 

California Initiates Organic, Sustainable Carbon Farming.  A new
agricultural initiative in California is putting carbon
sequestration into practice to reverse climate change. The
program, called carbon farming, encourages farmers to embrace
organic, sustainable practices that have been proven to keep
carbon dioxide in the ground instead of in the air.
http://www.livetradingnews.com/california-initiates-organic-sustainable-carbon-farming-105318.htm#.VVza6JOE7Sg


Governor Abbott, Senators Cornyn and Cruz Look Out for the
Success of a State – it’s Just Not Ours. Governor Greg Abbott and
Texas Senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz recently met in a meeting
with Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell to discuss how they could
sabotage the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposed
(CPP). The CPP would place the nation’s first-ever limits on
carbon pollution from existing power plants…
http://blogs.edf.org/texascleanairmatters/2015/05/20/governor-abbott-senators-cornyn-and-cruz-look-out-for-the-success-of-a-state-its-just-not-ours/


7 reasons why America needs to get tough on smog. The 2015 State
of the Air report from the American Lung Association recently
confirmed that four in 10 Americans are living in areas with
harmful levels of ozone pollution. But the big oil companies have
just launched a multimillion-dollar ad campaign telling us our
country doesn’t need and can’t afford stronger limits on ozone.
Nothing could be further from the truth. Here’s why:
http://grist.org/climate-energy/7-reasons-why-america-needs-to-get-tough-on-smog/


UK must reduce air pollution levels. Vehicle-related tax changes,
low emission zones, congestion charging and a diesel vehicle
scrappage scheme could be on the agenda after the Government was
ordered to improve air quality. The Supreme Court labelled
Government plans to cut illegal levels of air pollution
ineffective and ordered the Department for Environment, Food and
Rural Affairs (DEFRA) to submit new air quality…
http://www.fleetnews.co.uk/news/environment/2015/05/20/uk-must-reduce-air-pollution-levels


Good Soil Can Offset Impacts of Global Warming. Maintaining a
healthy and diverse soil community can buffer natural ecosystems
against the damaging impacts of global warming, according to a
new Yale-led study. In a long-term study, researchers showed that
small soil animals can limit the effects of climate change, which
would otherwise stimulate the loss of carbon from the soil into
the atmosphere.
http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news/2015/05/good-soil-can-offset-impacts-global-warming


Cold-blooded animals find it hard to adjust to global warming.
Cold-blooded and other animals that are unable to regulate their
internal temperature may have a hard time tolerating global
warming, according to an analysis by biologists from the
University of California, Berkeley, and San Francisco State
University.
http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2015/05/19/cold-blooded-animals-find-it-hard-to-adjust-to-global-warming/




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