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ARB Newsclips for May 29, 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

California carbon auction brings in another $1 billion.
California’s industrial firms spent another $1 billion in the
most recent auction of carbon emissions credits, state officials
said Thursday. The California Air Resources Board said its latest
quarterly auction of carbon credits raised around $1.06 billion,
making it one of the largest sales in the program’s 2 1/2-year
history. Prices ranged from $12.10 to $12.29 per ton, which is
roughly in line with previous auctions.
http://www.sacbee.com/news/business/article22561641.html#storylink=cpy


AIR POLLUTION

Vermont-based group praises New York environmental decision. A
Vermont-based group devoted to protecting Lake Champlain is
praising a decision by the New York Department of Environmental
Conservation to put on hold a proposed air pollution permit for a
facility in Albany.
http://www.sfgate.com/news/science/article/Vermont-based-group-praises-New-York-6293707.php


Environmental group sniffs at Salinas air study. An
anti-pesticide group Thursday criticized a new state report that
said for the most part residents of certain areas of California
are at little or no health risk from airborne pesticides.
“Despite continued shortcomings in the sampling plan, pesticides
have been regularly found in state air monitors since the program
began in 2011, including cancer-causing and neurotoxic
pesticides…
http://www.thecalifornian.com/story/money/2015/05/28/pesticide-action-network-california-department-pesticide-regulation-salinas/28122077/


CLIMATE CHANGE

David Miliband says world refugee crisis to worsen with climate
change.  A historic 52 million people are fleeing conflict
worldwide, a trend that will intensify over the next two decades
because of climate change, International Rescue Committee chief
David Miliband said on Friday. "One of the drivers of
displacement and potential conflict over the next 10 to 20 years
will be climate (change) - resource scarcity,"…
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/05/29/us-irc-miliband-idUSKBN0OE25X20150529?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews


Obama Links Extreme Weather, Climate Change During Florida
Hurricane Briefing. President Barack Obama used his annual
hurricane briefing and a Twitter conversation May 28 to urge
Congress to further support resilience efforts in U.S.
communities vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Obama,
speaking at the National Hurricane Center in Miami, warned
climate change is already having impacts on coastal communities…
http://www.bna.com/obama-links-extreme-n17179927174/ 

Dignity Health, Gap and others throw support behind sweeping
climate change bill. Senate Bill 350 by Kevin de León calls to
raise by 50 percent the amount of electricity… more. Twenty-four
companies doing business in California including Dignity Health
and Gap Inc. announced support Thursday for a climate change
agenda promoted by Gov. Jerry Brown and being pushed through the
Legislature by Senate leader Kevin de León.
http://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/news/2015/05/28/dignity-health-gap-and-others-throw-support-behind.html


‘We’re Not Going To Fake It': America’s Top Two Oil Companies
Reject Climate Change Measures. Shareholders of ExxonMobil and
Chevron — the United States’ top two oil companies — voted down
proposals aimed at getting the companies to focus a little more
on climate change this week.  One of the proposals would have
added an independent director with experience in climate change
to the boards of both companies.
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/05/29/3664000/big-oil-climate-measures/


Obama: ‘Best climate scientists’ link hurricanes, climate change.
President Obama said Thursday the link between more extreme
weather and climate change is undeniable, and that the world’s
best scientists have made a conclusive connection. Rising sea
levels are another consequence of climate change and can make
extreme weather even worse, he said at the National Hurricane
Center following a tour.
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/243332-obama-best-climate-scientists-link-hurricanes-climate-change


Weather Extremes Wear Climate Change's Fingerprints. Extreme heat
in India, flooding in Houston, wildfires in Alberta suggest a new
normal, made more chaotic by global warming. Communities across
the globe got a sobering snapshot this week of what the future is
likely to hold more of: extreme weather getting even more extreme
thanks to climate change.
http://insideclimatenews.org/news/29052015/weather-extremes-wear-climate-changes-fingerprints


Study: Most Glaciers Near Mount Everest Will Disappear With
Climate Change. Researchers say 5,500 glaciers in the region
could disappear or drastically retreat by 2100. Most of the
glaciers in the Mount Everest region will disappear or
drastically retreat as temperatures increase with climate change
over the next century, according to a group of international
researchers.
http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2015/05/study-most-glaciers-mount-everest-area-will-disappear-climate-change


Cutting methane, non-CO2 pollutants not enough to prevent
dangerous warming – report. If nations have to choose between
cutting emissions of short-lived climate pollutants and carbon
dioxide, they should choose CO2 to avoid the greatest amount of
warming, finds a new policy paper from Myles Allen, head of the
Climate Dynamics Group at the University of Oxford.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2015/05/29/stories/1060019297 

DROUGHT

Could Texas deluge be a sign to drought-ravaged California?
Several dry years left water supplies short and farmland buried
in dust. Some called it the worst drought in a generation. That
was Texas just weeks ago, before a series of deadly storms dumped
record amounts of rain and virtually washed away all worry about
water.
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Could-Texas-deluge-be-a-sign-to-drought-ravaged-6293126.php


California agency set to vote on water limits for new lawns.
California regulators are expected to vote Friday on water limits
for new lawns as the historic drought persists in parched
California. The Building Standards Commission is scheduled to
consider updating landscaping ordinances for new and renovated
homes, office buildings, schools and hospitals.
http://www.sfgate.com/news/science/article/California-agency-set-to-vote-on-water-limits-for-6293548.php


Despite drought bigger tomato harvest predicted. Drought? Don’t
tell that to the Central Valley growers of processing tomatoes,
the kind used for soups and sauces. As of May 28, California’s
tomato processors reported they have or will have contracts for
14.3 million tons of processing tomatoes for 2015. This
production is a 2 percent increase from the final contracted
production total from last year…
http://www.centralvalleybusinesstimes.com/stories/001/?ID=28425 

Don’t forget the heat, new drought report says. Although record
low precipitation has been the main driver of one of the worst
droughts in California history, abnormally high temperatures have
also played an important role in amplifying its adverse effects,
according to a recent study by the U.S. Geological Survey and
university partners.
Experiments showed that if the air temperatures had been cooler…
http://www.centralvalleybusinesstimes.com/stories/001/?ID=28429 

DIESEL ACTIVITIES

Peterbilt Concerned About Federal GHG Requirements. Peterbilt
Motors Co. is eager to see how the upcoming second phase of
federal greenhouse-gas regulation will tell truck makers how to
score the carbon dioxide emissions from their vehicles. Since
January 2014, manufacturers have had to file reports on emissions
by truck model, which collectively must fit under an aggregate
limit.
http://www.ttnews.com/articles/basetemplate.aspx?storyid=38374&t=Peterbilt-Concerned-About-Federal-GHG-Requirements


FUELS

Indian Oil shifts focus to expanding natural gas business. Indian
Oil Corp (IOC) , the country's biggest refiner, is expanding its
natural gas business as the south Asian nation, the world's
third-largest carbon emitter, aims to cut its dependence on coal
and oil. Thirteen of the world's 20 dirtiest cities are in India,
with New Delhi taking top spot, a report by the World Health
Organisation said last year.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/05/29/india-ioc-gas-idUSL3N0YK53Z20150529?feedType=RSS&feedName=rbssEnergyNews


As EPA unveils ethanol quotas, niche RINs market revives. The
long-delayed release of U.S. biofuel blending quotas is injecting
renewed life into the niche market for ethanol credits, once the
world's hottest commodity. On Thursday, prices plunged by over 20
percent in one of the wildest day's trading in years as traders
raced to offload credits, with growing expectations that the
Environmental Protection Agency will release easy-to-meet
targets…
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/05/29/us-usa-biofuels-credits-idUSKBN0OE1GN20150529


EPA proposes lowering requirements for ethanol in gas. The
nation's gasoline supply likely will have more ethanol in coming
years — but not as much as was required by federal law. The Obama
administration's proposed renewable fuel standard won't have much
of an impact on gas prices, but could become an issue in the 2016
presidential elections, especially in farm states that have
profited over the years from higher corn prices linked to the use
of corn-based ethanol.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-hy-epa-ethanol-20150529-story.html


Latest US proposal for ethanol could have political fallout. The
Obama administration's latest plan on ethanol, the corn-based
renewable fuel, probably will not have a major effect on pump
prices, but could have political reverberations in Iowa and other
farm states in the 2016 presidential campaign. Under the proposed
rule announced Friday, the amount of ethanol in the gasoline
supply would increase in coming years…
http://www.sfgate.com/business/energy/article/EPA-proposes-lowering-amount-of-ethanol-in-gas-6294221.php


Fracking Ban In Maryland Will Go Into Law After Republican
Governor Refuses To Veto. At the end of the day on Friday,
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan will become the first-ever Republican
governor to allow a statewide moratorium on fracking. A two-year
ban on the natural gas extraction technique passed overwhelmingly
in both houses of the state General Assembly earlier this year,
and last weekend, Hogan announced that that he would not veto the
bill.
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/05/29/3664098/larry-hogan-maryland-fracking-ban/


EPA proposes volume requirements for Renewable Fuel Standard for
2014-2016. Adhering to a schedule in a proposed consent decree
(earlier post), the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
announced its long-awaited proposed volume requirements
(renewable volume obligations, RVO) (earlier post) under the
Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program for the years 2014, 2015
and 2016…
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2015/05/20150529-epa.html 

USDA to invest up to $100M to boost infrastructure for renewable
fuel use; seeks to double number of higher blend ethanol fuel
pumps. US Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that the US
Department of Agriculture (USDA) will invest up to $100 million
in a Biofuels Infrastructure Partnership to support the
infrastructure needed to make more renewable fuel options
available to American consumers. USDA will post a Notice of
Solicitation of Applications in June.
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2015/05/20150529-usda.html 

SANTA BARBARA OIL SPILL

Pipe to be removed for testing as long oil spill cleanup takes
shape.  The owners of a pipeline that burst and spilled up to
101,000 gallons of crude along the Santa Barbara County coast
expect to remove the ruptured section Thursday. Federal
regulators say the longterm cleanup is just beginning with more
than 10,000 gallons of oily water recovered from the ocean's
surface. Responders are now using sonar and diver teams to focus
on finding and cleaning oil that has pooled under water.
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-oil-spill-cleanup-pipe-20150528-story.html


VEHICLES

Platinum sector faces its Kodak moment in fuel cell technology.
Platinum miners betting on fuel cell vehicles to help boost
demand for the precious metal and lift moribund prices are in
danger of having their hopes dashed, at least in the medium term:
electric and hybrid cars are taking a bigger share of the market.
The world's three largest platinum producers Anglo American
Platinum (Amplats), Impala Platinum…
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/05/29/platinum-miners-fuelcells-idUSL5N0YI2YW20150529?feedType=RSS&feedName=rbssEnergyNews


Toyota revamps Auris powertrain lineup, including hybrid; debut
of new 1.2L turbo with Otto/Atkinson technology. Toyota’s 2015
Auris range in Europe features significant improvements in five
key areas; design; sensory quality; the hybrid model; safety;
and, improving the model’s segment coverage by some 40%,
powertrains. Toyota had introduced the facelifted Auris at the
Geneva show earlier this year.
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2015/05/20150529-auris.html 

OPINIONS

Another renewable energy resource. Re “Geothermal is key to clean
energy future” (Viewpoints, May 22): As California moves to 50
percent renewable energy by 2030, we agree that geothermal will
play an important role, and that reliability and affordable rates
are paramount. However, the op-ed implies that geothermal is the
only renewable source that helps achieve a balanced and stable
portfolio.
http://www.sacbee.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/article22552656.html#storylink=cpy



BLOGS

10 California drought myths debunked. California is in the midst
of a four-year drought, the worst in 106 years. The Sierra
snowpack is dwindling; lakes and reservoirs are reaching historic
lows. The lush green lawns of the suburbs are turning brown and
parched. Vast swaths of the Central Valley farmland are sitting
idle. Mandatory water cutbacks are now in place for both
residential consumers and agricultural users.
http://blog.sfgate.com/stew/2015/05/29/10-california-drought-myths-debunked/


Upcoming Decision Could Wipe Out U.S. Commitment on Climate
Change. While President Obama has emerged as a strong leader on
climate change, serious questions have been raised about his
government's rush to ship coal overseas. Late last year,
President Obama stood with Chinese President Xi Jinping to
reiterate their shared goal of aggressively tackling the issue of
climate change.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kevin-grandia/upcoming-decision-by-obama_b_7455736.html?utm_hp_ref=green


Catalyzing Major Climate Actions By All Key Players Around the
World This Year.
Progress on climate change can seem depressingly slow --
especially to young people full of energy and expectation. But
look closer, resist the tug of hopelessness, and you can see
progress everywhere. Clean energy is both technically and
economically viable, and it's challenging dirty energy around the
world.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jake-schmidt/catalyzing-major-climate_b_7468734.html


How Fossil Fuel Companies Get Paid to Pollute. You may have seen
a new ad from the American Petroleum Institute, telling us that
oil and gas companies cannot afford to -- and don't want to --
spend money to clean up their pollution. Using outright lies to
bolster their position, they claim that strong smog protections
are expensive, and unnecessary.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dominique-browning/how-fossil-fuel-companies_b_7450610.html





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