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AIR POLLUTION

EPA says it intends to regulate emissions by US airliners. The
government is proposing to regulate aircraft emissions in much
the same way as power plants, saying they are a threat to human
health because they contain pollutants that help cause global
warming and therefore should be regulated. The Environmental
Protection Agency announcement Wednesday clears the way for
possible U.S. adoption of international emissions standards,
which are expected to be released next year.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_AIRPLANES_POLLUTION?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


OTHER RELATED STORIES

http://www.wsj.com/articles/obama-administration-to-take-aim-at-airline-emissions-1433946834

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/06/10/usa-aviation-carbon-idUSL1N0YW0HY20150610?virtualBrandChannel=11563

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/11/business/energy-environment/epa-says-it-will-set-rules-for-airplane-emissions.html?_r=1


Emissions From Energy Have Slowest Gain Since 2009 Drop, BP Says.
Carbon dioxide emissions from energy use had the slowest growth
last year since a drop in 2009 as Chinese consumption of coal
flattened, according to BP Plc. Output of the greenhouse gas from
burning fossil fuels rose 0.5 percent from the previous year,
London-based BP said Wednesday in its annual Statistical Review
of World Energy.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-06-10/emissions-from-energy-have-slowest-gain-since-2009-drop-bp-says


Coal Confronting Bigger Threat Than Obama’s Rules for Clean Air.
U.S. coal companies worried that the Obama administration’s
proposed clean-air rules will put them out of business face a
bigger threat: natural gas. Shale formations in the eastern U.S.
are yielding record amounts of gas, pushing prices of the fuel in
the region below coal, which had been 61 percent less expensive
on average since 2001.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-06-09/coal-confronting-bigger-threat-than-obama-s-rules-for-clean-air


Challenges to Proposed Clean Power Plan Are Premature, D.C.
Circuit Says in Dismissal. Federal appellate judges dismissed
challenges to the Environmental Protection Agency's proposed
carbon dioxide emissions limits for power plants June 9, saying
they are premature, but one judge left open the possibility of
similar lawsuits in the future. 
http://www.bna.com/challenges-proposed-clean-n17179927524/ 

MORENO VALLEY: Study on proposed World Logistics Center called
‘legally inadequate'. An environmental report on the proposed
project -- which would stretch 700 football field -- could be
vulnerable to court challenges, air board says. The developer,
however, sticks by the report. State air quality officials say
that Moreno Valley’s environmental analysis of a proposed
warehousing complex with enough indoor space for 700 football
fields is “legally inadequate” and needs major revisions.
http://www.pe.com/articles/city-769741-air-health.html 

Heat, wind prompt health alerts. Temp reaches near-record high on
Monday. Although the official start of summer is still almost two
weeks away, the heat has already arrived. Temperatures reached
106 degrees on Monday — one degree short of the record high of
107 seen in 2013 — and are forecast to stay near the century mark
through the weekend. The clouds rolled in on Tuesday to give some
relief from the beating sun…
http://www.turlockjournal.com/section/12/article/29505/  

CLIMATE CHANGE

Panel passes measure cutting EPA's budget. A House panel passed a
spending measure on Wednesday that cuts the budget at the
Environmental Protection Agency by 9 percent and blocks the Obama
administration from advancing new rules to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions. Republicans used their majority to pass the bill by
voice vote.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_CONGRESS_ENVIRONMENTAL_SPENDING?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


What countries have offered for Paris climate agreement.  A
global climate agreement being negotiated this week in Bonn is
supposed to apply to all countries, from large industrialized
economies to tiny island nations. But the major climate polluters
are expected to lead the way by setting targets for reducing
emissions of climate-warming gases including carbon dioxide…
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_CLIMATE_WORLD_TARGETS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


Green groups urge ban on corporate polluters at UN climate talks.
Environmental groups urged governments on Wednesday to ban oil
companies and other big corporate polluters from any involvement
in U.N. talks on slowing climate change, saying any role was like
letting an arsonist work as a fire fighter. They presented a
petition to "kick big polluters out of climate policy" at
190-nation talks in Bonn on curbing global warming…
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/06/10/climatechange-companies-idUSL5N0YW2B020150610


Obama Persuades Unilever, Wal-Mart to Help Farmers Cut Emissions.
Unilever NV, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and other large companies
reliant on agriculture agreed to encourage farmers who supply
them to cut carbon pollution, the White House said, as President
Barack Obama pushes forward on initiatives to try to stem climate
change.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-06-10/obama-persuades-unilever-wal-mart-to-help-farmers-cut-emissions


EU, China Said to Ready Climate Pact in June Before Global Deal.
The European Union and China are planning an agreement this month
on fighting climate change before nations worldwide gather to
iron out a global emissions-cutting deal, according to two people
with knowledge of the matter. The pact to be signed June 29 will
promote closer ties in using low-emission technologies and
developing carbon markets and sustainable cities…
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-06-09/eu-china-said-to-ready-climate-pact-in-june-before-global-deal-iapf4x8g


Obama Administration Readies Big Push on Climate Change.
Proposals to curb emissions from trucks, airplanes, oil and
natural-gas operations, and power plants. The Obama
administration is planning a series of actions this summer to
rein in greenhouse-gas emissions from wide swaths of the economy,
including trucks, airplanes and power plants, kicking into high
gear an ambitious climate agenda…
http://www.wsj.com/articles/obama-administration-readies-big-push-on-climate-change-1433873269


House Republicans Take Hatchet to Obama's Environmental Budget.
Spending bill would block enforcement of the administration’s
rules on power plants. House Republicans are teeing up another
attack on the Obama administration's climate plan, proposing to
slash the Environmental Protection Agency's budget and blocking
the tentpole rule limiting emissions from power plants.
http://www.nationaljournal.com/energy/house-republicans-take-hatchet-to-obama-s-environmental-budget-20150609?utm_content=buffer94604&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer


Canada, U.S., Mexico Establish Working Group for Climate Change.
Canada, the United States and Mexico have established a
ministerial-level working group on climate change and energy
issues. Greg Rickford, Canada’s minister of natural resources,
reached the deal — along with U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz
and Pedro Joaquin-Coldwell, Mexico’s energy secretary — during a
meeting of North American energy ministers.
http://www.theyucatantimes.com/2015/06/canada-u-s-mexico-establish-working-group-for-climate-change/


Why These Tiny Island Nations Are Planning To Sue Fossil Fuel
Companies. On Monday, the seven of the world’s wealthiest nations
met in southern Germany and pledged to decarbonize the world’s
energy systems by 2100, while limiting global warming to 2°C.
Later that evening, in the South Pacific, representatives from
six decidedly smaller countries also took a stand against climate
change.
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/06/10/3667580/south-pacific-climate-change-lawsuit/


Climate negotiators finalize global agreement to combat GHGs from
deforestation. A key international strategy to prevent emissions
from cutting down forests was finalized yesterday in Bonn,
Germany, ahead of a potential global climate accord in Paris this
December. After a series of talks stretching over the last
decade, negotiators at the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate
Change's conference…
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2015/06/10/stories/1060019959 

Where are the future hot spots on Earth? NASA's 'big data'
project pinpoints them. Using multiple climate models and
hundreds of terabytes of data, NASA has projected global
temperatures and rainfall around the world from 2050 until 2100.
The result: Scientists and policymakers can now pull up
information that simulates how individual cities and towns may
fare on a given day in the distant future.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2015/06/10/stories/1060019944 

DROUGHT

Gov. Brown says 'spaceship Earth' approach will see California
through drought. Even as the state struggles through an epic
water crisis, Gov. Jerry Brown assured residents Tuesday that
technology, adaptation and “a more elegant” way of living would
ultimately preserve the California dream for generations to come.
In a broad-ranging conversation that touched on the “existential
threat” posed by man-made global warming…
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-brown-drought-20150609-story.html#page=1


Crisis or not? Jerry Brown avoids offering stern advice on
drought. In his latest iteration as California’s governor, Jerry
Brown seems to have cracked the code of the state’s quirky
politics. The code: We’ll elect you, if you promise to fix the
mess and leave us alone. That is what Brown has done, scurrying
to Sacramento after his 2010 election and taking on the state’s
faltering economy with little in the way of public splash.
http://www.latimes.com/local/political/la-me-pc-jerry-brown-drought-analysis-20150610-story.html


Drought hastens decline of the Joshua tree, California's desert
symbol. Under canopies of dead angular branches and drooping
fronds, University of California, Riverside ecologist Cameron
Barrows made his way across a forest of skeletal Joshua trees
that have not reproduced in decades. As Barrows explained, it's a
tough time to be a Joshua tree.
http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/environment/article23644450.html#storylink=cpy


California's Rice Crop Predicted To Be 30 Percent Below Normal.
Because of California's historic drought, the state's rice crop
will be 30 percent below normal –- at 375,000 acres. Experts say
the smaller planting will hurt the economy and wildlife that
depend on shallow flooded fields. Tim Johnson, the President of
the California Rice Commission says the largest impact will be
felt in the small towns like Colusa…
http://www.capradio.org/articles/2015/06/09/californias-rice-crop-predicted-to-be-30-percent-below-normal/


Drought Sparks Extra Wildfires - And State Fire Costs. California
firefighters have burned through their budget this fiscal year as
the state battles its way through a fourth year of drought. The
most recent spending totals available show that as of the end of
March, Cal Fire had already spent more than $430 million.
http://www.capradio.org/articles/2015/06/09/drought-sparks-extra-wildfires-and-state-fire-costs/


Warning of 'catastrophe,' Gov. Brown presses case for water
tunnels. The system of levees and pumps that delivers water to
much of California is in danger of collapse and must be
reconfigured, Gov. Jerry Brown (D) said yesterday. Speaking in
Los Angeles, Brown pressed a plan to build two 30-mile-long
tunnels beneath the Sacramento-San Joaquin Bay Delta, the state's
water hub.
http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2015/06/10/stories/1060019993 

DIESEL ACTIVITIES

County Denies ExxonMobil Request to Haul Oil by Truck. Energy
Company Close to Exhausting Storage Capacity After Shutdown of
Ruptured Pipeline. With legal repercussions anticipated
regardless of her decision, Dianne Black denied on Tuesday an
emergency permit filed by ExxonMobil to truck crude oil from Las
Flores Canyon Facility along Highway 101 to a refinery about 70
miles north.
http://www.independent.com/news/2015/jun/10/county-denies-exxonmobil-request-haul-oil-truck/


FUELS

Energy industry has reached watershed on fossil fuels, says BP.
British firm said last year’s global emphasis on issues including
climate change and a resurgence in US oil changed the sector’s
balance of power. The global energy industry reached a watershed
in 2014 as global emphasis on climate change, a slowing Chinese
economy and a resurgence in US oil affected fossil fuel
producers, according to BP.
http://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/jun/10/energy-industry-has-reached-watershed-on-fossil-fuels-says-bp
 

Environmental Working Group Prefers Keystone Pipeline to
Low-Carbon Renewable Fuels. No, Really. In recent weeks the
Environmental Working Group (EWG) and others have been promoting
a study that suggests corn ethanol is worse for the climate than
the controversial Keystone XL pipeline and gasoline produced from
Canadian tar sands.
http://theenergycollective.com/gcooperrfa/2238096/environmental-working-group-prefers-keystone-pipeline-low-carbon-renewable-fuels-


VEHICLES

Startup’s new idea: Free EV charging for the masses. San
Francisco startup Volta believes charging an electric car in
public should be free, at least for the driver. Volta’s charging
stations, installed in parking lots and garages, are all
sponsored by companies seeking a little green publicity. The
businesses — which so far include Whole Foods, Sungevity and the
Oakland Athletics baseball team — pay for the equipment and the
electricity, which drivers can tap for free.
http://www.sfgate.com/business/article/Startup-s-new-idea-Free-EV-charging-for-the-6317331.php


Five Cities Get Free Electric-Car Charging Stations At 'Socially
Responsible' Businesses. There are a variety of organizations
working to increase public electric-car charging infrastructure,
and they're primarily motivated by the merits of electric cars
themselves. But what if charging infrastructure was viewed from
the perspective of social responsibility? What if locations for
charging stations were chosen based on the…
http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1098652_five-cities-get-free-electric-car-charging-stations-at-socially-responsible-businesses


Chevy Impala Natural-Gas Version Delayed By A Year Over
Unspecified Concerns. Back in October 2013, General Motors
announced plans to launch a "bi-fuel" version of its new
Chevrolet Impala full-size sedan. It billed the planned Impala
variant as the only production full-size sedan capable of running
on both gasoline and compressed natural gas (CNG).
http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1098653_chevy-impala-natural-gas-version-delayed-by-a-year-over-unspecified-concerns


Used Electric Cars: Which Hold Their Value Best? Which Is Worst?
Used electric cars starting to enter the market in higher
numbers, letting advocates suggest that if the purchase price of
a new plug-in car is too high, buyers can look at used options.
The usual metric of retained-value calculations can be tricky for
plug-ins…
http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1098663_used-electric-cars-which-hold-their-value-best-which-is-worst


Tesla Model X Update, Toyota 'Prius Prime,' Used Electric Cars:
Today's Car News. Today, we've got news from Tesla's annual
shareholder meeting, including an update on the Model X electric
crossover, Toyota's trademark of the name "Prius Prime," and the
best and worst used electric cars.
http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1098669_tesla-model-x-update-toyota-prius-prime-used-electric-cars-todays-car-news


GREEN ENERGY

UPDATE 2-SMA Solar joins forces with Siemens to target large
solar projects. Germany's SMA Solar and engineering company
Siemens have teamed up to equip utility-scale solar parks with
technology to link them to power grids in an effort to benefit
from rising global demand for photovoltaics. Demand for solar
panels has grown steadily in recent years…
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/06/10/sma-solar-siemens-idUSL5N0YW17020150610?feedType=RSS&feedName=everything&virtualBrandChannel=11563


UAE's Masdar in talks with Germany's RWE on green energy projects
– source. United Arab Emirates green energy firm Masdar may
invest in renewable energy projects jointly with Germany's RWE, a
source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Wednesday.
"Masdar is in discussions about potential investments in
renewable energy projects with RWE," the Abu Dhabi source said,
declining to be named as the matter is not yet public.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/06/10/emirates-germany-renewables-idUSL5N0YW2Z820150610


Why Concentrating Solar Power Has Cheap Storage And A Bright
Future. Solar photovoltaic (PV) systems have seen explosive
growth because of their stunning 99 percent price drop in the
past quarter century. As a result, the other form of solar power
— concentrating solar thermal power (CSP) — is a small fraction
of the solar market.
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/06/10/3455181/concentrating-solar-power-csp-storage/


Record boost in new solar power continues massive industry
growth. UK leads European solar energy expansion to help
renewables overtake output of nuclear power as industry leaders
hail ‘tipping point’ for the technology. A record amount of solar
power was added to the world’s grids in 2014, pushing total
cumulative capacity to 100 times the level it was in 2000.
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jun/09/record-boost-in-new-solar-power-continues-massive-industry-growth


Tesla says it will double capacity of home energy storage product
and push a utility-scale option. The home energy storage product
that Tesla Motors Inc. unveiled one month ago is getting an
upgrade and now will have twice its original capacity, company
CEO and co-founder Elon Musk said yesterday. The electric
carmaker heard some criticisms about its Powerwall energy storage
offering after its May 1 unveiling…
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2015/06/10/stories/1060019963 

New study outlines path to 100% renewables in all 50 states.
Wind, water and sunlight could meet demand for all energy -- not
just electricity -- in every state by midcentury, according to a
new report. The study, published yesterday in the journal Energy
and Environmental Science, concluded that the path to a cleaner
future is technically feasible and affordable and would save
thousands of lives from avoided pollution…
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2015/06/10/stories/1060019960 

World needs to ramp up battery use, energy storage to meet
climate targets – report. Meeting global demand for vast amounts
of carbon-free energy under an international climate accord will
require deep investments in energy storage technologies,
according to new findings from the International Renewable Energy
Association (IRENA).
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2015/06/10/stories/1060019945 

Texas, Colo. show how to integrate renewables as carbon plan
looms – report. Electric systems in Texas and Colorado are
demonstrating that a range of actions can be used to successfully
and reliably integrate large amounts of renewable energy,
according to a new report completed for the Advanced Energy
Economy Institute.
http://www.eenews.net/energywire/2015/06/10/stories/1060019943 

MISCELLANEOUS

China issues draft environmental tax law. China has issued a
draft environment tax law which proposes targeting air, water,
noise and solid waste pollution through levies on polluters, the
Cabinet's Legislative Affairs Office said on Wednesday. It
proposed the following levy rates: 1.2 yuan on air pollutants,
1.4 yuan on water pollutants, and a range of 5 to 30 yuan for
solid waste, it said.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/06/10/china-environment-tax-idUSL3N0YW3V220150610
 

Tesla in line for $15 million in California job creation tax
credits. Tesla Motors is positioned to get the largest tax credit
grant of dozens of companies from a special California economic
development program. California officials are recommending that
the Palo Alto electric car manufacturer receive $15 million of
the $49.5 million in tax credits planned in the latest
disbursement.
http://www.latimes.com/business/autos/la-fi-hy-tesla-grabs-california-subsidy-20150609-story.html


EPA carbon rule could create 300,000 net jobs, despite hit to
coal – study. A new report from the left-leaning Economic Policy
Institute argues that U.S. EPA's impending Clean Power Plan could
create a net total of nearly 300,000 new jobs when it goes into
effect in 2020. The direct gains, which EPI characterizes as "a
small net boost in employment," would come from an increase in
energy efficiency installation…
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2015/06/10/stories/1060019966 

USDA doles out $6.7M in rural grants. Agriculture Secretary Tom
Vilsack will announce today more than $6.7 million in grants for
544 renewable energy and efficiency projects. The funding comes
from the Rural Energy for America Program, a farm bill program
intended to facilitate renewable energy development in rural
America. "These grants will help farmers, ranchers and small
business owners use more renewable energy…
http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2015/06/10/stories/1060019997 

OPINIONS

State board is unfairly taking water from San Joaquin Valley. Our
water crisis is both natural and man-made. Since California’s
last major reservoirs opened in the early 1970s, our population
has grown by 67 percent, but our water storage capacity has grown
by only 1 percent. Last November, voters approved a $7.5 billion
bond issue to improve water infrastructure, build new storage and
make our groundwater basins sustainable.
http://www.sacbee.com/opinion/op-ed/soapbox/article23602333.html#storylink=cpy

Ontario cap-and-trade policy can help fight climate change. The
following editorial was written by Bloomberg View editors:
Ontario recently announced plans to address climate change.
Canada's most populous province thus joins a trend: Where
national governments fail to act, states and cities are stepping
up. Is that a good thing? It depends.
http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/environment/article23644561.html#storylink=cpy


Timm Herdt: Placing a big wager on green. They don’t much like to
admit it, but there are very few times when California senators
take on a truly big idea, one with the power to transform
California, shape the economy for decades to come, and
potentially steer a course for the world. Last week was one of
those times.
http://www.vcstar.com/opinion/columnists/timm-herdt/timm-herdt-placing-a-big-wager-on-green_92611037


AB 32 creates positive results. Alex Breitler’s article “Going
Clean” (May 28) highlights the great news about California’s
climate legislation: it is working for Stockton. Much of our city
has long been designated “disadvantaged” under CalEnviroScreen
due to high levels of pollution and poor socioeconomic
indicators. This designation plays out in higher rates of asthma,
which result in a greater number of missed school and work days,
lower incomes…
http://www.recordnet.com/article/20150607/OPINION/150609752

A Sky Full of Bureaucrats. Will the EPA’s new rules actually save
the ozone? Writing in the Wall Street Journal recently, political
scientist Charles Murray confronted readers with the reality of
the modern regulatory state and raised a pointed question: How do
myriad rules help us when they often cannot be measured or
enforced? Murray's liberal detractors should know that he is not
on a crusade to jettison regulatory policies that have made our
country safer, cleaner and fairer.
http://www.usnews.com/opinion/economic-intelligence/2015/06/10/epa-ozone-rules-will-just-put-bureaucrats-in-charge-of-air-quality


LOIS HENRY: The Kern River is dry, city is up a creek. We are in
very, very serious water trouble. Who cares about soccer parks
and golf courses? I’m talking about options and deals being
discussed right now to keep water flowing to some parts of the
city. Of course, water games are being played even as the
situation becomes more dire by the day. But let’s come back to
that.
http://www.bakersfield.com/Columnists/2015/06/09/The-Kern-River-is-dry-city-is-up-a-creek.html


BLOGS

An EV Charging Startup Raises $7.5M To Give Away Electricity For
Free. Can charging station owners make good money when electric
cars are far from being mainstream? A startup, Volta Industries,
decided that securing advertising dollars for each station makes
a better business model. Now the company has lined up $7.5
million to prove its case. Volta announced Wednesday that it’s
raised $4.5 million in equity for Series A…
http://www.forbes.com/sites/uciliawang/2015/06/10/5754/ 

Opportunities for Streamlined, Cost-Effective, and Legally
Durable Implementation of the Clean Power Plan. The U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will finalize the Clean
Power Plan, which will create our nation’s first-ever standards
for carbon pollution from existing fossil fuel-fired power
plants. These power plants account for almost 40 percent of U.S.
carbon pollution, so these new standards are critical to
mitigating climate change and protecting public health.
http://blogs.edf.org/climate411/2015/06/09/opportunities-for-streamlined-cost-effective-and-legally-durable-implementation-of-the-clean-power-plan/


State legislature season ends poorly for coal lobbyists (again).
The end of spring coincides with the adjournment of most state
legislatures. Before we all run off to plan pool parties to beat
the summer heat (likely exacerbated by climate change), I'd like
to take a moment and reflect on some heartening trends in state
capitols.
http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/ahaq/state_legislature_season_ends_.html


China, India reject calls for tougher climate goal at UN talks.
Development needs cited by emerging superpowers as science and
geopolitics clash at Bonn negotiations. China, India and Saudi
Arabia are calling for discussions on a tighter global warming
goal to be shelved, to the dismay of countries vulnerable to
future climate impacts.
http://www.rtcc.org/2015/06/10/china-india-reject-calls-for-tougher-climate-goal-at-un-talks/#sthash.tt7cWpZv.dpuf


Warm weather deepens chill on natural gas markets. With the
weather heating up, U.S. natural gas markets are cooling down.
Strong production and the fear that gas inventories could be
headed to record highs have sent benchmark prices down by about
40 percent from a year ago. Demand eventually will rise as new
electric power plants, industrial projects and natural gas export
terminals step up their intake.
http://fuelfix.com/blog/2015/06/09/warm-weather-deepens-chill-on-natural-gas-markets/



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