What's New List Serve Post Display

What's New List Serve Post Display

Below is the List Serve Post you selected to display.
newsclips -- ARB Newsclips for July 20, 2015.

Posted: 21 Jul 2015 09:13:35
ARB Newsclips for July 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.

AIR POLLUTION

Gov. Brown orders Calif. crackdown on freight emissions.
California by next summer must develop a plan to clean up the
freight sector, including driving a transition to technologies
with zero tailpipe emissions, Gov. Jerry Brown (D) mandated
Friday. Brown in an executive order directed the state's
Environmental Protection Agency, Air Resources Board…
http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2015/07/20/stories/1060022083 

CLIMATE CHANGE

Sinking Marshall Islands Pledge Carbon Cuts for Climate. The
Marshall Islands, one of the nations most threatened by rising
sea levels, became the first developing country to pledge
absolute cuts in carbon emissions as part of a global fight
against climate change. The Pacific atolls, mostly just 2 meters
(6 feet) above sea level, aim to reduce emissions by almost a
third from 2010 through 2025…
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-07-20/sinking-marshall-islands-pledge-carbon-cuts-for-climate


The world’s most famous climate scientist just outlined an
alarming scenario for our planet’s future. James Hansen has often
been out ahead of his scientific colleagues. With his 1988
congressional testimony, the then-NASA scientist is credited with
putting the global warming issue on the map by saying that a
warming trend had already begun.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2015/07/20/the-worlds-most-famous-climate-scientist-just-outlined-an-alarming-scenario-for-our-planets-future/


Eco-Friendly Pope to Encourage Likeminded Mayors at Vatican. One
city banned Styrofoam. Another has the highest percentage of
"clean" cars in Europe. Still another has cut greenhouse gas
emissions by 29 percent since 1990 — while seeing its GDP grow 19
percent. Dozens of environmentally friendly mayors from around
the world are meeting at the Vatican this week to bask in the
star power of eco-Pope Francis…
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2015/07/20/world/europe/ap-eu-rel-vatican-climate.html

http://www.usnews.com/news/business/articles/2015/07/20/eco-friendly-pope-to-encourage-likeminded-mayors-at-vatican


Passage of California climate change bill could set global
example. When Gov. Jerry Brown visits the Vatican this week for
an international conference, he'll be carrying a resolution from
state lawmakers supporting Pope Francis' recent encyclical on
climate change. He's hoping the Legislature will send an even
stronger message later this year by passing new environmental
rules aimed at helping California slash greenhouse-gas...
http://www.latimes.com/local/politics/la-me-pol-brown-vatican-20150719-story.html


Sacramento’s new Mexican consul to help drought-stricken
farmworkers. With California’s historic drought evaporating the
livelihood of thousands of Mexican migrants, Mexico will start
offering them emergency rent assistance, clothing, food and even
a plane ticket back home, said the region’s new consul general in
her first major media interview.
http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article27894682.html#storylink=cpy


Gov. Jerry Brown went off to the Vatican for high-profile talks
this week on climate change. His host, Pope Francis, is an
ambassador on the issue, too. But as much as their visit will
highlight shared concerns about the environment, the politician
and the pontiff come at climate change from very different points
of view. Like many Democrats, Brown argues that governments can
enact greenhouse gas reduction…
http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article27870769.html#storylink=cpy


Jerry Brown appeals to ‘moral dimension’ on climate change. Gov.
Jerry Brown, in Rome for climate talks this week, said Monday
that the world must turn to the “moral dimension” to counteract a
“virulent strain of climate change denial” from Republicans and
business interests.
http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article27925837.html#storylink=cpy


Could Canada be the standard for tackling climate change?
(VIDEO). As climate change raises temperatures around the world,
Canada has steadily been lowering greenhouse gas emissions.
Should others follow their lead?
http://www.usatoday.com/videos/news/world/2015/07/19/30372151/ 

This California agency is fighting climate change and curbing
pollution. On the outskirts of Los Angeles, inside a nondescript
laboratory building, a man in a yellow T-shirt and helmet sits on
a stationary motorcycle, looking intently ahead. The bike’s back
wheel is spinning, and a long orange tube connects to its exhaust
pipe.
http://www.dailynews.com/environment-and-nature/20150719/this-california-agency-is-fighting-climate-change-and-curbing-pollution
http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/environment-and-nature/20150719/this-california-agency-is-fighting-climate-change-and-curbing-pollution
 

Climate Change: California's In Front And Not Looking Back. On a
recent Saturday in Stockton, Mary Serrano got behind the wheel of
a bright-red, all-electric Chevy Spark. "I feel like I’m going to
outer space," says a giddy Serrano, followed by a short fit of
laughter. It was her first time test-driving a zero-emissions
vehicle, an opportunity presented to her at a Tune In & Tune Up
event at the county fairgrounds.
http://www.capradio.org/articles/2015/07/20/climate-change-californias-in-front-and-not-looking-back/

Inslee, the ‘greenest’ governor — not so much. Gov. Jay Inslee
has long advocated reducing greenhouse-gas emissions. But the
state Legislature adjourned this month without taking the kind of
major climate action desired by Inslee and his environmentalist
allies. Even before Gov. Jay Inslee took office two-and-a-half
years ago, some environmentalists were trumpeting him as “the
greenest governor” in the country.
http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/inslee-the-greenest-governor-not-so-much/


Hermosa Beach tackles climate change with a plan to go ‘carbon
neutral’. Hermosa Beach is instituting a holistic approach to
reducing greenhouse gas emissions that will change the way the
small beach town frames its major planning decisions. While other
agencies in the region have come up with a disparate mix of
projects, from energy-efficient appliance trade-ins to new
bicycle paths…
http://www.dailybreeze.com/government-and-politics/20150719/hermosa-beach-tackles-climate-change-with-a-plan-to-go-carbon-neutral


California is a global leader in combating climate change, but it
hasn’t been enough. Nearly a decade ago, California policymakers,
facing a frightening future of shriveling snowpacks and rising
seas, created the nation’s most aggressive program to combat
global warming. The 2006 law mandated broad reductions of
greenhouse gas emissions by 2020.
http://www.dailydemocrat.com/general-news/20150719/california-is-a-global-leader-in-combating-climate-change-but-it-hasnt-been-enough

http://www.desertsun.com/story/news/environment/2015/07/17/rough-road-ahead-california-climate/30333297/


Progress, costs and hard-to-reach goals in the climate change
fight.  A kaleidoscope of programs has arisen to accelerate
California’s shift to a clean economy as required under Assembly
Bill 32. The broadest and perhaps most controversial of these is
a cap-and-trade policy, which subjects the state’s most-polluting
companies to a cap on their greenhouse gas emissions and allows
them to trade credits to pollute.
http://www.chicoer.com/general-news/20150719/progress-costs-and-hard-to-reach-goals-in-the-climate-change-fight


City making strides to reduce emissions: Foster City officials
finalizing Climate Action Plan. Solar panels and waste diversion
as well as city and residential energy audits are part of a large
swath of programs being explored by Foster City officials to help
meet state mandates to reduce the city’s carbon footprint. The
Bayfront community is finalizing its Climate Action Plan to
reduce greenhouse gas emissions…
http://www.smdailyjournal.com/articles/lnews/2015-07-20/city-making-strides-to-reduce-emissions-foster-city-officials-finalizing-climate-action-plan/1776425146996.html


Climate Change and Oil Companies: Who Knew What and When?  A
recent article in the Guardian, which was also carried through a
number of other media outlets, implied some prior knowledge
within the oil and gas industry of climate change and the impact
of carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel use long before
others had recognized its impact.
http://www.theenergycollective.com/davidhone/2250477/who-knew-what-and-when


Ministers, nations set the stage for the final act of a new
climate pact. The Republic of the Marshall Islands, a string of
low-lying atolls in the Pacific Ocean whose share of global
greenhouse gas emissions is so low it barely registers on data
charts, vowed yesterday to slash a third of its carbon pollution
within the decade. http://www.eenews.net/stories/1060022060 

DROUGHT

California drought makes quest for water a consuming grind. 
Their two peach trees had turned brittle in the heat, their
neighborhood pond had vanished into cracked dirt and now their
stainless-steel faucet was spitting out hot air. “That’s it.
We’re dry,” Miguel Gamboa said during the second week of July,
and so he went off to look for water.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/california-drought-makes-quest-for-water-a-consuming-grind/2015/07/19/de165c1c-2c93-11e5-a250-42bd812efc09_story.html


Drought-stricken California is burning, flooding at the same
time. Amid California’s historic drought, an even rarer weekend
downpour that calmed wildfires also washed away a 30-foot bridge
that carries commuters to Arizona. An elevated area on Interstate
10 collapsed early Sunday evening near Southeastern California’s
Desert Center, leaving a pickup truck trapped underneath.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/07/20/california-is-now-flooding-burning-and-having-a-drought-at-the-same-time/


Drought-Stricken California Farmers Look To Tap Urban Wastewater.
Many California farmers are in a tight spot this summer, because
their normal water supplies have dried up with the state's
extreme drought. In the state's Central Valley, that's driving
some farmers to get creative: They're looking at buying water
from cities – not freshwater, but water that's already gone down
the drain.
http://www.capradio.org/news/npr/story?storyid=424571389 

Finding a way to truck water when drought hits Butte County
wells. It’s hard to know how many people are scrambling to get
water this summer. The county would love if people would fill out
a report online if there are problems with private wells.
However, most people do not. Instead, people tend to fix the
problem and keep the problem to themselves.
http://www.chicoer.com/general-news/20150719/finding-a-way-to-truck-water-when-drought-hits-butte-county-wells


DIESEL ACTIVITIES

Analysts forecast Navistar's future.  The impact of the potential
lawsuit announced by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
last week against truck and engine maker Navistar over its use of
“non-compliant” engines in its 2010-model trucks – engines that
did not meet the agency’s exhaust emission standards – is really
going to depend on just how big a fine EPA inflicts on the OEM.
http://fleetowner.com/equipment/analysts-forecast-navistars-future


Chinese-built zero-emissions electric bus prepares for service in
London. Fully electric doubledecker bus with new compact battery
to launch in autumn, as London prepares for ultra-low emission
zone, reports China Daily. For years, London’s red doubledecker
buses have dominated the capital, where nearly 1,000 routes are
operated by 8,700 buses, many of them doubledeckers.
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jul/18/chinese-built-zero-emissions-electric-bus-prepares-for-service-in-london


FUELS

Judge declines to halt oil wastewater injections.  A California
judge last week denied environmentalists' bid to vacate state
rules governing pumping of oil wastewater into drinkable water
sources. An Alameda County Superior Court judge Friday upheld the
Department of Conservation's handling of decades of illegal
dumping of wastewater from oil drilling operations, at least for
the near term.
http://www.eenews.net/energywire/stories/1060022061/search?keyword=california


Watchdog: EPA should do more on fracking chemicals. The EPA’s
internal watchdog recommended Thursday that it improve oversight
of the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing. Specifically, the
EPA’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) said the agency needs to
crack down on the unlicensed use of diesel fuel in fracking and
figure out whether to mandate public disclosure of fracking
chemicals.
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/248224-watchdog-epa-should-do-more-on-fracking-chemicals


VEHICLES

Do BMW, Mercedes, Volvo Plug-In Hybrid SUVs Compete With Tesla
Model X? We've known they were coming more for than a year, and
now they're within weeks or months of landing in dealerships. In
this case, "they" are the first plug-in hybrid SUV models from
BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, and other luxury makers.  Large,
luxurious, plug-in ... almost sounds like a description of the
Tesla Model X, doesn't it?
http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1099195_do-bmw-mercedes-volvo-plug-in-hybrid-suvs-compete-with-tesla-model-x


GREEN ENERGY

UPDATE 2-SunEdison buys Vivint for $2.2 bln to expand residential
business. SunEdison Inc. agreed to buy Vivint Solar Inc, the
second-biggest U.S. solar panel installer, in a deal valued at
about $2.2 billion, speeding up its expansion in the booming
residential solar market. Demand for Vivint's residential solar
systems has soared as the company that went public last October…
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/07/20/vivint-solar-ma-sunedisn-idUSL3N1003EQ20150720?feedType=RSS&feedName=rbssEnergyNews


REFILE-Australia's war on wind farms threatens biggest renewable
project. That stance puts him at odds with countries such as the
United States and China, as they overhaul their power industries
to meet ambitious environmental targets. After cutting the
country's Renewable Energy Target by a fifth a month ago, Abbott
took the green power industry by surprise by ordering the
government's A$10 billion Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC)
to stop investing in wind farms, the country's No. 2 clean energy
source behind hydropower.
http://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFL4N0ZX1DC20150720?pageNumber=2&virtualBrandChannel=0


Siting wind farms more quickly, cheaply. When a power company
wants to build a new wind farm, it generally hires a consultant
to make wind speed measurements at the proposed site for eight to
12 months. Those measurements are correlated with historical data
and used to assess the site’s power-generation capacity.
http://www.imperialvalleynews.com/index.php/news/latest-news/4331-siting-wind-farms-more-quickly-cheaply.html


MISCELLANEOUS

State vehicle emissions lab is inching toward moving facility.
Nearly a decade after they began planning to move their vehicle
emissions laboratory out of El Monte, state officials say they
expect to identify a new site within the year. The California Air
Resources Board received $5.9 million this fiscal year to flesh
out a new location, which could be in Riverside, at UC Irvine,
Cal Poly Pomona or another university facility.
http://www.dailynews.com/environment-and-nature/20150719/state-vehicle-emissions-lab-is-inching-toward-moving-facility


OPINIONS

Pope Francis and Brown part ways on cap and trade. The pope and
California's governor don't agree on everything about climate
change. Global warming's threat to the planet? Yes. Selling
permits to pollute? Hardly. Peddling pollution permits has a
euphemism. It's politely called cap and trade. And it raises a
ton of money for state government, including Gov. Jerry Brown's
struggling bullet train.
http://www.latimes.com/local/politics/la-me-cap-environment-20150720-column.html


One reason to stop watering the lawn. New rules dramatically
limiting grass around new homes. No fines for homeowners who let
lawns go brown. A proposal to lift Sacramento’s ban on synthetic
turf in front yards. It has taken years, but California is
wrapping its mind around drought as a potentially permanent
companion. Changing laws are forcing our hand in large and small
ways.
http://www.sacbee.com/opinion/editorials/article27733945.html#storylink=cpy


Tipping point for electric vehicles nearing in California: Guest
commentary. Energy efficiency will be the principal strategy to
achieve California’s goals of 50 percent reduction in oil use and
40 percent reduction in greenhouse gases by 2030. For vehicles,
that means more efficient engines and transmissions and greater
use of lightweight materials, including aluminum and carbon
fiber.
http://www.dailynews.com/opinion/20150717/tipping-point-for-electric-vehicles-nearing-in-california-guest-commentary


Column: Insuring Against Climate Catastrophe. Go Set a Watchman
isn’t the only book this year that brings new perspective to an
old story line. Climate Shock: The Economic Consequences of a
Hotter Planet should shift our narrative on climate change. The
old story line: People need to worry about climate change because
doubling the atmosphere’s concentration of carbon dioxide
relative…
http://www.vnews.com/home/17804992-95/column-insuring-against-climate-catastrophe
 

The oceans are warming faster than climate models predicted. A
new study finds that climate models are doing well, but slightly
under-predicting ocean warming.  As I have said many times on
this blog, if you want to know how much “global warming” is
happening, you really have to be able to measure “ocean warming”.
That is because more than 90% of the excess energy coming to the
Earth from greenhouse gases goes into the ocean waters.
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2015/jul/20/oceans-warming-faster-than-climate-models-predicted


BLOGS

Wondering where cap-and-trade dollars go? Website maps out
projects. A nonprofit that promotes alternative transportation
and urban density has created a website that maps out projects
funded through California’s cap-and-trade program. The tool marks
the state’s first easy-to-read geographic mapping of
cap-and-trade grants, which are now being disbursed through a
handful of state agencies.
http://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/blog/morning-roundup/2015/07/wondering-where-cap-and-trade-dollars-go-website.html


Four things to look for in EPA’s new voluntary methane reduction
proposal. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is soon
expected to propose its new “enhanced” Natural Gas STAR program,
providing guidelines for oil and gas companies that want to
voluntarily work to reduce their methane emissions.
http://blogs.edf.org/energyexchange/2015/07/20/four-things-to-look-for-in-epas-new-voluntary-methane-reduction-proposal/


EU-China Relations: Invoking A Low-Carbon Future From Past
Cooperation. Closer European-Chinese ties can emulate the past
success of the ancient Silk Road, this time for the exchange of
low-carbon goods, ideas, policies and technologies, to inspire
global civilisation towards more resilient development with
regards to both the climate and the economy.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/wang-tao/eu-china-relations-invoking-a-low-carbon-future_b_7819774.html


Turn Up the Heat on Climate Change. Well there you go again you
wacky scientists spinning their wild tales of impending disaster
and doom all to advance their ultra-liberal social agenda which
includes abolition of capitalism as we know it, forcing people to
actually interact with one another by living close to one
another, and instituting mass transportation regimes which once
again force people to interact with one another…
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lance-simmens/turn-up-the-heat-on-clima_b_7828020.html


Global Warming Will Destroy The Earth In The End. We like to
think of our planet as perfect for life, having met all the
conditions we know of for life to exist, flourish and thrive for
billions of years. After all, here on Earth, with our
not-too-thick and not-too-thin atmosphere, we’ve got liquid water
on our surface, made possible by the pressure and temperature
combinations at sea level.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/ethansiegel/2015/07/19/global-warming-will-destroy-the-earth-in-the-end/


Toyota On Mirai Vs. Tesla: Battery Electric Vehicles Have
'Fundamental' Physics Problem. A Toyota executive explains why he
believes the Mirai and hydrogen fuel cells will power the
alternative fuel vehicle future — and not battery electrics like
Tesla. Toyota will begin taking “requests” for its hydrogen
fuel-cell electric vehicle Mirai on Monday. The initial goal is
3,000 units by the end of 2017. 
http://www.forbes.com/sites/brookecrothers/2015/07/20/toyota-on-mirai-vs-tesla-battery-electric-vehicles-have-fundamental-physics-problem/


Polar bears are starving because of global warming. Two new
scientific studies have found that Polar Bears are in danger of
starving to death as Arctic sea ice retreats further and further
north each year because of global warming. Polar Bears (ursus
maritimus) live largely within the Arctic Circle, and they use
the sea ice as a hunting ground for catching seals.
http://www.examiner.com/article/polar-bears-are-starving-because-of-global-warming




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

ARB What's New

preload