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ARB Newsclips for September 11, 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

Indonesia sending thousands of troops to fight smog-causing
fires.  Indonesia said on Friday it will send more than 10,000
troops to fight fires in southern Sumatra, as smoke makes
thousands sick, delays flights and pushes air quality to
unhealthy levels in neighbouring Singapore and Malaysia.
Indonesia has vowed before to end the seasonal fires but has
failed each time to stop the so-called "haze"…
http://af.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idAFKCN0RB0PB20150911 

Record temperatures, bad air make it a tough day for Modestans.
High heat, mixed with bad air, is going to make it a trying day
for people across the Northern San Joaquin Valley. As a second
straight day of record heat is expected in Modesto, the high
temperatures will be joined by bad air made worse by the
encroaching smoke from the Butte fire…
http://www.modbee.com/news/article34850643.html#storylink=cpy 
http://www.capradio.org/articles/2015/09/10/california-drought,-wildfire-smoke,-heat-creates-unhealthy-air-in-san-joaquin-valley/


Southern California air quality agency finds South Ontario air
worst in region. South Ontario residents Esther Ponce and Joe
Ponce were alarmed in recent days to learn about a new finding
showing the area in which they live registered the worst air
pollution from vehicle exhaust soot, or fine-particulate matter,
in the four-county region.
http://www.dailybulletin.com/environment-and-nature/20150910/southern-california-air-quality-agency-finds-south-ontario-air-worst-in-region


AIR QUALITY: Salton Sea stench sets new record. Air district
officials have issued rotten-egg odor alerts for nine consecutive
days. Residents in the Coachella Valley are used to the seasonal
rotten-egg stench from the Salton Sea, but not for nine days in a
row. Stationary air monitors northwest of the inland lake -- in
Mecca and the Torres-Martinez Reservation…
http://www.pe.com/articles/sea-779875-billion-odors.html 

Smoke And Ash Pour Into The Valley. The skies over the Central
Valley had an ominous look Friday morning. Jim De La Vega
explained the fires burning around Hume Lake have shifted
directions and the smoke coming right at us. A photo released by
NASA shows the plume of smoke is flowing due west, filling in the
foothills, and then flowing down into the Valley.
http://www.kmph-kfre.com/story/30010379/smoke-and-ash-pour-into-the-valley


North Carolina might loosen regulations on small air pollution
emitters. North Carolina environmental officials are considering
whether to loosen the state’s air pollution regulations for small
emitters. The proposed changes to existing air quality standards
would exempt about 1,200 facilities in the state from having to
comply with the air quality permitting process. Another 240
facilities would become eligible to register with the N.C.
Division of Air Quality, rather than having to obtain an official
permit.
http://www.bizjournals.com/triad/news/2015/09/11/north-carolina-may-loosen-regulations-on-small-air.html


CLIMATE CHANGE

World Bank Confident Funding to Back Climate-Change Deal Will Be
Secured. Industrialized countries are set to gather in Paris this
year to discuss the plan. The World Bank’s special envoy on
climate change on Friday expressed confidence that industrialized
countries will open their wallets when they gather in Paris later
this year to bankroll a global strategy to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions
http://www.wsj.com/articles/world-bank-confident-funding-to-back-climate-change-deal-will-be-secured-1441975772
. 

Another environmental bill takes a hit in Sacramento. The push
for aggressive new California policies on climate change suffered
another major setback Thursday. Legislation to require the state
to reduce its carbon emissions to 40% below 1990 levels by 2030
and to 80% below those levels by 2050 was pulled from
consideration.
http://www.latimes.com/local/political/la-me-ln-carbon-emissions-bill-tabled-20150910-story.html


Analysis: Jerry Brown puts happy face on climate change, road
improvement defeats. Gov. Jerry Brown gets his way with the
California Legislature so often that his defeat on major climate
and transportation initiatives this week put him in an unusual
defensive spot. The fourth-term Democrat rests his reputation on
greenhouse gas reduction policies…
http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article34815483.html#storylink=cpy


Court refuses to block Obama climate rule.  A federal appeals
court declined requests Wednesday to block the Obama
administration’s landmark climate rule for power plants. In a
short, two-paragraph order filed just after 5 p.m., the Court of
Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that West
Virginia, more than a dozen other states…
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/253143-court-refuses-to-block-obama-climate-rule


Global warming and the ultimate cost of inaction (letter). Many
scientists are now saying 2015 will be the hottest year on record
globally, beating 2014 as the hottest year on record "by a mile."
Climate scientists overwhelmingly agree the burning of fossil
fuels is causing our planet to warm with potentially catastrophic
consequences for ecosystems and all life on earth, including
humanity.
http://www.ydr.com/letters/ci_28795059/global-warming-and-ultimate-cost-inaction-letter


Bill to set 2030 emissions target pulled as lawmakers focus on
scaled-back renewables, efficiency policies. A nimbler version of
Calif. Gov. Jerry Brown's (D) landmark climate change package is
expected on the state Assembly floor today, but firm emissions
targets for 2030 and 2050 eluded lawmakers in the final hours of
the legislative session. http://www.eenews.net/stories/1060024553


DROUGHT

California citrus farmers pull up trees, dig reservoirs to
survive drought. At the Gless family's sprawling citrus ranch
north of Los Angeles, a massive excavator twists and bends,
digging a private reservoir on drought-parched land that just a
few months ago contained 400 orange trees. As California
confronts its fourth year of scorching drought…
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/09/11/us-usa-california-drought-farmers-idUSKCN0RB15420150911


For California, El Niño’s Dark Clouds Could Mean Rain but Also
Trouble. A soaking El Niño weather system is in the forecast,
promising to pummel California with torrents of rain by the end
of the year. That would seem like Champagne-popping news as this
state suffers through its worst drought in a millennium. But in
the latest sign of the meteorological…
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/11/us/for-california-el-ninos-dark-clouds-could-mean-rain-but-also-trouble.html?_r=1


Drought is no reason to ease environmental protections,
California voters say. After four parched years, most California
voters seem to be taking the drought in stride, saying it has had
little to no effect on their daily lives. They oppose sacrificing
environmental protections to expand water supplies and generally
approve of how Gov. Jerry Brown has handled the crisis…
http://www.latimes.com/local/politics/la-me-pol-poll-drought-20150911-htmlstory.html


El Niño almost a sure thing, but the north state may get missed.
As summer turns to fall, the El Niño conditions brewing in the
Pacific Ocean continue to grow, increasing the chances of a wet
winter in parts drought-stricken California, federal scientists
reported Thursday.
http://www.chicoer.com/general-news/20150910/el-nixf1o-almost-a-sure-thing-but-the-north-state-may-get-missed


Drought’s impact spreading in California. More than one in three
California voters say the drought  has had a major impact on them
and the lives of their families, according to results from the
latest University of Southern California Dornsife College of
Letters Arts, and Sciences/Los Angeles Time Poll.
http://www.centralvalleybusinesstimes.com/stories/001/?ID=29047

Napa sends water quality alerts to 3 neighborhoods. Residents in
parts of Napa are again seeing notices for higher levels of
disinfection by-products in their water – a condition the city
points to as an effect of the drought. The city Water Division
has mailed notifications to customers in downtown, Browns Valley
and the northwestern area around Alston Park.
http://napavalleyregister.com/news/local/napa-sends-water-quality-alerts-to-neighborhoods/article_ed56fe9d-0dfd-57b6-a318-a7b6dbca4846.html


DIESEL EMISSIONS

Group asserts airline and shipping industries could save billions
by cutting GHG emissions. The shipping and aviation industries,
which have long been allergic to curbing greenhouse gas
emissions, actually stand to save billions of dollars by doing
so, a new study has found.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2015/09/11/stories/1060024535 

FUELS

How Low Can Oil Go? Goldman Says $20 a Barrel Is a Possibility.
The global surplus of oil is even bigger than Goldman Sachs Group
Inc. thought and that could drive prices as low as $20 a barrel.
While it’s not the base-case scenario, a failure to reduce
production fast enough may require prices near that level to
clear the oversupply…
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-09-11/-20-oil-possible-for-goldman-as-forecasts-cut-on-growing-glut
 

UPDATE 9-Oil down about 3 pct as Goldman cuts price forecast.
Crude futures fell about 3 percent on Friday after Wall Street's
most influential voice in oil trading, Goldman Sachs, slashed its
price outlook through next year, citing oversupply and concerns
over China's economy. Joining Germany's Commerzbank and a long
list of other banks in cutting price projections…
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/09/11/markets-oil-idUSL4N11H0NT20150911
 

Fossil-Fuel License Limits Seen Viable Option to Emissions Cap.
Limiting fossil-fuel supplies to combat climate change may be
more attractive for governments than trying to negotiate a global
emissions cap, according to Andy Howard, an adviser to Critical
Resource Strategy & Analysis Ltd. Nations producing coal, oil and
natural gas could protect revenue by applying “supply-side
discipline”…
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-09-11/fossil-fuel-license-limits-seen-viable-option-to-emissions-cap


Lower L.A. gas prices coming soon? Exxon Mobil is poised to
increase output at Torrance refinery.  Exxon Mobil's plan to
increase production at its Torrance refinery appears on track for
approval, which could help lower gasoline prices in the Los
Angeles region within weeks. The latest schedule would bring
Exxon Mobil Corp. before the South Coast Air Quality Management
District on Thursday seeking permission to use an old
pollution-control system…
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-exxon-refinery-pollution-20150911-story.html


UC sells off coal and oil sands investments. The University of
California system has sold off endowment and pension fund
holdings in coal and oil sands companies, a $200-million move
that officials said was in response to environmental concerns and
rising financial risk. The action, short of a formal divestment,
represents a small portion of UC's overall energy holdings.
http://www.latimes.com/local/education/la-me-uc-coal-20150911-story.html


Shell leaves climate project it helped set up amid Arctic
drilling row. Campaign against Shell’s drilling off coast of
Alaska leads to company’s exit from Prince of Wales’s Corporate
Leader Group. Shell has been forced to leave a Prince of Wales
climate change project which it helped found after a row over the
oil company’s controversial drilling programme in the Arctic.
http://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/sep/10/shell-leaves-climate-project-it-helped-found-amid-arctic-drilling-row


VEHICLES

Jaguar Land Rover's Future Electric-Car, Efficiency Concepts
Previewed. With European prestige-car makers scrambling to
respond to the unexpected and disruptive arrival of electric-car
company Tesla Motors, a host of luxury car brands have been
showing off their electric concepts.
http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1099972_jaguar-land-rovers-future-electric-car-efficiency-concepts-previewed


GREEN ENERGY

Alameda, Contra Costa solar power discount program gathering
customers. East Bay homeowners have been joining a nonprofit
discount solar power purchase program set up to take advantage of
an expiring federal tax credit, and Piedmont this week joined the
other four participating cities, Fremont, Concord, Lafayette and
Walnut Creek.
http://www.insidebayarea.com/breaking-news/ci_28791488/alameda-contra-costa-solar-power-discount-program-gathering


Army reaches out to industry to 'elevate' its renewables program.
Army Maj. Gen. Al Aycock stood before a crowded room of solar
advocates, industry leaders and policymakers and asked for their
help in the military's continued transformation toward renewable
energy. "I'm taking what you say back to the Pentagon," he said
here yesterday.
http://www.eenews.net/energywire/2015/09/11/stories/1060024533 

Wind industry pushes back against PTC opposition. Hoping to woo a
rested and reconvened Congress, the wind power industry yesterday
opened a new front in its effort to extend the federal production
tax credit (PTC) for wind generation, crediting the subsidy for
driving down the costs of clean energy while aiding in the U.S.
economic recovery since 2010.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2015/09/11/stories/1060024552 

MISCELLANEOUS

Edison files opposition to reopening San Onofre settlement. 
Southern California Edison asked state regulators Thursday to
reject calls to reopen the settlement agreement over the closed
San Onofre nuclear power plant.  In a 52-page filing with the
California Public Utilities Commission, Edison argued that
reopening the settlement would cause "serious harm to the
public."
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-edison-san-onofre-20150910-story.html


OPINIONS

Why is the Legislature backsliding on climate change? Could
legislators in Sacramento possibly have fallen for the oil
industry propaganda that cutting oil consumption would lead to
gas rationing and a ban on SUVs? Are they so ignorant that they
believe that an ongoing commitment to battling climate change is
bad for California? What if the next governor doesn't share
Brown's passion for combating climate change?
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/editorials/la-ed-climate-change-20150911-story.html
 

Desert Sun letters to the editor for Sept. 11, 2011. What about
fuel use? Re: “Energy bill ‘far from perfect,’ ” by Sammy Roth,
Sept. 4. While excellent your piece should have gone into the
ramifications of the mandated 50 percent reduction in motor fuel
(gasoline and diesel) consumption. The fallout from this
provision in SB 350 will bring huge price increases, rationing
and penalties for using too much fuel.
http://www.desertsun.com/story/opinion/readers/2015/09/10/desert-sun-letters-editor/72037936/


Did California try to go too far in fight against climate change?
Californians have relished being the vanguard of American climate
change policy. With a new bill, though, people are rising up to
protect their cars. Joe Del Bosque, owner of Del Bosque Farms on
the west side of the San Joaquin Valley in central California, is
keeping half an eye on the latest climate legislation making its
way through the statehouse.
http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/2015/0911/Did-California-try-to-go-too-far-in-fight-against-climate-change


Fallout from SB 350 Change. After the governor and legislative
leaders announced pulling the 50-percent petroleum cut mandate
from SB 350, the controversial climate change bill, fallout
whirled about the capitol from finger pointing to relative
silence from a main supporter to a defiant stand from the state’s
chief executive.
http://www.foxandhoundsdaily.com/2015/09/fallout-from-sb-350-change/


Pope Francis' visit is just one ring in 2016 campaign circus —
but it’s a big one. For a century, it was the paranoid political
fantasy of Protestant fundamentalists and Know-Nothing nativists:
The pope — “the whore of Babylon,’’ they called him, citing the
Book of Revelation — would use Catholic immigrants to bend
Washington to his will.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2015/09/10/pope-francis-visit-2016-candidates/71575872/


Coming to grips with environmental realities. Had the Pembina
Institute held its one-day symposium on the challenges that
climate change poses for Alberta a year ago, it might have filled
a small room of similarly minded environmental do-gooders.
Fascinating how that equation changes when an NDP government gets
elected on the promise to bring in credible policies designed to
recast the province’s dismal environmental image.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-debate/coming-to-grips-with-environmental-realities/article26318560/


BLOGS

Big Win for Big Oil in California. California's sweeping climate
change legislation was derailed Wednesday when Gov. Jerry Brown
and state officials removed a clause to cut gasoline consumption
50 percent after a "titanic struggle" with the oil industry. In
an impromptu evening press conference just two days before the
legislative deadline, Brown and state Democratic leaders said
Senate Bill 350…
http://www.courthousenews.com/2015/09/10/big-win-for-big-oil-in-california.htm


Projects seek concrete solutions to global warming. When it comes
to global warming, most people worry about power plants.  Clare
White thinks  about another kind of plant- those that make
cement.
http://phys.org/news/2015-09-concrete-solutions-global.html 

Renewable Energy Pricing: Been There, Done That, Learned Nothing.
Around the world, there are numerous efforts to encourage the
development of renewable energy, especially power production from
wind and solar. In some countries, like Germany, enormous
investments have been made and production has increased sharply,
reaping praise from the environmental community.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jasonbelzer/2015/09/10/nba-star-draymond-green-donates-3-1-million-to-his-alma-mater-michigan-state-university/

The Real Climate Wars. The oil industry just counted coup,
scoring an important tactical victory in the most important
domestic climate fight of the year. (No it's not President
Obama's Clean Power Plant rule. Rather it is California's
Governor Jerry Brown's crusade to commit his state - and
effectively, with a time lag, the US economy - to another 25% cut
in carbon emissions…
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/carl-pope/the-real-climate-wars_b_8114226.html


One of the most under-appreciated aspects of the climate change
problem is the so-called "fat tail" of risk. In short, the
likelihood of very large impacts is greater than we would expect
under typical statistical assumptions. We are used to thinking
about likelihoods and probabilities in terms of the familiar
"normal" distribution -- otherwise known as the "bell curve". It
looks like this:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-e-mann/the-fat-tail-of-climate-change-risk_b_8116264.html


Southern Ocean soaks up more greenhouse gases, curbs warming,
study finds. The vast Southern Ocean around Antarctica has
started to soak up more greenhouse gases from the atmosphere in
recent years, helping limit climate change, after signs its
uptake had stalled, a study said on Thursday. The Southern
Ocean's natural absorption of carbon roughly doubled to 1.2
billion tonnes in 2011.
http://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/southern-ocean-soaks-up-more-greenhouse-gases-curbs-warming-study-finds-20150910-gjk28i.html#ixzz3lRw3a2Gc
  

Oil Lobby Compels California to Drop 50% Oil Cut. California,
Gov. Jerry Brown and Senate Democrats abandoned a 50 percent cut
in petroleum use by 2030 that was a focal point of the state’s
climate change policy, following an intense campaign against the
mandate by the oil industry, The New York Times reports.
http://www.sustainablebrands.com/news_and_views/leadership/mike_hower/environmentalists_cringe_california_drops_50_oil_cut


Urban Air Iniative: Real economic harm is to keep using gasoline.
Officials from the Urban Air Initiative called the recent effort
by the American Petroleum Institute to discredit ethanol a
smokescreen to hide the fact that the toxic components in
gasoline are endangering the lives of millions of people. UAI
President David VanderGriend responded to a new study and a press
blitz by the petroleum industry as "shameful". 
http://www.ethanolproducer.com/articles/12615/urban-air-iniative-real-economic-harm-is-to-keep-using-gasoline





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