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UN CLIMATE TALKS

Obama says parts of climate deal must be legally binding.
Parts of a global climate agreement being hammered out in Paris
should be legally binding, President Barack Obama said Tuesday.
His declaration was both a boost to climate negotiators seeking a
tough accord and a challenge to Republican senators, many of whom
don't believe that global warming is real. Whether or not to make
the climate accord legally binding is a major sticking-point at
the two-week talks in Paris, which aim to get all countries to
agree to cut emissions that scientists say are warming the Earth
and increasing extreme weather such as droughts and floods.
http://www.latimes.com/nation/sns-bc-climate-countdown-20151201-story.html


Related articles:
http://www.sfchronicle.com/business/energy/article/Climate-talks-get-down-to-tough-business-of-6666796.php


Climate talks updates: The hard work at COP21 begins today in
Paris.
After years of faltering negotiations, the United Nations
Conference on Climate Change is expected to produce a landmark
agreement during the next two weeks. But it remains to be seen
whether the gathering of 150 world leaders near Paris will
achieve the target of limiting rising global temperatures to no
more than 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels this
century.  The Times will be covering the negotiations, including
the large delegation attending from California with Gov. Jerry
Brown.
http://www.latimes.com/world/europe/la-fg-climate-change-talks-paris-updates-htmlstory.html


California Lawmakers Joining Brown In Paris.
There will be a heavy California presence at the United Nations
Climate Change Conference in Paris this week. In addition to Gov.
Jerry Brown, the state’s legislative leaders are each leading
delegations. Senate President pro Tem Kevin de León (D-Los
Angeles) and Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) are among
eight California lawmakers making the trip. All are Democrats.
http://www.capradio.org/articles/2015/11/30/california-lawmakers-joining-brown-in-paris/


France, Germany, Canada call on world to put price on carbon.
One of the smartest ways to fight global warming is putting a
price on carbon dioxide pollution, some key world leaders at the
international climate summit say. Either a tax on carbon dioxide
emissions or trading carbon pollution like pork bellies, which
puts a price on carbon, will help use capitalism to get closer to
a day when the world isn't adding heat-trapping gases to the
atmosphere, according to leaders of France, Germany, Canada,
Chile, Mexico and Ethiopia, as well as heads of the World Bank,
International Monetary Fund and Organization of Economic
Cooperation and Development.
http://www.whig.com/article/20151201/AP/312019984 

AIR POLLUTION

San Francisco Bay Weighs Tougher Air Rules for Refineries.
San Francisco Bay officials are considering what they say are the
toughest emission rules in the nation for oil refineries. The Bay
Area Air Quality Management District heard Monday from the public
and from managers of the area's five petroleum refineries about
the proposed tightening of pollution standards. Air quality
officials say the five refineries collectively are the biggest
industrial polluters in the Bay Area. The air board is seeking to
reduce refinery emissions 20 percent by 2020.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2015/11/30/us/ap-us-california-refineries-tougher-rules.html


CLIMATE CHANGE

Almond Growers Explore Ways To Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions.
Representatives of almost 60 countries are gathering this week in
Paris for talks on climate change. California farmers are also
looking for incentives to reduce greenhouse gas. The Almond Board
of California is looking for ways to reduce fertilizer use in
orchards and to limit other farming factors that contribute to
greenhouse gas emissions.
http://www.capradio.org/articles/2015/12/01/almond-growers-finding-ways-to-reduce-greenhouse-gas-emissions/


As Big Food Feels Threat Of Climate Change, Companies Speak Up.
Chances are, you've picked up some chatter about the new global
talks on climate change. If you can't quite see how it matters to
you, personally, you might want to take a peek inside your
pantry. Or your candy jar. Because it might just affect your
access to everything from cheese to chocolate. "It's very clear
now that a changing climate will have a profound effect on
agriculture," says Molly Brown, a geographer at the University of
Maryland.
http://www.capradio.org/news/npr/story?storyid=456369536 

FUELS

E.P.A. Rule Requires a Big Jump in Biofuel Use.
The Environmental Protection Agency released its much-delayed
biofuel mandate on Monday, raising the amounts of biofuel that
refiners are required to blend into conventional vehicle fuel
from levels proposed in May. The agency set levels for 2014 and
2015 at what producers actually used in those years, and it
increased the total volume of renewable fuel required by the end
of 2016 to 18.11 billion gallons, an 11 percent increase from
2014, the agency said.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/01/business/energy-environment/epa-announces-biofuel-levels-for-2016.html


Why Ethanol Makers Are Actually Relieved With New EPA Cuts.
The Environmental Protection Agency issued revised energy
guidelines that reduce targets set in a 2007 law for the amount
of biofuel that must be added to gasoline in the U.S., but the
cuts were less than expected. The new renewable fuel standards
call for refiners to mix 18.11 billion gallons of ethanol or
equivalent biofuels in the country’s fuel supply in 2016. Earlier
this year, the agency had recommended blending in 17.4 billion
gallons of the corn-derived product.
http://fortune.com/2015/12/01/ethanol-stocks-rebound-epa-rules/ 

MISCELLANEOUS

Eight Great Multimedia Resources on Climate Change.
President Obama joined leaders and diplomats from more than 190
countries who convened in Paris today to kick off a two week
effort towards negotiating an international climate change
agreement. TheUnited Nations’ sponsored event, the largest
gathering of world leaders in history, is an urgent, sweeping
attempt to reduce global carbon emissions and stave off the worst
consequences of climate change.
http://ww2.kqed.org/lowdown/2015/11/30/the-inequalities-of-climate-change-visualized-in-one-fascinating-map-and-6-other-great-interactive-resources/


OPINIONS

Paris climate conference: Without Congress' support, Obama's
dealmaking powers are limited.
As more than 190 nations meet this week to negotiate an agreement
to limit greenhouse gases, President Obama finds himself in a
terrible bind. On one side is international pressure to vest any
climate deal with what international law considers to be binding
legal force. On the other is the political difficulty, even the
impossibility, of approving a climate treaty under our
Constitution because of the need for approval by two-thirds of
the Senate.
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-boltonyoo-paris-climate-deal-not-binding-20151201-story.html


Porter Ranch gas leak is a wake-up call.
More than 280 families have fled their homes in Porter Ranch in
the San Fernando Valley, sickened by the smell of a voluminous
natural gas leak from underground storage wells. The gas has been
seeping from the ground for more than a month, yet Southern
California Gas Co. says it might to take another three to four
months to shut down the well, which goes 8,500 feet deep.
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/editorials/la-ed-1201-gas-leak-20151201-story.html
 
David Brooks: The green tech solution.
I’ve been confused about this Paris climate conference and how
the world should move forward to ameliorate climate change, so I
séanced up my hero Alexander Hamilton to see what he thought. I
was sad to be reminded that he doesn’t actually talk in hip-hop,
but he still had some interesting things to say. First, he was
struck by the fact that on this issue the GOP has come to
resemble a Soviet dictatorship – a vast majority of Republican
politicians can’t publicly say what they know about the truth of
climate change because they’re afraid the thought police will
knock on their door and drag them off to an AM radio
interrogation.
http://www.sacbee.com/opinion/op-ed/article47317690.html 

BLOGS

Poll: Two-thirds of Americans want US to join international
climate pact.
Two-thirds of Americans want the United States to join an
international agreement to fight climate change, a new poll
found. The survey, from the New York Times and CBS, could provide
a tailwind to the United Nations talks that launched Monday in
Paris, where world leaders plan on finalizing such a global
pact.
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/261491-polls-two-thirds-want-us-to-join-international-climate-pact




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