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newsclips -- ARB Newsclips for December 4, 2015.
Posted: 04 Dec 2015 16:02:04
ARB Newsclips for December 4, 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 NY fund to shift stocks into $2B index of lesser polluters. New York's comptroller plans to shift domestic stock holdings in the state retirement fund to companies with lower carbon emissions in a new $2 billion index. The investment strategy, announced Friday at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris, includes another $1.5 billion going separately into so-called "sustainable investments,”… http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/APFN_US_INVESTMENT_SHIFT_CLIMATE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT New York Pension Fund, Goldman Create $2 Billion Low-Carbon Fund. New York State’s retirement fund, the third-largest U.S. public pension, will shift $2 billion of its holdings away from big emitters of greenhouse gases as part of a new fund created with the help of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli announced the fund Friday while participating in an investor panel… http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-12-04/new-york-pension-fund-goldman-create-2-billion-low-carbon-fund World's Most Polluted City Plans Odd/Even Cars on Alternate Days. New Delhi, the world’s most polluted city, plans to restrict the number of cars on its roads by implementing license-plate based driving bans. India’s capital will allow passenger vehicles with license plates ending with odd and even numbers to ply on alternate days starting Jan. 1… http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-12-04/world-s-most-polluted-city-plans-odd-even-cars-on-alternate-days Companies and Cities Vow to Cut More Pollution Than India Emits. Companies and cities around the world have pledged to cut greenhouse gases by a combined total that exceeds India’s annual emissions, according to research to be released by the United Nations. The analysis by Yale University shows cities and regions ranging from Sora in Spain, with a population of 175, to the state of California… http://washpost.bloomberg.com/Story?docId=1376-NYTT9M6VDKHT01-7OP5N8FM8CGMD43IOPU24P107D Smokestack pollution targeted. Regional air pollution regulators are poised to adopt new rules slashing smog-forming emissions from Southern California's oil refineries, power plants, factories and other non-moving pollution sources by more than half. The South Coast Air Quality Management District's governing board is expected to decide today on plans to cut 14 tons of nitrogen oxide emissions per day… http://www.ocregister.com/articles/air-353059-ocprint-pollution-district.html UC Davis to monitor nation's fine particles. The University of California, Davis, Crocker Nuclear Laboratory is now the prime contractor for both major federal fine particle air quality monitoring networks -- the National Park Service's IMPROVE network and the Environmental Protection Agency's Chemical Speciation Network, or CSN, which monitors urban air quality. http://www.centralvalleybusinesstimes.com/stories/001/?ID=29551 Embattled mercury rule likely to withstand court assault. U.S. EPA's landmark air standards for mercury appear likely to survive an effort by industry and states to kill the rules in court. A panel of federal judges this morning seemed reluctant to vacate EPA's rules to slash mercury and other hazardous air pollutants from power plants after the Supreme Court sent the… http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2015/12/04/stories/1060029011 Airborne coal particles carry much higher heart risk – study. Not all fine airborne particles are created alike when it comes to the risk of a fatal heart attack, according to a new study that found those stemming from the burning of fossil fuels are far more dangerous than average. http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2015/12/04/stories/1060029003 UN CLIMATE TALKS Matter of degree: Temperature goal in climate talks an issue. Here's a math problem that is confounding international climate negotiators: Which is better, 1.5 or 2 degrees Celsius? The difference is just half a degree, but small nations say that for them it could mean the difference between life and death. For larger nations, the question is what's realistic and what's not when it comes to limiting global warming. http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_CLIMATE_COUNTDOWN?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT AP Interview: UN climate chief to negotiators: sleep, focus. The head of the U.N. climate change agency says high-intensity negotiations in Paris are on track so far and says her biggest concern now is that negotiators get enough rest to stay focused. Christiana Figueres, chief of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, insisted that an international accord fighting global warming… http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/CLIMATE_COUNTDOWN_UN_CHIEF?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT The 11 countries that haven't made pledges for climate deal. Some are at war, others recovering from natural disasters and some are simply ideologically opposed to the climate deal taking shape in U.N. talks outside Paris. Only 11 countries haven't submitted pledges for the envisioned agreement, including conflict-ridden Syria, reclusive North Korea… http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/CLIMATE_COUNTDOWN_HOLDOUTS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT Rusal's Deripaska Says Climate Talks May Fail, Urges Carbon Tax. Oleg Deripaska, the billionaire president of aluminum producer United Co. Rusal, said climate talks in Paris will probably fail to produce a meaningful agreement and urged a carbon tax to reduce emissions of planet-warming gases. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-12-04/rusal-s-deripaska-says-climate-talks-may-fail-urges-carbon-tax Climate targets may not be enough to avert catastrophes. Negotiators at climate change talks here are working to produce a realistic plan to limit global warming to no more than 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) from pre-industrial levels, but many scientists say that may still be too warm to avert climate catastrophes. http://www.desertsun.com/story/news/world/2015/12/03/paris-united-nations-climate-conference-2-degrees-celsius/76709712/?from=global&sessionKey=&autologin= Michael Bloomberg to head global taskforce on climate change. Former New York City mayor charged with helping companies gauge exposure to global warming costs. Michael Bloomberg, the former New York City mayor, is to head a new global taskforce aimed at highlighting the financial exposure of companies to the risk of climate change. http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/dec/04/mark-carney-unveils-global-taskforce-to-educate-business-on-climate-change Oil, coal come to climate table with significantly fewer bargaining chips. Oil and coal companies have been an easy target for activists descending on global climate negotiations this week. To nobody's surprise, wiping out billions of dollars in future fossil fuel profits is a central theme here. But oil and coal interests come to this airfield outside of Paris facing particularly tough times. http://www.eenews.net/energywire/2015/12/04/stories/1060028978 CLIMATE CHANGE Carney Backs Effort for Standard Company Climate Disclosure. Bank of England Governor Mark Carney backed a global effort to bring greater transparency to the way companies disclose the risks they face from climate change, wading into a debate that has ensnared some of the biggest fossil-fuel producers. http://washpost.bloomberg.com/Story?docId=1376-NYS8556S972C01-7MRPM46SBQ9PM594V3GM15JO0N New Carbon Market Years Away Says Envoy Seeking Paris Allies. The latest attempt to create an international carbon market will take about four more years and may prompt some countries to press ahead with their own emissions trading rules, according to New Zealand’s climate minister, who’s seeking to hasten talks on the subject at climate negotiations in Paris. http://washpost.bloomberg.com/Story?docId=1376-NYMIKGSYF01S01-0880DVS27KKSAQ1EM76N9THVES Obama: Climate change is a major threat. President Obama is sticking with his view that climate change is a global threat on the order of terrorism, in part because terrorist groups like the Islamic State will be defeated in traditional ways. "But If you start seeing the oceans rise by five, six, seven feet" and if weather patterns change to where "bread baskets to the world suddenly can no longer grow food… http://www.usatoday.com/story/theoval/2015/12/04/obama-climate-change-terrorism-cbs-news-islamic-state/76773860/ Stopping climate change can begin at breakfast. Dozens and dozens of world leaders are meeting this month at the critical world climate change conference in Paris, in the hope of reaching a legally binding, universal agreement to curb carbon emissions and keep global warming below 2 degrees Celsius. The goal is crucial and long overdue. But it's also in jeopardy. Concerns have already been raised that the summit will not meet its goal. http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/environment/article47926250.html#storylink=cpy They Need Millions — Make That Billions — To Cope With Climate Change. For the developing countries at the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Paris, it's more than a chance to talk. It's a chance to be heard — and their representatives are taking advantage of the world stage by airing their grievances and proposing potential fixes. How these specific demands will be addressed is still up in the air (along with way too much carbon dioxide). http://www.capradio.org/news/npr/story?storyid=458349068 Why will melting permafrost and more forest fires cause trouble at sea? A warming climate could send more black carbon, or charred organic materials rich in carbon, into the Arctic Ocean, according to research published this week. Black carbon -- a massive, stable source of carbon in soils -- is carried by rivers into the ocean, where it can dissolve and release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2015/12/04/stories/1060028971 Investors may soon learn more about the climate risks of their holdings. The Financial Stability Board, an international advisory body whose members advise Group of 20 officials, will form a task force in the coming weeks to study the practice and implementation of corporate disclosures of risks related to climate change. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2015/12/04/stories/1060028970 DROUGHT Don’t expect a brawny El Niño to bust California’s historic drought. Scientists say a vast swath of warmer-than-normal water known as El Niño circulating in the eastern Pacific Ocean is poised to be one of the strongest of the past seven decades. It has the potential to play a key role in the formation of storms that could bring much-needed rain and snow to California and at least ease the effects of the state’s severe four-year drought. http://www.sacbee.com/news/nation-world/national/article47926140.html#storylink=cpy California farmers now see drought as rule, not exception. Farmers are no strangers to struggle or drought. But this four-year drought is different than others, they say. It’s more widespread, touching nearly everyone who turns on the tap or starts an irrigation pump. This past summer, wells dried up and farmland sat idle. The drought also came to mean that life on the farm has likely changed forever. http://www.modbee.com/news/nation-world/national/article47926390.html#storylink=cpy Even if El Niño delivers rain and snow, drought may never release its grip. Will the drought ever really end? California hopes for a sodden winter of El Niño-spawned storms. If they come, our near-empty reservoirs may fill to the brim. But will the rain and snow be enough to replenish underground basins sinking from years of desperate pumping? http://www.fresnobee.com/news/state/california/water-and-drought/article48003320.html#storylink=cpy DIESEL ACTIVITIES $1 million grant to help cut diesel emissions in Detroit. A $1 million grant will be used to help reduce emissions from diesel trucks with the goal of improving air quality in Detroit. The funding for Southwest Detroit Environmental Vision was announced this week by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The money will help Southwest Detroit Environmental Vision to replace 33 short-haul trucks… http://www.fresnobee.com/news/business/article47922730.html#storylink=cpy FUELS Rich nations' fossil fuel subsidies exceed climate aid 40 to 1: researchers. Wealthy nations spend 40 times as much money subsidizing fossil fuel production as they contribute to the Green Climate Fund to help poor countries adapt to global warming, a research group said in a study released on Thursday. Eight industrialized nations - Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy… http://www.reuters.com/article/us-climatechange-energy-environment-idUSKBN0TM2LM20151203#0TCVfMmMZuU0vxIr.99 VEHICLES Chinese Cities Give Toyota Boost in Hunt for Hybrid Buyers. China’s former leader Deng Xiaoping famously quipped that it doesn’t matter if a cat is black or white, so long as it catches mice. When it comes to environmentally-friendly cars that might help clear up the nation’s polluted skies, China has ignored Deng’s advice -- to the detriment of Toyota Motor Corp.’s lineup of hybrid cars. That may soon change. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-12-03/chinese-cities-give-toyota-boost-in-hunt-for-hybrid-car-buyers Electric Cars Can’t Take the Cold. Batteries generate power less efficiently as temperatures drop. California’s mandatory sales targets for electric and hydrogen-powered cars will go from less than 1 percent today to more than 15 percent by 2025. The targets, the result of legislation passed in 2003, are a means of cutting greenhouse gas emissions to 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-12-03/electric-cars-can-t-take-the-cold New York City To Deploy Vast Electric-Vehicle Fleet By 2025. By 2025, New York City could deploy a vast fleet of electric cars, under a new plan announced by Mayor Bill de Blasio. It calls for replacing large numbers of municipal vehicles with electric cars, potentially giving New York the largest electric municipal fleet in the country. That would include around 2,000 city-owned cars used by agencies like the Parks and Recreation Department. http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1101253_new-york-city-to-deploy-vast-electric-vehicle-fleet-by-2025 VW RECALL Volkswagen car sales drop 20 percent in UK after scandal. Volkswagen car sales in Britain dropped by almost 20 percent in November compared with a year earlier as the company's emissions testing scandal took a toll. There were 12,958 Volkswagen registrations last month in the U.K., compared to 16,196 in November 2014, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders said Friday. http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_BRITAIN_VOLKSWAGEN?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT VW lawyer: Consolidate lawsuits against carmaker in Michigan. A Volkswagen lawyer says the company would like hundreds of federal civil lawsuits filed against the carmaker over its emissions cheating scandal to be consolidated in Michigan. Volkswagen's attorneys were among hundreds of lawyers Thursday at a hearing in federal court in New Orleans to look at consolidating more than 460 lawsuits against the German carmaker. http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_VOLKSWAGEN_LAWSUITS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT GREEN ENERGY China starts building 2nd biggest offshore wind farm. China's top wind power company has started building the country's second-largest offshore wind farm, state media said, as Beijing aims to boost the nation's clean power industry and cut dependence on fossil fuels that are contributing to smog. http://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFL3N13T2UA20151204 Goldman Sachs says fastest, most profitable way to clean energy is close at hand. Investors should focus on four established energy technologies that hold the most potential to reduce emissions in the next decade, rather than emerging ones that are far from being commercialized, according to a report from Goldman Sachs. The investment bank's guide to a low-carbon world comes as the technology community… http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2015/12/04/stories/1060028975 U.N. study makes the case for steering investments to renewable energy. A head-to-head analysis comparing the environmental impacts of six power generation sources found that while no electricity fuel is benign, renewable resources such as wind and solar present a tiny fraction of the environmental downsides of coal and natural gas. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2015/12/04/stories/1060028969 U.S., E.U. experts plot how to share ideas to boost renewables. Governments in both the United States and the European Union have goals to boost the share of electricity from renewable sources, yet collaborate little with each other on designing policies to help spread the technology. The electricity sectors of the two regions are very different, as are the policies… http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2015/12/04/stories/1060028977 MISCELLANEOUS California entrepreneurs push to reinvent the nuclear industry. The state that spawned a generation of activists committed to shutting down nuclear reactors and crippling the industry has lately become a hotbed of advocacy and financial support for fighting global warming with, of all things, nuclear power. Encouraged by the Obama administration, notable California innovators and financiers are looking to reinvent the industry in the mold of wind and solar power… http://www.latimes.com/nation/politics/la-na-climate-nuclear-energy-20151204-story.html OPINIONS Why I’m optimistic on climate change despite the impossible goals of the Paris talks. Only a few days into the UN climate summit, and it is already time to sing the Paris blues. The path to Paris was, unfortunately, paved with pessimism and imperfect accords: Rio, Kyoto, Copenhagen. In the meantime, carbon dioxide in the air has increased, raising the world’s average temperature by one degree Celsius relative to pre-industrial times. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/innovations/wp/2015/12/04/why-im-optimistic-on-climate-change-despite-the-impossible-goals-of-the-paris-talks/ Why I will provide a Christian moral witness at the Paris climate conference (COMMENTARY). As world leaders and diplomats gather in Paris for two weeks of climate talks, many Christians will join them. I will be among them. I view my eight-day journey as a spiritual pilgrimage. Climate change — and its threat to hundreds of millions of people — stands as a great moral crisis of our time. http://coloradosprings.com/why-i-will-provide-a-christian-moral-witness-at-the-paris-climate-conference-commentary/article/1564809 BLOGS Growing Older In a Changing Climate. Population aging is a triumph of development. The proportion of people aged 60 and over is projected to grow in all regions of the world. Moreover, older people are disproportionately impacted by disaster and climate-related stresses such as heat waves and drought. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rosita-kornfeldmatte/growing-older-in-a-changi_b_8712902.html The Climate-Nuclear Nexus: Two Key Threats Endangering Future Generations. Over the next two weeks, Heads of States are meeting in Paris to finally agree on a plan to curb climate change. Considering that climate change can exacerbate a range of interconnected transnational threats and crises that our generation faces today, such as extreme poverty, hunger, violent conflicts and… http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jakob-von-uexkull/the-climate-nuclear-nexus_b_8707016.html California is in a drought emergency. Visit www.SaveOurH2O.org for water conservation tips.